For Seth Cunningham, starting has never been much problem. Finishing is a different story. After being denied one regional championship because of a slow start, the St. Edward senior finished strong. Now Cunningham will head to the state meet just looking to finish -- period.
St. Edward’s Seth Cunningham runs to victory as the anchor in the 4x200 meter relay Friday at the Division I regional meet in Amherst.
-
(Joshua Gunter / PD)
For Seth Cunningham, starting has never been much problem. Finishing is a different story. After being denied one regional championship because of a slow start, the St. Edward senior finished strong.
Now Cunningham will head to the state meet just looking to finish -- period.
Cunningham finished second to Brunswick's Lorenzo Pace in the 100-meter dash by five one-hundredths of a second, an outcome Cunningham chalked up to a slow start.
"Sometimes I start slow in the 200, but not the 100," he said. "It's more of a mental issue in the 100."
Cunningham went on to win the 200, which Pace scratched from, and anchored the winning 4x200 team. The Eagles finished second in the 4x100, also with Cunningham on the final leg.
Now Cunningham will turn his attention toward the state meet, where his experiences haven't been sparkling. He went to Columbus last year with hopes of winning a title or two, but a hamstring injury ended his weekend almost before it started.
Cunningham said the muscle has given him problems off and on throughout his career, usually at the ends of seasons.
"I was happy that I qualified for state in all four of my events," he said. "But I'm even more happy to be healthy. My freshman, sophomore and junior year I got hurt before states every time. I try not to think about it now. I'm just thinking, 'stay loose.' "
Without, as head coach Chuck Kyle put it, any star power, St. Ignatius won the boys team championship with 62 points. The Wildcats edged Medina, with the title coming down to the final race. For the second week in a row Medina won the 4x400, but not enough other teams finished high enough to get the Bees a championship.
"We've been kind of under the radar a bit all year," Kyle said. "It's a team that's been working and improving and we had a great day."
The Wildcats won their title with depth. The 4x100 team of senior Kevin Johnson, juniors Anthony Mescia and Bob Grebenc, and freshman Tim McVey, got St. Ignatius its only first-place finish. The team finished in the money plenty, though, with 10 athletes qualifying for the state meet in four events.
Johnson qualified in three events; Lamar Kemp and Evan Baum in two each. Several other Wildcats finished in the top eight to add to the point total.
"Magnificat won the girls team title with 74 1/2 points to outpace Midpark's 58.5. The Meteors lost 20 potential points when junior Jade Barber's balky hamstring gave way Wednesday in the prelims. Barber would have been among the favorites in the 100 hurdles and 400.
Magnificat will send nine athletes to the state meet in seven events. Showing the Blue Streaks are about more than distance, sophomore Rachel Hlatky will compete in Columbus in three sprint events, including the 200, which she won at Amherst.
"It means a lot," Magnificat coach Anjanette Arabian Whitman said. "We were represented everywhere, distance, sprints, relays. We've worked really hard at getting them working as a team."
Senior Madeline Chambers added three state berths for the Blue Streaks. She was on the winning 4x800 team on Wednesday, won the 1,600 and finished second in the 800.
Matching Cunningham's four-event qualification was Midpark junior Kaila Barber, Jade's twin.
Along with winning the long jump and 300 hurdles, the latter in a meet-record 40.88, Barber finished second in the 100 and was on the runner-up 4x400 team. Her mind was on her twin, who for the second year in a row endured heartbreak at Amherst.
Last year, an inadvertent coaching error placed Jade Barber in five events over the two days - she ran a preliminary heat of an event in which she didn't run the final - which caused five disqualifications. Instead of competing at state in four events, Jade Barber watched the meet from the stands.
This time it was a muscle pull that ended her season. She pulled it during her first race Wednesday, the 100 hurdles, and could not continue.
"I feel terrible for her," Kaila Barber said. "She could have qualified and been going with everyone. She's just had a really hard track season. It's an injury that happened a few weeks ago and never healed."
Medina had a trio of three-event qualifiers, with Anna Boyert (4x800, 800, 1,600), and Hunter Heaton and Evan McKee (4x800, 800, 4x400) turning the feat. Berea sophomore Donovan Robertson was a double-winner, taking both hurdles races.
Todd Stumpf is a freelance writer in Rittman.