Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Girard’s Terri Gregory and Janaya Riley compete in the girls 100-meter dash during Saturday’s 30th annual Poland Invitational at Poland High School.

POLAND — Traditionally, a track meet ends with the 4×400 relay. Many finish with that iconic situation where teammates pass the baton with the meet on the line.

But the 30th edition of the Poland Invitational was different.

As the day went on and the temperature dropped on Saturday, a small group of athletes and spectators gathered to watch the boys discus. And they saw McDonald’s Drew Zajack clinch the invite for the Blue Devils with an attempt of 173-11 and first-place finish.

“I’m just very happy I was able to perform today for everybody,” Zajack said. “I’m happy I was able to put points up on the board for my team.”

The McDonald boys just edged out rival Mineral Ridge by a point. Zajack’s victory in the last completed event gave the Blue Devils 76 points, while the Rams had 75. Salem (66) was third, Maplewood (53) was fourth and Lowellville (45) rounded out the top five.

The Blue Devils led for most of the day. But Kaden Shaffer ran a 42.45 in the 300-meter hurdles to give the Rams the lead with four events remaining.

Lakeview’s Noah Engle won the 200 shortly after with a time of 22.27, but Matthew Domitrovich finished third with a 22.82. It was good enough to get the Blue Devils back in it.

“(Matthew Domitrovich) did extremely well,” McDonald boys coach Louis Domitrovich said. “He ran two PRs today. That helped us out tremendously, as well.”

Then, while Badger took the 4×400 with a 3:35.67, the Blue Devils finished fourth (3:38.67) to finish just ahead of fifth-place Mineral Ridge (3:38.67).

That set the stage for Zajack, who bested Mineral Ridge’s Jonathan Culp’s second-place try of 159-06.

McDonald also picked up a win when Joey Cappuzzello claimed the 1600 (4:36.55).

“It was nice to have the discus last today. Everybody had their eyes on (Zajack),” Louis Domitrovich said. “He’s the defending state champion in the discus. He did great, Joey Cappuzzello did great in our discus and our jumper today, Brenden Emerick, he did really well.”

Culp did best Zajack in one event. The Ridge sophomore won the shot put with a 57-00.75, while Zajack was second with 55-01.75.

Salem’s Lucas Adams won the long jump (21-11.25) and the boys high jump (6-02.00).

In addition to his win in the 200, Engle also won the 100 (10.89)

Maplewood’s team of Ethan Nevinski, Micah Sparks, Tyler McPeak and Andrew Donaldson combined to run 8:10.92 to win the 4×800 relay. Donaldson also picked up a win in the 800 (2:01.95).

Lowellville’s Nathan Yon took the 3200 with a time of 9:41.59. Teammate Drew Modelski added a win for the Rockets while clocking a 50.10 in the 400.

Crestview’s Joshua Smith won the 110 hurdles with a 16.28.

West Branch won the 4×200 with a 1:34.66, and Girard’s relay team won the 4×100 (44.79).

GIRLS

The girls’ side of the meet wasn’t as competitive.

Salem dominated the invitational, winning with 119 points. McDonald was second with 74, Mineral Ridge (46) was third, Garrettsville Garfield (44) came in fourth and Girard (41) took fifth.

The Quakers had 10 top-three finishes. The Salem first-place finishers were Addison Hopple in the 1600 (5:28.39), Madolyn Gorby in the high jump (5-00.00) and Karlie Sampson in the long jump (15-10.25).

“This meet is super important because a lot of the teams here are in our regional or our district,” Sampson said. “We’re gonna see them again later in the season, so it’s good to match up with them here in the middle of the season where we maybe haven’t peaked yet. It’s really good to see for the future.”

McDonald’s Naomi Sheesley accounted for the most points at the invitational, and was named the girls running MVP. She joined Juliana Krumpak, Addison Callow and Analisa Jasso to take the 4×800 (10:45.62), and then she was a part of the winning 4×400 relay (4:21.82). Individually, Sheesley won the 3200 (11:20.57) and the 800 (2:26.01).

Fellow Blue Devil Emma Bundy earned the girls field MVP after taking the discus (128-01) and finishing second in the shot put (37-00.00) to teammate Cierra Shiley (38-00.25).

Western Reserve’s Addison Becka ran 16.43 for first place in the 100 hurdles and added another victory in the 300 hurdles with a 47.79.

Chaney’s relay team ran 1:49.69 to win the 4×200, and Girard beat the Cowboys in the 4×100 with a 50.47.

SEATED DUO

There were a pair of seated athletes that also participated.

Garrettsville Garfield senior Conner Hunt beat Girard freshman John Lamm in the 100 with a 16.81. The two also competed in the 400, with Hunt winning again with a 1:01.41.