River’s Duke Headed To State Again
Pilots standout moves on in two eventsBy RICH GIBSON
NAVARRE, Ohio - River's stellar senior D.J. Duke is returning to the Ohio state track meet.
Not exactly front-page news, considering the Pilots strongman is defending Division III shot put champ.
Duke barely worked up a sweat Friday afternoon at Fairless High en route to establishing a new regional mark in his specialty event.
The Ashland University-bound Duke blew away the field with a first-place effort of 61-feet-7, 1/4 inches. Earlier in the week, Duke was fourth in the discus (159-7), also good for an appearance next weekend in Columbus.
Duke's mark in the shot Friday was well off his previously set state standard of 66-7, a feat he has legitimate hopes of shattering at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The closest challenger to Duke on Friday was Garfield Heights Trinity's DeVon Blackwell, who settled for runnerup plaudits with a 52-5 1/4 heave.
Duke was not the lone area regional champion at Friday's event. Buckeye Trail's talented Ethan Snyder is a two-time state qualifier after winning the 300-meter hurdles and finishing second in the 110 highs.
Snyder's 38.84 clocking was not far off his personal best time of 38.76.
The Warriors' ace was a shade (14.64) behind 110 champion Tyler Nichols of Gates Mills Hawken who captured the event in 14.61.
Snyder's twin brother, Isaac, meanwhile, was sixth (39.81) in the 300 event and eighth in the 110 at 15.68.
St. John Central's Luke Holubeck turned in a personal best 9:34.77, enabling the Irish junior to place runner-up in the 3,200-meter run.
Unfortunately, Holubeck's teammate and fellow 3,200 distance ace, Sam Foster, was saddled with a disqualification infraction.
"They (officials) said I crossed (the white line),'' the Wake Forest University recruit revealed. "I don't ever remember being (DQ'd) before, but it probably wouldn't have mattered because I was in fifth place.''
Earlier in the week, Shadyside's David Bonar placed fourth in the pole vault (13-3) and is state bound.
Steubenville Catholic Central's boys produced an array of outstanding efforts en route to registering a fifth-place finish, compiling 31 points in a 41-team field.
Central's Lance Westlake heads to Franklin County following a sharp third-place (11.04) clocking in the 100-meter dash. Teammate John Murray was sixth.
Murray, however, in his first season of competition, gutted out a sterling stretch run in the 200-dash for fourth place (22.58) to join Westlake.
The Crusaders are sending a pair of relay units to Columbus.
Murray and Westlake served as bookends on SCC's third-place (1:31.27) 800 unit which included Cody Minor and Joey Zapolnik.
Stanko's sprinters were fourth, meanwhile, in the 400 with Murray, Minor, Zapolnik and Westlake coming home in 44.04.
Caldwell High's Tyler Cordell is also Capitol City bound following a runnerup performance in the 800-meter run. Cordell 1:56.85 clocking was second only to Warren JFK's Michael Perisa who produced a 1:56.16.
Garfield Heights Trinity held off Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas, 65-60 for the overall boys' team title. McDonald (37) and Kirtland (34) were third and fourth, respectively ahead of Steubenville Central.
