Salem boys know the path to victory

Morning Journal/Matt Morrison
Beaver Local’s Jeremiah Moore, Salem’s Will Madison and East Liverpool’s Maddox Roach compete in the 1600 on Tuesday at the Columbiana County Track Meet.

SALEM — You could see from the start how much the Salem boys wanted to win the 120th Columbiana County Track and Field Meet on Tuesday.

Salem junior Marcus Phillips had his best long jump ever on the first attempt of the meet and the Quakers were on their way to regaining the county title.

Phillips’ leap of 20-feet-9 1/2 was the winning jump and sophomore teammate Lucas Adams finished second.

“What started the meet off was our long jump. They weren’t expected to go 1-2,” Salem boys coach Austin Noel said. “Marcus Phillips’ first long jump was a PR and he set the tone.”

The Quakers regained the county title with 132 points after finishing second last year . Beaver Local was second with 116 points, its most ever. East Liverpool was right behind with 114 1/2.

Salem has won 14 of the last 15 boys titles.

“Going the whole year without winning this meet — it was a sore subject when it was brought up,” Noel said. “It feels good to be back.”

The Quakers have won 20 of the last 21 times the county meet has been held at Sebo Stadium, formerly known as Reilly Stadium.

“We have a sense of Quaker pride when we put on our jerseys,” Salem senior Will Madison said. “We all came here and wanted to compete.”

“There’s something about being at your home track,” Noel said.

Salem had only four wins, but scored in every event and was second in three relays.

“I was expecting it to be very close with East Liverpool and Beaver Local,” Noel said. “We had to be perfect today. You start to see every point counts.”

Madison won the 1600-meter run (4:28.8) for the second time and added a first place in the 800 run (2:00.45).

Salem sophomore Hunter Owen won the shot put with a personal-best 48-feet-8.

“We exceeded our expectations in a lot of events,” Noel said.

“Our team has really worked hard,” Madison said. “Getting this victory is the result of the hard work. We wanted to come here and compete our best.”

When it was all over, the Quakers were raising their 66th and latest county championship trophy.

“It felt amazing,” Noel said.

Meet notes

¯ Beaver Local junior Jeremiah Moore took high-point honors in the running events with 25 1/2 points. He was first in the 3200 run (10:05.86), second in the 1600 run, third in the 800 run and ran on the third-place 3200 relay team.

¯ United junior Danny Milburn won four events and scored 25 points. He was first in the 100 dash (11.38 seconds) and 200 dash (22.90) and joined Kollyn Wells, Cayden Pitts and Mason Laibe on the winning 400 relay team (44.67) and Kollyn Wells, Braden Schwartz and Cayden Pitts on the winning 800 relay team (1:33.11).

¯ United junior Trent Ellyson captured high-point honors in the field events with 14 points. He won the discus (147-0) and was fifth in the shot put.

¯ East Liverpool’s middle-distance crew showed its strength. Junior Quintin Conrad won his second straight county title in the 400 dash (51.55); Gavin Wright, William McHenry, Quintin Conrad and Julius Jones won the 1600 relay (3:31.89); and Brody Vulgamore, Zayvier Wynn, Maddox Roach and Julius Jones won the 3200 relay (8:21.20).

Wright also won the 300 hurdles (43.47).

¯ Wellsville junior Tyrell Watkins repeated in the 110 hurdles (16.30). He was leading the 300 hurdles until tripping over the next-to-last hurdle and finished third.

¯ Beaver Local junior Isaiah Boyd won the high jump as he matched his personal best at 6-foot-2.

¯ Salem’s 132 points are the fewest for the Quakers since scoring 104 points in 2008.

¯ The Quakers have finished first or second every year since 1986, except for 2003 when East Liverpool won its last county title.