FAIRVIEW PARK, Ohio -- The Pirates have planted their flag a few clicks south of their Double-R hunting grounds. Rocky River closed out a triumphant week in Fairview Park by sweeping Friday's Fairview Warrior Relays at Fairview Stadium. On both the boys' and girls' sides, the Pirates turned aside seven foes, and the twin wins came just 48 hours after the Maroon & White had swept the Warriors in Wednesday Great Lakes Conference action at the same venue. [Results]

On Friday, the River boys medaled in 12-of-13 events and tallied 93 team points. That edged the Pirates past Cuyahoga Heights (82) and host Fairview (74). The Maroon & White took first place in three events: 4x800-meter relay (Ruairi Zuercher, Greg Ganor, Grant Preto, Majid Abuaun ), 110-meter hurdles (Owen Kleckner), discus relay (Adam Maroon, Aiden Andrako, Abel Sereika). That "straight-As" trio in the discus finished second, third, and fifth, respectively, in the individual standings.

The Pirate girls won eight events (among 12 medals overall) en route to piling up 115 points. That total bested the Lakewood Rangers (104) by 11. Rocky River earned victories in the 1600-meter run (Sam Coleman), 800 sprint medley (Magda Greco, Caroline Sidoti, Sarah Saad, Taylor Byall), 4x8 (Saraa Abuzahrieh, Keira Arnold, Katie Stirm, Coleman ), 100 hurdles (Morgyn Cruz), distance medley (Abuzahrieh, Arnold, Julia Mafrici, Stirm), high jump relay (Sidoti, Madie Shoaf, Amelia Stalzer ), discus relay (Shoaf, Emily Morris, Lilly Newton), and shot put relay (Doris Kale, Morris, Kasey Flowers).

Schools competing at the meet were Rocky River, Fairview, Avon, Berea-Midpark, Cuyahoga Heights, Garfield Heights, Lakewood, and Olmsted Falls.

CANNON FIRE ...

THE 39 TICKS: Senior Sam Coleman, who placed eighth in the 1600 at the 2021 DI Ohio Track & Field Championships blazed her way to an impressive margin of victory in that event Friday. Coleman crossed the wire in 5:07.84, putting 39 seconds of daylight between herself and the runner-up.

SPINNING RECORDS: Three Pirate boys logged personal-best performances on Friday: Greg Ganor (4:31 in the 1600), Aiden Andrako (119-05.50 in the discus), Colin Slomka (5-08 in the high jump).

PIRATE PLUNDER: On the girls' side, the Pirates have now won the Fairview relay meet two years in a row. The River boys took second in last year's meet.



by Skip Snow

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