EAST LIVERPOOL - The Golden Bears came out of hibernation in a big way.
The Oak Glen boys and girls track teams ran away from the competition Tuesday in a quad meet at the Frank J. Mangano Olympic Memorial Track at East Liverpool. The Golden Bears won the boys meet by 43.5 points, and they won the girls meet by 82.5 points.
Oak Glen finished first in the boys meet with 125 points, East Liverpool ended up second with 81.5 points, Toronto placed third with 20 points and Madonna finished fourth with 17.5 points.
"I am very pleased with our overall performance in the first meet of the year," Oak Glen boys head coach Rance Everly said. "Practice after practice after practice, and it is nice to finally get on the track against some good competition over here tonight.
"I am very pleased with a lot of our times. Over all, I think our kids did great. They battled all night long, and I am very proud."
The Golden Bears finished first in the girls meet with 140 points, the Potters were second with 57.5 points, the Red Knights ended up third with 31.5 points and the Blue Dons finished fourth with 21 points.
"I think the girls did real well tonight," Oak Glen girls head coach Diane Wells said. "This was the first meet out, and I thought we turned some half-decent good times. Some of the young kids performed really well."
East Liverpool girls head coach Tonyea Roberts said her team put forth a solid showing at their first meet of the season.
"Yeah, for the first meet it's not too bad," she said. "I wasn't disappointed with how the first meet went. We want to continue to improve throughout the season."
The Oak Glen boys won nine events, the Potters won seven events and the Red Knights won one event.
Josh Weltner won three individual events to lead the way for Oak Glen. Weltner won the 200 (24.0), the 400 (54.1) and the long jump (20-00).
Also for the Golden Bears, Chris Bailey won the 100 (12.10), Kyle Mack won the 110 hurdles (17.90) and Ethan Delekta set a school record in winning the discus (159-01). Delekta also held the previous school record.
Oak Glen also won three of the five relay races. The Golden Bears won the 4x100 (47.30), the 4x800 (9:23.1) and the shuttle hurdles (1:07.1).
"It is very nice to get a meet in for sure," Everly said. "It has been so nice out, and we have just been itching to get on the track for a meet, so it is nice to finally get one in. We will go from here, and hopefully we will better our times from here on out."
Nate Boyer and Shae Long each won two individual events for the Potters. Boyer won the 1600 (4:51.4) and the 3200 (10:11.3). Long won the 800 (2:16.6) and the high jump (5-06).
East Liverpool also won two relay races. The Potters won the 4x200 (1:38.2) and the 4x400 (3:48.2).
"We got out-depthed tonight," East Liverpool boys head coach Scott Thornberry said. "Oak Glen had a lot more than us. We did what we could. We scored where we thought we would. They just have got more people than us.
"That Weltner kid had a nice meet. Well, he had a nice long jump, and he is pretty good on the track.
"We had some bright spots. Obviously Nate Boyer, and he was disappointed in his 3200 time, but he ran a pretty good race. Taking his time, he ran 10:11.
"I was pleased in spots. We need some work obviously. Our throwers had a rough day, but they will get better."
Aaron Thompson was the lone individual winner for the Red Knights. He won the shot put (45-01).
The Oak Glen girls won 12 events, East Liverpool and Toronto each won two and Madonna won one.
For the Golden Bears, Alex Burch won three individual events to lead the way. Burch won the 100 (13.2), the 200 (26.8) and the 400 (1:03.5).
Kelsey Chambers, Jennifer Ferguson and Amanda Clark also won individual events for Oak Glen. Chambers won the 1600 (5:56.7), Ferguson won the 3200 (13:28.5) and Clark won the shot put (30-03). Finally, Paige Smearman and Amy Webster won the hurdles' races. Smearman won the 100 hurdles (17.4) and Webster won the 300 hurdles (51.0).
The Golden Bears also won four of the five relay races.
Oak Glen won the 4x100 (55.7), the 4x2 (1:54.3), the 4x800 (11:00.1) and the shuttle hurdles (1:12.2).
Wells said her girls met her level of expectation heading into their first meet of the season.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact our times were a little bit faster today than what they were last year in some of the events, but overall I think it was a really good meet for us," she said.
Jordi Warrick was the lone individual winner for the Potters. Warrick won the 800 (2:39.8). East Liverpool won the 4x400 relay (4:46.3).
"I would have liked to have seen our field events do a little better, but Oak Glen is always tough," Roberts said. "They always have a good squad. Jordi did well in the 800. She had a really nice run. We had a good 4x8 start, but then we trailed off a little bit at the end. Our 4x4 did well.
"Oak Glen is always tough."
Emily Price and Erica Price each won an individual event for the Red Knights. Emily Price won the high jump (5-0) and Erica Price (14-1) won the long jump.
Taylor Pavan won the lone event for the Blue Dons. She won the discus (91-02).
This was the second meet of the season for the East Liverpool boys. The Potters finished third at the Early Bird Invitational Saturday at the Harding Athletic Complex.
Both East Liverpool teams will return to the track Friday as the Potters host their Early Bird Relays. Oak Glen returns to the track Saturday at the Doan Ford Invitational held at Union Local
