Maplewood’s Alex and Andrew Donaldson excel at districts while McDonald sweeps
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CUYAHOGA HEIGHTS -- Running runs in the Donaldson family.
Alex and Andrew Donaldson's father and uncle both ran for Maplewood when they were in high school. Now, the younger Donaldson brothers are carrying on the running tradition for the Rockets.
Alex, a junior, and Andrew, a freshman, both posted strong showings on Friday at the Division III district track and field meet at Cuyahoga Heights.
First, the duo were both part of Maplewood's district winning 4×800 and 4×400 relay teams. Maplewood's Brandon Calderwood and Bryson Himes were the other legs of the 4×800 team, while Himes and Isaac Jones were both part of the 4×400 team.
Then, Alex took first in the 1600 and 800, while Andrew finished third in the 1600. They both now advance in each of those events to the Division III Northeast Regional track meet at Norwayne next week.
"It makes me feel good that both of us could qualify in the same events -- it shows that we're both pretty good at it," Alex said. "(It was) pretty much the same thing that my Dad and his brother did -- they both ran together and qualified, just like us."
The pair have a unique dynamic. They run for the same team and run alongside one another in relays, but at the same time, they are opponents and compete against each other in the individual races.
"It's pretty cool being able to run with him and against him," Alex said. "We really are competitive, so at home you hear about it a lot. But once we get out there together (at meets), we're working together, but still working against each other so that we can make each other better."
Even though they run against one another, they still look out for each other.
"I don't think they look at each other as opponents," Maplewood coach David Deeter said. "Even some of the people they race against, that they race against all the time, they look at those people to help them go faster. So they use that to their advantage."
As a freshman, this is Andrew's first year running at the varsity level. Alex said he likes to see his brother try to figure things out on his own, but he's always available as a resource and mentor for Andrew whenever he needs it.
"If he's struggling somewhere, or isn't getting to where he wants to be, that's when I help him out," Alex said. "But for the most part, he does a lot on his own, and still comes to me for questions."
Andrew said that Alex is always pushing him to continue to get better and better. Alex also gave Andrew a key piece of advice that has helped Andrew drastically as he made the jump from running in middle school to running at the high school varsity level.
"I've learned that more than anything about running, you also have to be lifting," Andrew said. "(Alex) has improved a lot (because of it) and it got me into lifting, as well. I feel like it made me from when I was okay in eighth grade to (the level) where I'm competing at now."
Now that the duo are on their way to regionals, they're both hoping to qualify for the state meet in Columbus from there.
"We've been training really hard for the last two months," Alex said. "Our main priority is getting top four in the 4×800 at state, then individually whatever we can do. We're really gunning for that 4×800 to get down there to (Columbus) and do some damage at state."
FLERE IN A FLURRY
Kylie Flere is just a small part of the large faction that is the McDonald track and field team, but she played a significant role in helping the Blue Devils sweep both the boys and girls team district titles on Friday.
The McDonald girls won the team title with 177 points, 90 points more than second place Garfield. Then the McDonald boys finished with 132 points, 52 more than second place Maplewood.
"It's really great just to be able to see our hard work pay off, to be honest," Flere said.
Flere dealt with a minor injury earlier in the spring season, but has bounced back in a big way.
"I got over it in about a week and I've had a great season," Flere said.
The sophomore was part of the Blue Devils' district winning 4×400 and 4×800 relay teams, along with Lillian Cappuzzello, Juliana Krumpak and Rita Domitrovich. Then Flere also helped the 4×200 team to victory along with Domitrovich, Jessica Hansen and Melinda Brown. Individually, Flere also won the 400.
"I'm just happy for me and my team," Flere said. "We worked very hard to get here and it showed."
SPEEDY WARRIORS
Brookfield's Christian Davis and Aiden Jones are no strangers to running fast.
They each utilize their speed on the football field for the Warriors, while Jones even brings it to the hardwood in basketball as well.
However, they get to put their speed on full display in track.
At Friday's Division III district meet at Cuyahoga Heights, they took turns.
Jones took first (11.12) in the 100 and second (22.94) in the 200, while Davis finished second (11.27) in the 100 and first (22.57) in the 200. Then, they came together to get first in the 4×100, along with Brookfield teammates Brett Carsone and Ta'Hari Wester.
"It's nice -- (Davis) is really my main competition, and I care about him doing well, too," Jones said.
Davis joked that Jones is the fastest runner he knows.
"(Jones) always pushes me to be a better runner," Davis said.
Going forward, in addition to hoping to qualify for states, Jones and Davis said they both hope to set the Brookfield school records in the 100 and 200.
ANOTHER RECORD FOR RICHARDS
Multiple-time state champion and Maplewood star Caleigh Richards continues to add to her already historic running resume.
Posting a sub five-minute time in the 1600 (4:56.88), Richards shattered the Cuyahoga Heights district meet record of 5:06 that she set herself last year.
Richards took the lead by a sizable margin right out of the gate, and maintained it for all four laps around the track, even as McDonald's Megan Hipple stayed closely on her tail.
Richards was also part of Maplewood's second-place 4×800 and 4×400 teams and she finished second in the 3200, finishing 15 seconds behind Hipple, who won with a time of 11:43.55.
Hipple also won the 800. Richards and Hipple now qualify for next week's regionals in each of those events. Should they both advance to states, Richards will look to defend her state title in the 1600, while Hipple will try to defend hers in the 3200.
nmadhavan@tribtoday.com