By Ray Sarvis
FPS Correspondent
If the Carrollton Lady Warriors’ dual meet against Beaver on April 1 was a warmup for their appearance at the F.E. Cope Invitational, hosted by Salem on April 4, you can consider them warmed up.
Carrollton dominated the Beavers, easily winning 91-37 as the Lady Warriors won all four relays and had multiple individual winners, including double medalists Kaylee Russell (throws) and Kylie Ujcich (hurdles/distance).
Russell dominated in both the discus (74-4) and shot put (30-8), winning both with distance to spare. Joining Russell as a champion in the field events was Evelyn Beck, who grabbed gold in the long jump with a leap of 14-2.
Gabbie McCort led a Carrollton sweep in the 1,600 (6:13), while her sister Olivia also led a clean sweep in the 800 (2:55.2). They say good things happen in threes, and that was the case for Carrollton as Ujcich led yet another sweep—this time in the 3,200 (12:45).
Ujcich also won the blue ribbon in the 300 hurdles with a time of 52.24, and Izzie Nuzzolillo rounded out the lengthy list of winners with her time of 1:11 in the 400.
The Lady Warriors flexed their strength by winning all four relays. The lineup of Marleigh Osolin, Erin Shafer, Nuzzolillo and Emma Shafer was victorious in both the 4×100 (52.9) and 4×200 (1:52.51) relays. In the 4×400 relay, the lineup of Beck, Stewart, Addison Keyser and Nuzzolillo also won, clocking in with a time of 4:53. Lastly, Carrollton made it a clean sweep in the 4×800, as Eddy, Kuhn-Goodspeed, Bartlow and McCort finished first in 11:46.
Having sailed to victory, the Lady Warriors next faced off against 15 other teams in the Cope Invitational and placed a respectable ninth with 22 points. Host Salem was the girls’ team champion with 115 points, while Austintown Fitch placed second (91) and Wadsworth was third (86).
Among the events that included Carrollton athletes placing eighth or better, Ujcich led the pack with a second-place showing in the 3,200-meter run, clocking in at 12:12.33. Both the 4×100-meter relay and the 4×200-meter relay—featuring Osolin, Erin Shafer, Nuzzolillo and Emma Shafer—placed fourth, the 4×100 in 52.63 and the 4×200 in 1:52.18. Carrollton’s 4×800-meter relay also competed, placing seventh in 12:21.22.
In the high jump, both Ujcich and Railey Macke finished at the same height of 4-6, but Macke placed eighth while Ujcich finished ninth. Finally, Russell placed eighth in the shot put with a toss of 29-9.75.