EAST PALESTINE - The finish line is in sight.
The local track and field athletes have prepared all year for this time of the season. While the local schools in Ohio are preparing for the final meets of the regular season, the schools throughout the state of West Virginia are preparing to compete in their respective regional meets.
Locally, Beaver Local, East Palestine, Lisbon, Southern Local and Wellsville will be competing at ITCL Champions this week, while Beaver Local will be competing at the AAC Championship Meet.
Article Photos
Wellsville’s Angelica Scarabino runs the third leg of the 4x100 relay during the Columbiana County Track Meet. The Tigers won the race with a time of 52.59. (Photo by Aaron Petchal)
Beaver Local will be competing at the AAC Meet today at Austintown Fitch High School. The meet is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. Southern and Wellsville will be competing at the ITCL Lower Tier Championship Meet at Western Reserve. The meet is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m.
East Palestine and Lisbon will be taking part in the ITCL Upper Tier Championship Meet at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The meet is being held at Crestview High School.
Following their respective league championship meets, Beaver Local and Wellsville will be taking part in a quad meet Friday at East Liverpool. Buckeye Local is also scheduled to take part.
Oak Glen will be taking part in the West Virginia Class AA Region 1 Meet at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The Beavers, Potters, Bulldogs, Blue Devils, Indians and Tigers all competed at the 109th Columbiana County Track Meet at Reid Stadium.
Beaver Local, East Liverpool, East Palestine, Lisbon and Wellsville all had athletes when county titles.
"There is always good competition at the county meet," Beaver Local boys and girls head coach Joe Carr said. "The kids step it up at every school. That was a nice race, the boys' 4x400. The girls' 4x4 was a nice race. There were a lot of nice races."
Confidence gained at the county meet often carries over into the rest of the year.
"I would like to think it will for some of them, but I think right now what we need is rest," East Liverpool boys head coach Scott Thornberry said. "We're going to massage our bruises and our sore legs the next few days. We will come back out to Columbiana on Saturday, and do the best we can out there."
The Potters best was winning the annual Clipper Invitational.
"I will probably back off a little bit," Thornberry said. "I have been running these kids four events. We probably have to back off them a little bit. We have that meet, and then we have our final home meet next week. Then, it is district time, so the season has gone by pretty quick."
