Correspondent Photo/Lowell Spencer. Michael Barone of Lowellville runs the hurdles at Saturday's Mahoning County Championships.
AUSTINTOWN — Lowellville senior track standout Michael Barone may have won all three individual events he competed in at the Mahoning County track and field championships on Saturday, but he still could have done better. I felt that I could have done it.
“To be honest, I'm not too happy with my time or performance.” Barron said. “But that's okay, we have better things to do and bigger fish to fry.”
Despite the disappointment, Barone started the day with a first-place run in the Division II 110-meter hurdles, winning with a time of 14.81 seconds. This record broke the previous competition record of 14.90 seconds, which had stood since 1979. His time also currently ranks in the top 25 in the state, well ahead of second-place finisher Dante Gentile of Springfield University at 16.37 seconds.
“We're still adjusting a lot of things for the start of the race, but overall it wasn't as bad (time-wise) as I expected.” Barron said. “I set a tournament record time, so I can’t complain about that.”
Just like the 110 meters, Barone won the 300 meter hurdles over Springfield's Dante Gentile. Barone finished the race with a time of 39.93 seconds, placing him once again in the top 25 in the state. Gentile finished in 42.43 seconds. Once again, Barone broke the meet record of 39.98, set in 2008.
Barone shook his head at the end of the race.
“No, I'm not happy at all.” He said. “I haven't even checked my times at this point. … I was pretty pissed off with the way I ran. I took some steps wrong and a lot of other things. There's a lot to work on.”
Barone took first place in the long jump, winning the tournament with a record of 19 wins and 6 losses, earning him his third consecutive title. This result was significantly better than the 17-8 record of Jackson Milton's Ryen Romai, who placed second in the tournament, and the 17-4 record of South Range's Tristan Toy, who placed third in the tournament.
“I didn't have the best jump today.” Barron said. “I wasn’t too happy with how that event went, but I’m glad we won and it was good for the team to get some points.”
Barone was also delayed in joining the Lockett 4×400 meter relay team due to injury. The Rockets won the meet with a time of 3:28.18, breaking the 1993 mark set by Springfield and once again setting a new meet record.
As a team, the Lowell Bill Boys earned 131 points and placed second in the team standings of the tournament. South Range won the Division II boys team title with 165 points, while Springfield took third place with 94 points.
“The team is currently struggling with injuries.” Barron said. “But if everyone does their part, we still have a chance to make a mark come June.”
The balmy and windy conditions took a toll on the players.
“These are not optimal running conditions, so you can't expect to run your best times.” Barron said. “I was definitely sore in the long jump, and the wind picked up in the 300 meter hurdles. … We’ve been practicing hard the past few weeks, so once we get back into shape, our times in each event are where we want them to be.” I know you will.”
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