Bulldog girls track stays perfect in County division

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by Steve Batko

Correspondent

Without a single loss in the history of the Portage Trail Conference, the Woodridge girls track team finished the third season of the PTC on May 6 with its third straight undefeated season.

"The girls performed extremely well in every event and beat good East Canton and Garrettsville teams pretty handily," said Woodridge coach Jeff Howard.

Woodridge defeated Garfield 86-42 and East Canton 88-49.

Woodridge has not lost a dual meet since April of 2005 and is on their way to a third consecutive PTC County Division title.

The PTC dual win completes half of the PTC County title share as the other 50 percent will come from the PTC Championships, set for May 15 and May 17.

Semifinal action is set for May 15 at 4 p.m. at East Canton while the finals are set for Ravenna Stadium at 10 a.m. on May 17. Final results of the May 9 Jackson Twilight Invitational were not available as of this writing.

Waterloo is a club with some strong athletes who could place high at the PTC Meet as head coach Frank Rossi recently won his 300th career dual meet.

Victories in all four relays paved the way to another dual win for Woodridge, which has showed that it's more than just a distance running team.

Torrential downpours, key injuries -- and proximity to prom -- were not enough to prevent the Lady Bulldogs from stealing away with the first place trophy at the 12th annual Cortland Lakeview Invitational on April 3.

Erin Mercer was honored as the Most Valuable Track athlete of the Lakeview meet as she led the girls to the championship. Mercer anchored the winning 3,200-meter relay team, won the 1,600-meter race, captured the 800-meter crown, and ran on a second-place 1600 relay.

Howard also had praise for senior twins Julia and Danielle Dougherty.

"Julia and Danielle persevered and sacrificed as they continue to show why they are the heart and soul of the women's program here," said Howard, speaking of senior leadership on and off the track.

Woodridge won fairly easy 105-88 over defending champion Lakeview. Chagrin Falls was a distant third (59).

Mercer won the open 800-meter race with a time of 2:24.27 as the Lady Bulldogs ran 1-2 with freshman standout Morgan Willis (2:27.86). Mercer captured the 1,600 (5:23.67) in beating NDCL freshman Liz Weiler (5:29.37).

The 3,200 relay (10:05.90) also included Danielle Dougherty, Willis, sophomore Sarah Dickinson, and Mercer as the anchor.

Also winning was the 800 relay (1:53.29) that cruised to a win with junior Sarah Martter, freshman Maria Moore, Maria, freshman Kasie Durkit, and Julia Dougherty.

Danielle Dougherty placed second in the 300 hurdles (48.85) while her sister, Julia, placed sixth. Also running second was the 1,600 relay (4:21.45) of Willis, freshman Alyssa Whiddon, Mercer, and Moore. Danielle Dougherty also was fifth in the 100 high hurdles (17.10).

Julia Dougherty finished third in the high jump as she cleared 4-10. Martter ran fourth in the 100 (13.96) and fifth in the 400, just behind Moore (1:03), who was fourth.

Sophomore Becca Howdyshell was fifth in the 3,200 with a clocking of 12:49.01. Junior Kathryn Beacham was sixth in the discus (88-09) and was 11th in the shot put.

E-mail: stowsports@recordpub.com

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