May 30, 1999

Top four relay and event finishers qualify for state meet

By Ed Fox
Sports Writer

FOSTORIA -- Championships were few and far between for area athletes at the Division III Regional Track and Field Meet at Fostoria Memorial Stadium Saturday.

St. Wendelin, which tied for second with Liberty Center in the boys meet with 47 points, won the 4 x 800 meter relay on Thursday to start the meet and Calvert, taking fifth with 38 points, closed it out with a win in the 4 x 400 meter relay.

Sandwiched between were a sprinkling of state qualifiers and several other near-misses as only the top four finishers in each relay and individual event qualified for the state meet at the University of Dayton's Welcome Stadium later this week.

Brad Hammer of Calvert and St. Wendelin's Luis Cortell qualified for state in four events while Calvert's Matt Hammer advanced in three events and the St. Wendelin duo of Brian Huber and Mike Smith go on in two events.

"On the boys side, it wasn't what we expected, but we qualified the people we thought we would," said Calvert head coach Stewart Behm. "We made it out in what we thought we would, just not where (placing) we thought we would.

The Senecas closed out in style as the team of Brad Hammer, Ryan Schumm, Todd Iannantuono and Matt Hammer won the 4 x 400 relay in a season-best time of 3:25.21, just shy of the school record 3:24.85 established last year.

Brad Hammer was also third in the 400 with 50.53 and fourth in the 200 with 22.86. He was also part of the 4 x 800 relay on Thursday which took fourth in 8:13.39. Joining him on that relay were twin brother Matt, Schumm and Josh Kerschner.

"It was a tough day. I went to state in three events last year. We got fifth in the 4 x 800 last year and so we didn't qualify in that event," said Brad Hammer. "I expected to go on in both the 400 and 200. I knew I had the second-fastest time in the 400 and third-fastest in the 200 going into the finals and I knew I was still going to have to work hard, but it was the difference between going to state and not.

"I felt I had recovered enough from not feeling well on Thursday, but I still wasn't 100 percent, but I'm still going on in four events and am happy about that. I'm always looking to win. I hate to lose. In both the 400 and 200, the guys who finished ahead of me had more at the end. We were just a little slower than last year with the (4 x 400) relay, but we're still on pace with that."

Matt finished second in the 800 with 1:55.68.

"I was in in position one because I had the fastest time coming in," said Matt. "The guy from Holgate (Kurt Michaelis) started getting away from me after starting his kick with 350 (meters) to go and I usually start my kick with 300 left and just couldn't get him. I wanted to run 1:55 and that's what I did. Todd and Ryan had great splits on the 4 x 400 relay. I got us off to a good start and really only had about a 25-minute break from the 800 to the relay. I think we are right where we want to be with the relay."

Senior Ian Cook just missed qualifying for state in the shot put with fifth place at 48-5 1/2 which was a season best.

"Matt didn't have an exceptional day and Cook just missing in the shot put was disappointing, but otherwise we made out pretty well," said Behm. "Brad fought a flu bug Thursday and Friday and he has four more days to get healthy for state. He had three races within a 40-minute span. The 4 x 400 relay is there. Brad was still feeling the effects of the flu. He had a good kick today, but not the kick he's capable of having. Todd, Ryan and Matt had tremendous races. Matt started it off with a 50, Ryan had a 52 and some change and Todd had 51 and some change and those were both PRs. We're geared to peak the last 10 days of the season and we had a lot of PRs today.

Werling was the only state qualifier for the Calvert girls with third in the high jump on Thursday.

The Senecas had several close calls.

Senior Sara Riley was fifth in the discus with 125-7 after earlier taking sixth in the shot put at 35-9 1/2. The 4 x 200 relay team of Joni Harvey, Sabrina Seitz, Ashley Deats and Werling finished fifth in the 4 x 200 relay with 1:48.79, the team of Riley, Deats, Ellen Ewald and Werling took sixth in the 4 x 400 relay with 4:12.43 and Deats was seventh in the 200 with 27.25.

"We had a few disappointments on the girls side," said Behm. "Riley just missed qualifying in the discus by inches and the 4 x 200 relay team was fifth, the 4 x 400 relay team was sixth, but had a school record by over a second. The efforts were definitely there today, but the places weren't. That's what's heartbreaking. I especially feel bad for the senior girls like Harvey and Riley. They're really hurting very much today. When they hurt, I hurt as a coach because I see their disappointment. In no way should they be disappointed, because they gave it their best effort and that's all you can ask for."

Cortell, a junior foreign exchange student from Spain, led St. Wendelin. He was second in the 400 with 50.37, third in the 200 with 22.72 and anchored the 4 x 400 relay which took third in 3:26.6. When he took the baton, the Mohawks were sitting seventh and he proceeded to pass four runners on the final lap of the event. Joining him on the relay were Aaron Lininger, Jerod Guillen and Brian Huber. On Thursday, Cortell anchored the 4 x 800 relay which won in 8:07.2. Matt Urbanski led off, followed by Mike Smith and Guillen.

Cortell was asked what he was thinking when he got the baton and he responded with "get first".

"I was thinking about taking my team to state. That was their dream," said Cortell. "I was most concerned about the 400, because no one had ever went to state from St. Wendelin in that event."

Huber was also fourth in the 110 high hurdles with 15.21 and Mike Smith was also fourth in the 1600 with 4:29.3.

"It was a good day, to say the least," said St. Wendelin head coach Brian Rosendale. "He (Cortell) is the best athlete I've ever had. He can do anything I want and has a great attitude to work with. He's the first in St. Wendelin history to go in four events.

"We had a couple firsts today. Luis is the first to go to state in the 400 and Brian is the first hurdler to qualify. Luis is also the first to go in the 200 and Mike is our first miler so we had a lot of firsts.

"This is as many events as we've ever been represented in. We've taken more kids before. We've taken 12 before. We've got seven kids in six events.

"We didn't know what to expect with Huber. He had a bad start today and was the last one out of the blocks and still came back to finish fourth. If we work on the start a little bit this week, he has a chance. So, that's encouraging.

"We knew coming in to that 4 x 400 relay that Liberty-Benton and Calvert had the two fastest times by far and four others were right around 3:29. We didn't figure we would be that far back (seventh) when Luis got the baton. That's the best anchor we've seen," said Rosendale.

St. Wendelin had others competing in the regional as Urbanski took fifth in the 1600 with 4:33.33, Huber failed to place in the high jump at 5-10, Matt Smith was sixth in the 800 with 1:59.41, Guillen did not place in the 800 and Urbanski failed to place in the 3200.

The Mohawks also had two girls competing with Dawn Kresser taking seventh in the 100 with 13.38 and Audre Reinhard was ninth in the 1600 with 5:48.77.