Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer. Girard’s Nic Bengala leaps over a hurdle during the 27th Annual Poland Invitational on Saturday. Bengala won the 300 hurdles event.

POLAND — For an athlete, it’s not all about the wins and losses. Sure, you want to win, but a lot of the drive is to test yourself.

To feel the adrenaline of athletic competition.

When that ability to compete is taken away from an athlete, it can be devastating. Girard’s senior Nic Bengala has experienced that feeling firsthand.

Last fall as the starting quarterback of the Indians football team, Bengala suffered a broken collarbone in week six against South Range. Not only did it end his season, but it also marked the end of the Indian’s undefeated season up to that point.

He was having an outstanding senior season, throwing for 1,318 and 11 touchdowns in only five and a half games, more than his entire junior year. He had also rushed for 554 yards and another six scores before the injury sidelined him. The Indians finished 3-3 after his injury, bowing out of the OHSAA playoffs in the second round.

But with the spring sports season, Bengala had a new lease on life. He had a chance to feel the thrill of athletic competition once again.

“It feels amazing,” Bengala said. “To be a competitor again for moments like this. To be back in the competitive environment is just amazing.”

Bengala enjoyed the opportunity Saturday afternoon at the 27th Poland Invitational track meet at the David Pavlansky Stadium by winning the 300 meters hurdles with a time of 40.71. He bested Lowellville’s Michael Ballone at 41.38, and teammate Antonio D’Ambrosi at 41.47.

He placed fourth, behind Ballone, Boardman’s Brady DiPietro and Harding’s Devon Morgan in the 110 hurdles with a time of 16.58.

Bengala also ran on the Indians’ 4 x 100-meter relay and the Indians’ 4 x 400-meter relay team. Both relay teams were disqualified for a dropped baton.

“There are a lot of good athletes here, big competition. So, you want to get in here and do what you got to do and try to get a couple of medals,” he said with a chuckle.

Although Bengala’s athletic career in football was cut short, he will soon get a chance to continue it at the next level.

He has signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Pikeville in Kentucky in the fall.

“It keeps me in shape and helps me to get faster and helps me to compete,” Bengala cited as why track is so important for him to participate.

Track and Field have also given him an opportunity to resume the thrill of athletic competition, something that was abruptly taken away from him.