Lowellville’s Ballone breaks Mahoning County meet hurdles records

Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer. Lowellville’s Michael Ballone runs the hurdles during the Mahoning County Championships on Saturday.

AUSTINTOWN — Lowellville senior track standout Michael Ballone may have won all three of the individual events that he participated in at the Mahoning County Track and Field Championships on Satuday, but he still felt like he could have performed even better.

“In all honesty, I’m not really happy with my times and my performances,” Ballone said. “But that’s alright, we have bigger things to do and bigger fish to fry.”

Despite his disappointment, Ballone started the day with a first-place run in the Division II 110m hurdles, which he won with a time of 14.81. That mark broke the previous meet record of 14.90 that had stood since 1979. His time is also currently ranked in the top 25 in the state and was well ahead of second-place finisher, Springfield’s Dante Gentile, who ran a 16.37.

“I’m still adjusting a lot of things on my start to races, but all together, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting (time-wise),” Ballone said. “I got a meet record time in, so there is nothing I can complain about that.”

Much like the 110m, Ballone won the 300m hurdles by once again finishing ahead of Springfield’s Dante Gentile. Ballone finished the race with a time of 39.93, again putting himself in the top 25 in the state. Gentile finished with a time of 42.43. Again, Ballone broke the meet record of 39.98, which was set in 2008.

Ballone shook his head at the finish of the race.

“No, not happy at all,” he said. “I haven’t even checked my time at this point. … I’m pretty upset about how I ran. I messed up my steps and a number of other things. There is a lot to work on.”

Ballone would complete the trifecta with a first-place finish in the long jump, capturing the event with a mark of 19-6. That was well ahead of second-place finisher Jackson-Milton’s Ryen Romigh at 17-8 and South Range’s Tristan Toy at 17-4, who took third place in the event.

“I didn’t have my best jump today,” Ballone said. “I wasn’t exactly happy about how that event went, but it was good to get the win, and it was good for the team and to get the points.”

Ballone was also a late addition to the Rocket’s 4x400m relay team due to an injury. The Rockets would capture the event with a 3:28.18 time, again setting a new meet record, breaking a 1993 mark set by Springfield.

As a team, the Lowellville boys finished second in the team standings at the meet with 131 points. South Range won the Division II boys team title with 165 points, while Springfield was third with 94.

“As a team, we are struggling with some injuries right now,” Ballone said. “But if everyone does their part, we still have a chance to make a name for ourselves when June comes around.”

The brisk, windy conditions took a toll on the athletes.

“These aren’t the optimal running conditions, so you can’t expect to run your best times,” Ballone said. “It definitely hurt me in the long jump, and in the 300m hurdles, the wind really picked up. … Practice has been intense the past couple of weeks, so we know once we dial it back, that the times in each event will get to where we want them.”

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