Indoor State Title Primes Solon Track for Outdoor Season

It was an inside job for Solon's A.J. Hicks.

Hicks, Solon's talented football and track and field standout, helped lead the Comets to the Division I indoor state track and field title last weekend. The North Carolina recruit set a new state record in the weight throw with a toss of 70-7 3/4, seventh-best in the country this season.

He also won the shot put with a heave of 61-4 3/4 as Solon bested some of the state's top programs in competition held at the University of Akron.

"Everyone at the meet knew he was the best thrower there," said Comet head coach Dan Iwan. "He was a marked man and he came through."

Hicks was fifth in the shot put and third in the discus at the 2010 outdoor state meet. And while he will be a key componentof the Solon team this spring, the Comets have plenty of talent to stay in the fast lane.

Solon's 4x200 relay was second at the indoor meet as the team of Jeremy Nelson, Matt Thompson, Khoury Crenshaw and Rod Jackson finished in a time of 1:30.9. The 4x800 relay of Paul Arters, Andrew Richard, Max Haiss and Zach Zimmers added a fourth-place finish in a time of 8:08.36.

Crenshaw was fourth in the 60-meter dash (7.08), Jackson was fifth in the 60-meter hurdles (8.25), Thompson was seventh in the 200 meters (22.83), Matt Fakler was seventh in the 3,200 meters (9:37.0) and Darian Hicks finished sixth in the high jump (6-2). Solon added a fifth place in the 4x400 relay with Nelson, Thompson, Zimmers and Jackson (3:28.83).

"We scored in all the relays and that was a huge part of winning it," said Iwan. "I knew if our kids performed well and we got a little luck we could win it. We believe we can hang with all these great teams, and winning this is a validation of that."

The Comets use the indoor season to prepare for the outdoor schedule. Solon has won more than 100 consecutive dual meets, but lost the NOC Meet to Medina last season.

"We have always liked the competition of dual meets," said Iwan. "We work hard during the indoor season and teams that typically do well during the outdoor season do well indoors. Winning this meet was a great reward for our kids."

Solon's girls also performed well at Akron with Therese Haiss placing fourth in the 1,600 meters (5:13.31) and eighth in the 800 meters (2:24.64). The 4x800 relay of Kelsey Aamoth, Anna Fakler, Haiss and Melissa Yasnowski was sixth (9:50.73) and the 4x200 relay of Jelvon Butler, Rachel Jurewicz, London McNair and Paige Yaeger was seventh (1:46.74).

The Comets are scheduled to open the outdoor season Saturday when they compete at Brunswick.