The early returns for North Royalton’s girls track team have been about what coach Don Bazzo expected: consistent inconsistence. The Bears have been good in the big weekend meets, not quite as good in duals.

That’s a sign they have some good athletes at the top, but not enough of them to beat what is a pretty crop of Suburban League National Conference teams head-to-head.

The Bears finished second at the Bill Dodd Invitational in Parma, trailing SL rival Nordonia.

They placed third at the Lakewood Ranger Relays. North Royalton then finished third in the 16-team Triway Invitational.

All three meets had decent fields, but nothing like the Bears will face either in the SL-National meet or the postseason that follows. They should, though, have a decent postseason, similar to last year.

The Bears finished seventh last year in their first year of Suburban League competition. They had no more luck in the postseason, placing ninth among 12 teams.

They still managed to have five athletes advance to the Amherst Division I Regional. That included current junior distance runner Elise Chojnacki, who made it in the 800-meter run.

Chojnacki flirted with advancing to state in the 800 when she finished in fifth place at Amherst. She was less than three seconds away from qualifying in the half-mile race. Three of the four who advanced were seniors.

Chojnacki, off to a good start this season, won the 800 and led the winning 4x800 team at the Bill Dodd Meet.

“She’s having a good year,” Bazzo said. “She’s been good with not too much competition. She’s got some speed, too. She could be a decent 200-meter runner. She works hard. She goes up to a mile if need be. She’s going to be a force in the conference.”

The others at the regional comprised the 4x100 relay. That group included current junior Destiny Williams, sophomore Juliet Rayer, senior Lexi Chuppa and the since-graduated Taylor Badamo, who was the team’s best sprinter last year.

Williams has battled injuries early and Bazzo hopes to have her at full strength by the postseason.

“We’re not real deep with the sprints,” the coach said. “She’ll help if she comes back healthy again. She was the difference last year with that relay team.”

Another major scorer will be Chuppa, who is headed to Ashland to compete in track next year. Chuppa won the long jump at the Dodd and the Ranger Relays. Weather conditions have kept her marks down, but Bazzo expects her to contend for a state berth.

“She’s part of our mainstays with sprinters, too,” Bazzo said. “The weather hasn’t been very conducive to long jumping. She’s had a little back injury too. They’re kind of easing her back in a little bit.”

Chuppa leads a senior class that includes Sophia Zozulia (throws), Jackie Clegg (jumps) and Rachel DiFrancisco (jumps, pole vault). Chojnacki heads up a junior group that features Kayla O’Donnell (hurdles), Jessica Harsoulas (hurdles), Lauren Kovach (sprints) and Chazzlyn Jackson (sprints, jumps).

Rayer is part of a sophomore group that will get points from Mackenzie Morgan (distance), Tayah Christian (sprints), Avery Wilkosz (distance), Hanna Prezenkowski (throws), Julie Bleschmid (throws), Grace Goodman (pole vault), Julie Knapik (pole vault) and Rachel Long (throws).

Bazzo has high hopes for Christian.

“She’s coming on pretty good as part of the relays,” he said. “We put her in the hurdles and she’s a pretty decent hurdles and she never hurdled before. She ran the 300s the other day and ran low-50s, which is a pretty good start.”

Freshmen Ashley Chippy (distance), Jenna Fenohr (distance), Megan Garnet (distance), Emily Pace (hurdles), Alex Doehrmann (distance) and Katie Colabianchi (jumps) all have seen weekend action throughout the early part of the year.

“We’re looking for kids to fill some gaps,” Bazzo said. “You beat somebody on Tuesday, we’ll put you in on Friday and Saturday.”