When it comes to track, it’s always about who ran the fastest, jumped the highest or threw the shot or the discus the farthest. But sometimes there are stories, GREAT, INSPRATIONAL STORIES, that don’t have to do with who won.

For instance, I remember watching the local news in the fall, I think it was, and there was an amazing story about a young lady (she may have been from the Youngstown area), who was competing in the state high school cross country meet and was almost near the finish line. Then came a gruesome sight. She broke her leg on the course and fell to the ground.

But this young lady had the courage and fortitude to crawl and limp her way to the finish line, despite being in obvious pain.

It was a story of incredible self-will. This young lady needed medical help, but she didn’t want it. She was withering with pain but she wanted to finish that race, and if you watched the video, you couldn’t help but get a little emotional, knowing she was in a world of pain. But watching her will her way to that finish line, regardless of the pain she was experiencing, was breathtaking and moving.

The yound lady gave a great television interview a few days later and it was great to see she was doing well and was in good spirts. I think she even joked that all she was thinking about, when she went down, was that she wasn’t going to be able to dance at her sister’s wedding later that night.

I witnessed another incredible story, but it didn’t involve injury. A few years ago I was covering a regional track meet at Ravenna and the Copley girls were favored in this particular relay event. As the race began, Copley was right there, as expected. But during one of the exchanges, the baton was dropped and the team was out of the race.

The young lady who dropped the baton was devasted. I mean, I had never seen an athlete more distraught. What I found out later was that the young lady was only a sophomore and there were two seniors on that relay team. The sophomore felt she had blown it for the seniors because it was their last chance to make it to state.

She was on the infield of the track, as the race was still going, slumped over an emotional ball.

She just shuddered and shook as she cried.

Then, former Copley standout Carrie Dyer, who was a senior and on that relay team, ran to the young runner to comfort her.

Then the rest of the realy team followed.

To me, that was one of the most inspirational stories I had ever witnessed.

The sophomore was heartbroken. But she was heartbroken because she cared about her teammates and wanted to perform at her best so that it would help the seniors.

It didn’t happen. But when it didn’t happen, the seniors weren’t mad, bitter or upset. They showed support for their younger teammate because they loved her. And in the end, winning didn’t matter.

So, with that, I’m asking readers to post any inspirational stories you witnessed, in track or any other sport, that didn’t involve someone winning.

A story where someone overcame odds to get where they are. Or a story about teammates helping one another.

Those are the most compelling stories.

Here is some cross country analysis as leagues/conferences hold their championship meets and the state championships approach.

Louisville senior Kyle Kling and Medina junior Donny Roys have each been impressive runners this season, but there are still several teams that have a good collection of talent and other individuals that are having success.

The cross country teams at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy and Woodridge are two examples of squads that have consistently fared well at invitationals this season, in addition to Louisville, Medina, North Canton Hoover Green, Jackson, Louisville, Hudson, Crestwood, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Vincent-St. Mary and Walsh Jesuit.

CVCA and Woodridge have front-end talent and depth that make them a contender at each meet.

CVCA has been led by juniors Katie Gillespie and Kyle Sullinger. The girls and boys teams each placed first recently at the Legends Meet at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds.

Gillespie and junior Carolyn Case have paced the Royals girls squad with freshmen Joy Talbott, Irene Frangos and Hannah Lyons also being key contributors. The girls team placed first in September at the Division II Boardman Spartan Invitational.

Sullinger and sophomores Ross Crocker and Mark Talbott have paced the Royals boys squad.

The Woodridge girls’ squad was second to CVCA at Boardman. The Bulldogs have been led by juniors Emily Sabo, Erin Mercer and sophomore Becca Howdyshell.

The Woodridge boys’ team won the Division II Boardman Spartan Invitational in September behind senior Brian Himelright, who placed first. The Bulldogs have also received significant contributions from juniors Michael Rhodes and Joe White, seniors Tony Marette and Matthew Weiss and freshmen Jimmy Charles and Vibus Sivakumaran.

This Saturday several leagues will be holding their championship. The City Series and Suburban League will be running at Goodyear Metro Park in Akron.

The Firestone boys will look to defend their title after winning the past four titles and five out of the past six. The Ellet girls will look to win the title for a sixth season in a row.

The North Canton Hoover Vikings boys and girls cross country squads each won team championships Saturday at the 2007 Cloverleaf Colt Pack Invitational.

Hoover senior Adam Stackpole won the boys “Varsity Green” race with a time of 16:11.88. Walsh Jesuit senior Jonathan Shepherd placed second with a 16:28.02

Four Vikings placed between ninth and 12th: junior Zach Goulet, sophomore Sergi Cribben and Parker Queen, and senior Nick Stroemple.

Hoover sophomore Tyler Stackpole placed 14th and junior Andy Motz was 33rd.

Walsh Jesuit junior Chelsea Oswald won the girls “Varsity Green” race in a time of 18:31.69.

Hoover sophomore Erin Garfield placed second with a time of 19:27.69 Vikings sophomores Allison Peare and Sarah Tirrell were fifth and sixth, and freshman Megan Monte finished eighth.

Freshmen Sara Polatas (14th) and Stephanie Rosso (20th) rounded out the Vikings top seven with senior Suzie Semroc (90th).

**Note — There will be additional cross country items later this week regarding several schools, such as: Medina, Green, Jackson, Louisville, Hudson, Woodridge, Crestwood, St. Thomas Aquinas, CVCA and Waterloo. Stay tuned.

I met new North football coach Ken Johnson Monday afternoon. Look for a feature story about Johnson to appear in the Beacon Journal sometime this week.

Johnson, who replaced Tom O’Neil, said he’s averaging about 42 to 45 players at summer conditioning workouts. Johnson said that is an increase from the past few years.

I also talked to O’Neil on Monday. He said he stepped down after 12 seasons as head coach of the Vikings football team to spend more time with his four children (ages 2 to 11).  O’Neil said he will coach boys and girls cross country this fall at North even though the Vikings did not have a team last season.

Johnson, who has been an assistant at North for the past 15 seasons, is optimistic even though the Vikings were 1-9 last season.

“We had a lot of key players injured last year,” Johnson said. “Our star running back Larry Dawson was injured pretty much the whole season. He’s back and healthy this year and our offense is basically focused around him.”

Dawson, 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.4 seconds at the University of Akron’s football camp. Johnson said Dawson is the most highly recruited player at North in the past 15 years. Dawson has already received offers from the University of Akron, Army and Bowling Green State University, Johnson said. Dawson also carries a 3.8 grade-point average.

Johnson said Dawson reminds him of DeShawn Brown, a former standout running back at North and the University of Akron in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 

“Larry Dawson reminds me of DeShawn Brown,” Johnson said. “I think DeShawn got a lot of records here, and I’m looking for Larry to break a lot of them.”

Larry Dawson