Lady Panthers sizzle in LEL, District meets

When it comes to the running events, few area track performers can keep up with the Euclid Panther girls in the sprints, hurdles and sprint relays. And girls’ track coach Larry Nosse was obviously hoping they’d keep up their sizzling pace at the regional meet at Austintown Fitch.

In recent weeks, the Lady Panthers have delighted their coach with one surprising effort after another—setting new personal records (PRs) and improving relay times with regularity. Take the 4x400 relay team, for example. In early May, the quartet of Erin Rambo, Taylor Rambo, Artia Gunn, and Tchanavia Spencer won that event at the Euclid Relays in 4:06.1, a time that would bring a smile to most any coach’s face. Then, about a week later, they covered the 4x400 distance in 3:57 flat in the Lake Erie League championship meet at Cleveland Heights.

“That was probably the biggest surprise of the LEL meet,” Coach Nosse says. “They ran a great race and their time was just seven seconds off the school record.”

Proving that it was no fluke, the Euclid girls turned in another superb performance in the recent Division I district meet at Mentor—clocking 3:57.4 to beat runner-up Mayfield by a full seven seconds.

The Rambo-Rambo-Gunn-Spencer tandem also captured first-place medals in the 4x100 and 4x200 events at the district meet, giving the Panthers a sweep of the sprint relays. Adding icing to the cake, the 4x800 relay squad—Emily Sweet, Cecelia Kochevar, Emily Conger and Hannah Mirra—also qualified for the regional meet by placing third in 10:02.3, slicing 16 seconds off of their previous best time.

You’d have to guess that, by now, Coach Nosse has come to expect what he used to call “pleasant surprises.” Back at the Euclid Relays, Kochevar, Conger and Sweet teamed with 400-meter ace Taylor Rambo to place second in the distance medley relay. “They ran about 40 seconds faster than I thought they would,” the coach noted.

Sweet, a junior who starred on the Panther cross-country team last fall, has likewise been steadily lopping off chunks of time in her 3,200-meter events. At the Euclid Relays, she lowered her PR from 11:48 to 11:25, as she finished second. “That’s a big drop,” Nosse emphasizes. “Then, she dropped it another seven seconds-- to 11:18.7—in winning the LEL meet.”

Not content with that time, Sweet continued her improvement pace as she captured the district 3,200-meter crown with yet another PR time of 11:12.7, coasting to the finish line a full 26 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

No doubt, Panther track fans who enjoy the speed events can’t get enough of Artia Gunn, Tchanavia Spencer and the Rambo girls. At the Mentor district meet, Gunn blazed to a first-place medal in the 100-meter hurdles n 14.8 seconds—the first time the junior had ever cracked the 15-second barrier. Senior Erin Rambo won the 300 hurdles in 46.86 seconds, edging Chardon’s Kirsten Liggett at the wire.

Erin’s junior sister, Taylor, added to the Panthers’ point total by placing third in the 200-meter dash in 25.78 seconds.

Also qualifying for regionals was Mahogany Stitt, who cleared five feet in the high jump to place fourth. The top four in each event advanced. As a team, the Lady Panthers totaled 82 points at the Mentor district to finish fourth out of 14 teams, despite a lack of firepower in the field events.

The Panther boys’ team didn’t fare nearly as well at Mentor, finishing in 10th place with 25 points as Glenville edged Willoughby South, 95-90, for the district title.

Coach Scott Gay’s team did, however, produce one regional qualifier in John Jackson, who posted a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter dash in 22.7 seconds, just one second off the winning time of 21.7.

In the LEL championship meet on May 14, Coach Gay’s crew enjoyed a larger measure of success, placing fourth in the Lake Division with 94 points. (Mentor topped the field with 210.) In that meet, Javon Johnson earned two first-place medals—one for winning the 300 hurdles in 40.9 seconds and another for running a leg on the winning 4x200 relay team. Also contributing to that relay victory were John Jackson, Carl Jones and Josh Scott.

In individual events, Jackson placed second in the 200-meter dash (22.5) and third in the long jump (20 feet, two inches). Joe Farley earned a runner-up medal in the discus with a heave of 124-6, and Austin Williams finished second in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.9 seconds. Also, the Panthers’ 4x200 relay unit sped to a first-place finish.

For the girls, Gunn was a double winner in the LEL meet, taking the 100 hurdles in 15.2 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 46.2 seconds. In the 300-meter event, Gunn edged teammate Erin Rambo at the wire to give Euclid a 1-2 finish. Gunn also ran on two winning relay teams.

Contributing additional points in the LEL meet were: Erin Rambo, second in the high jump; Taylor Rambo, third in the 400 meter dash; and Ashli Price, third in the long jump.

After the meet, Coach Nosse nominated Gunn for the girls’ Lake Erie League MVP award. “She should have a good shot at it,” the coach said.