Fallsnewspress.com - Royals share spoils at states CVCA girls track ties with Columbus Bishop Hartley for Division II track and field title

RPC Photo / Michael K. Dakota Members of the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy girls track team, to the right, share the podium with Columbus Bishop Hartley after the two teams tied for the Division II girls state title June 6 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. Each team finished the state meet with 55 points.

by Michael Leonard

Sports Editor

Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy girls track and field coach George Hallis had to make one of the most important choices of his career.

With his team clinging to a two-point lead heading into the final event of the Division II girls state track meet -- the 1,600-meter relay -- Hallis chose to substitute senior Caroline Case with senior Jeanette Pettigrew in the third leg of the relay.

The move had the desired effect as CVCA finished third in the relay and allowed CVCA to retain the state title.

The Royals finished tied with Columbus Bishop Hartley with 55 points at states, claiming the Division II girls' state title for the second straight year.

The state meet took place June 5 and 6 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus.

After winning states by a comfortable margin last year, Hallis said he needed every part of this team to peform.

"This year, now it puts it in perspective that it's very hard to win an [individual] state title," Hallis said. "We won a state title without winning any individual events. It was a perfect example of team effort."

Indeed, all but one of CVCA's 13 girls who competed at states came home with at least one All-Ohio place.

Day one of the meet also showed off the Royals' depth in all areas.

In addition to third-place finishe in the 3,200-meter run sophomore high jumper Katie Defer continued to exceed expectations.

Defer finished fifth in the high jump with a height of 5-feet-3.

"Whatever I did down here, I was going to be happy with," Defer said. "Our team is absolutely amazing this year."

CVCA proved Defer's assessment as the Royals advanced to the final in all the sprint events except one.

Junior Taylor James finished fifth in her preliminary heat in 12.39 seconds, just missing a spot in the finals. However, Taylor advanced as part of the Royals' 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relay teams.

Lead changes
hands several times
on final day

Day two of the meet provided plenty of twists for the Royals, beginning with the pole vault.

CVCA had hoped to get two All-Ohioans in the pole vault. However, junior Sarah Rasnick had to settle for sixth place with a height of 10-9 after finishing as state runner-up last season.

Rasnick admitted she was still dealing with some mental issues in the vault after she suffered a broken back in a gymnastics' meet during the off-season.

CVCA freshman Morgan Kelly finished in off the podium in 13th place with a vault of 9-6.

CVCA came into the track events in third place, but Pettigrew started the Royals off well.

Pettigrew finished fourth in the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.49 seconds.

CVCA then took the lead after the 800-meter relay. The team of senior Brittainy Erby, freshman Chanel VanDyke, sophomore Lisa Worthey and James finished fourth in the relay, just missing a school record in a time of 1:43.79.

CVCA's 400 relay team of Erby, James, Worthey and VanDyke gave the Royals their biggest lead of the day. The quartet finished third in a school-record time of 49.75 seconds.

Although Bishop Hartley set a new Owens Stadium record in the event, CVCA had 37 points and were 15 up on Hartley in the team race.

Team race comes
down to the wire

However, things started to go awry for CVCA in the 800-meter run.

Case, who earned All-Ohio honors in the 800 last year, faded down the stretch and finished 10th in a time of 2:19.7.

Hallis said he was surprised Case didn't finish with a least one point from the event.

"That was when the scrambling began for us," Hallis said. "She just put so much into that mile that she didn't have anything left for the 800."

Things really got tense after the 200 for the Royals.

The good news was Pettigrew finished third in the 200 with a time of 25.12 seconds.

"She stepped up big," Halls said. "Even on a bad leg, she beat the girls who beat her at regionals."

The problem was Bishop Hartley's Chesna Sykes and Aisha Cavin finished first and second in the race, earning Hartley 18 team points and giving the a Hawks 47-43 lead.

Down by four points, Hallis needed a big performance from senior Katie Gillespie in the 3,200-meter run. Fighting through a case of anemia, Gillespie finished third to give the lead back to CVCA.

With a lead of 49-47 over Hartley heading into the 1,600 relay, Hallis told his team exactly what it needed to do.

"Whatever [Hartley] got, we had to be the team right behind them," Hallis said.

With Case having just run two races, Hallis went with Pettigrew in the third leg, along with Worthey, freshman Lauren James and Taylor James.

The move worked as the quartet bested its preliminary time by two seconds. setting a school record in 3:58.59 and taking third place. Hartley finished in second in 3:55.24, giving both teams 55 points.

"Those were the biggest two seconds in school history," Hallis said. "Taylor James ran her fastest split ever in the final lap. It was a battle for third and fourth with Shelby. Taylor told me 'All I thought about was I'm not letting my team lose.'"

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