Riverside Track and Field Records 14 First Place Finishes at West Geauga Kurt Frankel Invitational

Photo by Al Kornspan

The Riverside Track and Field team traveled to Geauga County on Saturday for the West Geauga Kurt Frankel Invitational.

Taking on some of the most talented track and field athletes in Northeast Ohio, the Riverside Track and Field Girls and Boys teams won 14 events on the way to taking first place in both the girls and boys team competitions.

“It’s a joy and an honor to be able to be here and to be able to compete against such great teams,” said Riverside Boys Head Track and Field Coach, Kathy Babcock. “The boys and girls really did a fantastic job coming out with some different race strategies and testing them out today and they were very successful.”

 

 

Riverside Head Girls Track and Field Coach, Lisa Wade, added, “Some of the things that we like to highlight is that it is a total team win, and that our student-athletes represented very well in every single event.  We appreciate their hard work and we are blessed that we have a lot of depth in our charts and that we’re able to run, throw and jump very well in invitationals.”

 

As coach Babcock and coach Wade mentioned, Riverside has a very talented track and field team.

In total, the Riverside Girls Track and Field Team won nine events. In fact, Jayda White finished first in the 100m and 400m.

 

“It’s cold out here, so I just try my best to get out of the blocks fast and stay warm” said White after winning the 100m. Obviously it’s hard to run a PR in these conditions. So I just tried to do my very best that I could do. For today I am pretty happy with just getting first.”

 

Also recording first place finishes for the Riverside Girls Track and Field team were Allison Urbas (100m hurdles), Gabriella D’Amico (800m), Taylor Jasinski (3200m), and Sam Volpe (Discus, Shot Put).

The Riverside Girls Track and Field team also won the 4x100m relay (Hannah Carlson, Genayah King, Kaitlyn Koscho, and Rhys Shantery) and the 4x800m relay (McKenna Blore, Gabriella D’Amico, Taylor Jasinski, and Megan Sullivan).

Brady McKnight won the 100m for Riverside Boys Track and Field.

“It’s not the best conditions out today, but had a good drive phase,” said McKnight. “Once I stood up I felt really good and just pushed on the track and ended up getting first. It was great.”

 

In addition to McKnight winning the 100m for the Riverside Boys Track and Field team, also finishing first were Colin Borris (400m).

 

“It’s so nerve wracking, starting off getting in to my blocks and everything,” said Borris. “But as soon as I came out, the first 100 meters felt good. I felt good down the back stretch, and then once I started coming down I felt just very relaxed and calm through the last 100. It was a PR, so I couldn’t be happier. It was great.”

Brett Stephens won the Discus and Shot Put and the Riverside Boys also won the 4x200m relay (Colin Borris, Erren Conwell, Desmond Kirks, and Brady McKnight).

The Riverside Track and Field team is back in action on Wednesday as they will participate in a tri-meet with Madison and Willoughby South.