Solon Comets Claim First Track and Field Regional Title

Having mixed emotions after winning a regional track and field meet by 25 points might be hard to comprehend. Solon's boys had that unusual experience Saturday at the Austintown Fitch Division I regional meet.

The Comets rolled up a team total of 67 points to easily outdistance runner-up Glenville (42) for the program's first regional championship in school history. But Solon failed to advance its sprint relays, a factor that will cost the team points at next weekend's state meet in Columbus.

"It was a weird meet," said head coach Dan Iwan. "We had some great individual performances from A.J. (Hicks), Khoury (Crenshaw), Matt (Thompson) and Rod (Jackson) but we were disappointed in the relays. We were in great position in the 4x200 but we messed up the last exchange and that kind of took the air out of us. We just didn't run well in the 4x100 and by the time the 4x400 rolled around we were emotionally spent.

"The near-misses are tough because you feel bad for the kids who have worked so hard all season," added Iwan. "A large portion of this team are sprinters but when the guys took a step back to see what we accomplished they felt better about it. This is an unforgiving regional when you make mistakes."

Solon senior A.J. Hicks will carry a big load at Ohio State University this coming weekend as he is one of the favorites to win both a shot put and discus title. Hicks won the regional discus on Wednesday and added a shot put title Saturday, breaking his own school record with a heave of 64-4.75. He also fouled on a toss of 65-8 and is looking forward to the state competition.

"A.J. is on his own planet," laughed Iwan. "He's really looking forward to Columbus. He told me that he thinks he can throw 68 feet."

Jackson, Crenshaw and Thompson all had great days in the speed events. Jackson placed second in the 110-meter hurdles (14.39), Crenshaw was second in a competitive 100 meters (10.84) and Thompson was second in the 200 meters (21.94).

The 4x100-meter relay of Darian Hicks, Thompson, Jeremy Nelson and Crenshaw (42.98) just missed with a fifth-place showing as did the 4x400-meter relay of Rod Jackson, Nelson, Christian Jackson and Thompson (3:24.29).

Also competing at state will be the 4x800-meter relay of Zach Zimmers, Max Haiss, Eric Hansen and Paul Arters (fourth) and Karl Pierce, who placed second in the pole vault (14-4) earlier in the week.

Solon's best team finish at state is a second place. This year's team race could very well be a tight one with the Comets in the mix for the top spot.

"We'll go down there and do our best," said Iwan. "This is the kind of state meet where 30 points could win it."

Solon's girls got a strong performance from distance ace Therese Haiss to finish fourth at the Fitch regional with 38 points. Haiss raced to victory in the 1600 meters with a time of 5:01.21 and added a third-place finish in the 800 meters with a 2:17.46 clocking.

The Lady Comets also won a regional title with an inspired performance in the 4x200-meter relay as Tinisee Kandakai, London McNair, Jelvon Butler and Paige Yaeger hit the finish line at 1:41.17. Yaeger also qualified in the 300-meter hurdles after finishing third with a 44.53 clocking.

Kandakai had near-misses in the 200 meters (25.93) and the high jump (5-3), placing sixth in each event.

The Division I state meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium begins with running preliminaries at 4:45 p.m. Friday. Field event finals are set for noon and 3 p.m. Saturday with running finals scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. All tickets are $10 at the stadium.