Bucks steady, if not outstanding
Girls track team has depth, lacks superstars
Buckeye’s girls track team hopes to place high in the Patriot Athletic Conference this season. Photo by LIFETOUCH PHOTO
Buckeye’s girls track team historically has been a team that has been competitive at most levels, but never world beaters. That trend seems to be underway again this year. The Bucks have the athletes to compete across the board, but not enough big scorers to win much.
The Bucks are coming off a solid 2016 season in which they finished third in the Patriot Athletic Conference among 11 teams. They had no conference champs but had a host of runners-up, the majority of whom are back this year, including multiple sprint relay foursomes.
They had nine athletes advance to regionals a year ago, though none made it to the state meet. Of the nine, only two graduated. Another pair did not come back.
Back from that group are junior sprinter Katie Lyons, a two-event regional qualifier, and classmate Marly Powers, who also made it to Lexington in a pair. Kelsey Verhoff, a senior who has been a relay specialist for several seasons, also returns, along with junior distance runner Grace Conrad, freshman distance runner Brooke Franz, and senior high jumper Olivia Hartley.
Hartley has been a study in frustration, qualifying for regionals three times in the high jump but always running into a loaded field.
Others to watch for this year include senior Bella Serio (sprints); junior Cami Iman (sprints, hurdles), Lydia Healy (sprints, pole vault) and Megan Demagall (hurdles); sophomores Brooke Sara Koeth (distance), Abbey Weyls (sprints), Abby Bennett (throws), Emily States (throws), Lexi Kondrich (sprints), Maddie Roschival (distance), Rayne Rasco (throws); and freshmen Faith Krakowski (distance), Dakota Burrell (distance), McKenzie Shelton (throws), Madisyn Mears (pole vault), Paige Polidori (sprints), Mackenzie Vacha (sprints) and Julia McGivern (sprints).
“We have a ton of young talented athletes this year,” Bucks coach Ashlee Strang said. “They are working hard and improving every week. We should be pretty competitive in some relays but the next couple of weeks will tell us which ones.”
Everyone on that list competed in multiple meets thus far this season. The Bucks last week came in 13th out of 16 teams at the Triway Invitational. Earlier they played seventh among 14 teams at the Bill Dodd Invitational in Parma.
“We’ve been by plagued injuries with some key athletes,” Strang said. “Those are thankfully starting to subside and we’re really starting to hit our stride. Our next couple of meets will really tell us what we’re competitive in and how far we think we can go.”
The Bucks had a couple more tune-ups scheduled before heading to Oberlin College on May 9 and 11 for the PAC meet. They’ll be back at the Orrville Division II District this year, with the Lexington Regional to follow. They opened the year in the loaded Strongsville Elite Meet. They didn’t score well, but that was expected, given the competition.
By the time they hit the PAC meet, they should be in good position to make a run toward the top in many events. Keystone is the likely favorite in the PAC, but Buckeye is right in the mix for the next spot.
“We want to place high in our conference this year,” Strang said. “If we can get everyone healthy I think that’s possible. We also are looking to send a bunch of kids to regionals. That would make it a good year.
“We haven’t seen a ton of teams from our conference yet this year but there’s usually several strong teams. We’re hoping to do well in our conference meet.”
The Bucks are coming off a solid 2016 season in which they finished third in the Patriot Athletic Conference among 11 teams. They had no conference champs but had a host of runners-up, the majority of whom are back this year, including multiple sprint relay foursomes.
They had nine athletes advance to regionals a year ago, though none made it to the state meet. Of the nine, only two graduated. Another pair did not come back.
Back from that group are junior sprinter Katie Lyons, a two-event regional qualifier, and classmate Marly Powers, who also made it to Lexington in a pair. Kelsey Verhoff, a senior who has been a relay specialist for several seasons, also returns, along with junior distance runner Grace Conrad, freshman distance runner Brooke Franz, and senior high jumper Olivia Hartley.
Hartley has been a study in frustration, qualifying for regionals three times in the high jump but always running into a loaded field.
Others to watch for this year include senior Bella Serio (sprints); junior Cami Iman (sprints, hurdles), Lydia Healy (sprints, pole vault) and Megan Demagall (hurdles); sophomores Brooke Sara Koeth (distance), Abbey Weyls (sprints), Abby Bennett (throws), Emily States (throws), Lexi Kondrich (sprints), Maddie Roschival (distance), Rayne Rasco (throws); and freshmen Faith Krakowski (distance), Dakota Burrell (distance), McKenzie Shelton (throws), Madisyn Mears (pole vault), Paige Polidori (sprints), Mackenzie Vacha (sprints) and Julia McGivern (sprints).
“We have a ton of young talented athletes this year,” Bucks coach Ashlee Strang said. “They are working hard and improving every week. We should be pretty competitive in some relays but the next couple of weeks will tell us which ones.”
Everyone on that list competed in multiple meets thus far this season. The Bucks last week came in 13th out of 16 teams at the Triway Invitational. Earlier they played seventh among 14 teams at the Bill Dodd Invitational in Parma.
“We’ve been by plagued injuries with some key athletes,” Strang said. “Those are thankfully starting to subside and we’re really starting to hit our stride. Our next couple of meets will really tell us what we’re competitive in and how far we think we can go.”
The Bucks had a couple more tune-ups scheduled before heading to Oberlin College on May 9 and 11 for the PAC meet. They’ll be back at the Orrville Division II District this year, with the Lexington Regional to follow. They opened the year in the loaded Strongsville Elite Meet. They didn’t score well, but that was expected, given the competition.
By the time they hit the PAC meet, they should be in good position to make a run toward the top in many events. Keystone is the likely favorite in the PAC, but Buckeye is right in the mix for the next spot.
“We want to place high in our conference this year,” Strang said. “If we can get everyone healthy I think that’s possible. We also are looking to send a bunch of kids to regionals. That would make it a good year.
“We haven’t seen a ton of teams from our conference yet this year but there’s usually several strong teams. We’re hoping to do well in our conference meet.”