Lyons, Canedy lead Bucks to regionals
Buckeye boys are district runners-up
Buckeye junior Megan Demagall hands to classmate Lydia Healy in the 4x400 final at the Orrville District meet. Photo by BRUCE BILLOW
Katie Lyons was a bit on the giddy side after the Orrville Division II track meet. The Buckeye junior maybe expected to head to the Lexington Regional in something. In three somethings?
Not a chance.
Thanks to some clutch performances by her teammates, with herself as the common link, Lyons indeed had three events to prepare for during regional week. In addition to her expected success in the 400-meter dash, Lyons also earned regional berths in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
“I feel awesome,” Lyons said. “In the 4x1 we were seeded seventh. The handoffs were on, which is what we were looking for. That was awesome. The 400 is right after the 4x1, so after running the 4x1 and going in the 400, I was really, really happy to qualify.”
Lyons was seeded third in the 400-meter dash. She wound up finishing fourth, but as she said, it was on the heels of another sprint.
In the 4x100 she teamed with freshmen Madisyn Meers and Paige Polidori and junior Marly Powers to finish second, this after being seeded seventh. In the 4x400, it was junior Megan Demagall, senior Olivia Hartley and junior Lydia Healy placing fourth.
“Yesterday the weather was so bad we didn’t get a chance to practice the handoffs,” Lyons said. “We came here early this morning and our first runner and second runner are both freshmen, and they got their handoffs down awesome. And our last runner (Powers) just killed it.”
Healy, sophomore Brooke Franz, junior Grace Conrad and freshman Faith Krakowski were runners-up in the 4x800 to advance to Lexington. Meers and Healty both advanced in the pole vault, placing third and fourth, respectively.
That added up to a fifth-place team finish with 55. Orrville won with 126.
Buckeye’s boys finished second in the district with 95 points, trailing only Triway’s 104.
Junior Justin Canedy won the 100-meter dash and the high jump, and was third in the 200.
In the high jump, Canedy set a personal record when he cleared 6 feet, 6 inches. That made him an easy winner, finishing 8 inches ahead of the field and allowing him to jump by himself for about as long as he pleased.
“I’ve just been working on my speed through the jump and the consistency in my approach,” Canedy said. “Everybody was out at 6-foot, so I could just focus and it was kind of like practice for me.”
Canedy said finally connecting on the elusive 6-6 was nice, but was hit by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, instantly establishing a new pyramid for himself.
“It’s a great feeling, once you finally get there,” he said. “But then you want to go higher than that.”
Canedy also led a 4x100 team that included senior Richard VanBoxel, junior Adam Fauver and senior Michael Doerge to a fourth-place finish. VanBoxel got the meet going for the Bucks on the first day, winning the pole vault.
Sophomore Nathan Skalsky and senior Keaton Sandor finished 1-2 in the 100 hurdles to grab regional berths. Sandor came back to win the 300 hurdles. Junior Nick Scandlon placed fourth in the 800 to grab the final spot in that event.
Not a chance.
Thanks to some clutch performances by her teammates, with herself as the common link, Lyons indeed had three events to prepare for during regional week. In addition to her expected success in the 400-meter dash, Lyons also earned regional berths in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
“I feel awesome,” Lyons said. “In the 4x1 we were seeded seventh. The handoffs were on, which is what we were looking for. That was awesome. The 400 is right after the 4x1, so after running the 4x1 and going in the 400, I was really, really happy to qualify.”
Lyons was seeded third in the 400-meter dash. She wound up finishing fourth, but as she said, it was on the heels of another sprint.
In the 4x100 she teamed with freshmen Madisyn Meers and Paige Polidori and junior Marly Powers to finish second, this after being seeded seventh. In the 4x400, it was junior Megan Demagall, senior Olivia Hartley and junior Lydia Healy placing fourth.
“Yesterday the weather was so bad we didn’t get a chance to practice the handoffs,” Lyons said. “We came here early this morning and our first runner and second runner are both freshmen, and they got their handoffs down awesome. And our last runner (Powers) just killed it.”
Healy, sophomore Brooke Franz, junior Grace Conrad and freshman Faith Krakowski were runners-up in the 4x800 to advance to Lexington. Meers and Healty both advanced in the pole vault, placing third and fourth, respectively.
That added up to a fifth-place team finish with 55. Orrville won with 126.
Buckeye’s boys finished second in the district with 95 points, trailing only Triway’s 104.
Junior Justin Canedy won the 100-meter dash and the high jump, and was third in the 200.
In the high jump, Canedy set a personal record when he cleared 6 feet, 6 inches. That made him an easy winner, finishing 8 inches ahead of the field and allowing him to jump by himself for about as long as he pleased.
“I’ve just been working on my speed through the jump and the consistency in my approach,” Canedy said. “Everybody was out at 6-foot, so I could just focus and it was kind of like practice for me.”
Canedy said finally connecting on the elusive 6-6 was nice, but was hit by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, instantly establishing a new pyramid for himself.
“It’s a great feeling, once you finally get there,” he said. “But then you want to go higher than that.”
Canedy also led a 4x100 team that included senior Richard VanBoxel, junior Adam Fauver and senior Michael Doerge to a fourth-place finish. VanBoxel got the meet going for the Bucks on the first day, winning the pole vault.
Sophomore Nathan Skalsky and senior Keaton Sandor finished 1-2 in the 100 hurdles to grab regional berths. Sandor came back to win the 300 hurdles. Junior Nick Scandlon placed fourth in the 800 to grab the final spot in that event.