Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Austintown Fitch sophomore Brayden Bryant reacts after winning the boy’s 100-meter dash regional title with a time of 10.77s. Bryant also qualified for state as a member of the Falcons 4x100 relay squad.

AUSTINTOWN — The Falcons felt at home sprinting, spinning and zooming around their nest.

Athletes from Austintown Fitch, Warren G. Harding, Canfield, Howland and Boardman flocked to Greenwood Chevrolet Falcons Stadium for the finals in the Division I, Region 1 meet Friday evening.

Six different Falcons over four events earned the right to compete at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium next weekend on the campus of the Ohio State University.

Brayden Bryant set the tone early, earning himself a regional title during the boys 100-meter dash, clocking a time of 10.77 seconds. It’ll be the sophomore’s second consecutive state appearance in the 100, while also helping the Falcons earn a spot in the boys 4×100 relay.

“Coming out, I knew I had to come out and win,” Bryant said following his 100 victory. “I just had to execute my start, trust my race, don’t look at anybody to my left or right, and you see what happened.

“It feels great. Last year I got third (at regionals). I just wanted to come back and be on that first-place podium, it feels amazing. I was a young dude, I was a freshman last year, so I knew I had to step up and show the juniors and the upperclassmen that I was a big dog and that I could compete with them.”

It was some of that sophomore magic that helped guide a 4×100 relay of three seniors and Bryant to a tie for third place and an automatic bid for Columbus at 42.27.

“Honestly, I didn’t think our 4×100 was going to have a chance this year because we had a lot of injuries that were on our 4×100 this year. We had a senior last year, so we didn’t know what was going to happen,” Bryant said. “It came down to the last meets before the postseason. We got our team together and now look at us, we’re going to state. I’m just blessed with my guys here.”

The group of seniors Treavion Davis, Robert Maderitz and Zack Reents along with Bryant first ran together at the AAC meet less than a month ago. Finding some of that chemistry in a flash, the Falcon quartet qualified amongst steep competition with Aurora, GlenOak and Walsh Jesuit.

Davis was the first leg of the race.

“It really came to a wire, we all had good exchanges, couldn’t ask for a better race,” Davis said. “It’s pretty exciting, a lot of our races were in bad weather. We just stepped up.”

Maderitz was the third leg, and credited chemistry for the speedy relay squad.

“We all go out to eat together, we practice together, we play the game together, that accounts for what we do as a 4×100 and as a team as a whole,” Maderitz said. “I would say (being the third runner) is pretty hard, you have to follow up on what Brayden does. He’s really good, and then handing off to the anchor, it all comes together. It’s really hard.”

Reents was the Falcons’ anchor and eyed the live results on the scoreboard with nerves, waiting for his team’s time to pop up in that top four.

“He wanted to move Brayden (to the second spot) so he can run faster, and almost catch people up, so I feel like that was smart. But as the anchor, it’s a lot of pressure, especially when you’re just running away from everybody.” Reents said.

Bryant added, “We had difficulties trying to find a 4×100, trying to put one together, trying to find who to put at the right spot, but we found it, found who we’re going to go with and it just works.”

Elsewhere on the track, senior Deonte Stallings earned regional runner-up honors during the boys 110 hurdles, running a time of 14.17.

Despite being a senior, injuries and setbacks plagued Stallings over his track career, but a ticket to Columbus is finally within his hands.

“Going into this, we just had to be confident. There was nothing to it, just the same thing we’ve been doing all season. But for me, I’ve been having a lot of hamstring issues, so I had to really lock in and work on my technique,” Stallings said. “It’s kind of like a mindset, if you run scared, you’re going to hurt yourself. So I just run normally, don’t think about it, or else you’re going to hurt yourself.

“For me, I’ve never made it this far in my four years of being here, all due to injuries and other stuff, but running today meant something to me. It’s a big accomplishment, it’s a personal best and season best, there’s more to come along the way.”

Over at the throws area on the south end of Falcons Stadium, Fitch senior Meghan Vadas tossed a mark of 131-11 feet in the girl’s discus to earn regional runner-up honors herself, clinching her second consecutive state appearance.

The aforementioned mark was achieved on her first throw of the competition.

“Just going out there with that mentality to have that best first throw, really hits me and gave me the confidence to know that I’m there and I earned it,” Vadas said. “It takes a lot of the pressure off and the nerves. The nerves can really destroy you in anything you’re doing. After setting that good mark, through, those nerves and pushing through that really helps me.”

Vadas also competes in the pole vault, but didn’t qualify for regionals, allowing her sole focus to be on the ring this past week.

“It was mentally challenging for me all year, being able to push through that. I didn’t qualify for regionals in the pole vault, and I immediately had to go throw disc,” Vadas said. “Being able to push through that mentally and go, you need to lock in here and you need to do what you know how to do here. Being able to walk off as the district champion last week, it was really amazing.”

ALSO COMPETING IN FINALS

Davion Herron (Harding, senior), 13th, 5-10 feet, boys high jump. … James Mitchell (Boardman, junior), seventh, 52-10.25 feet; John Vaughn (Fitch, sophomore), ninth, 50-1.75 feet; Amir Ali (Canfield, senior), 11th, 48-6.50 feet; Kellen Halcomb (Canfield, freshmen), 12th, 47-4.50 feet, boys shot put. … Sarah Bero (Boardman, senior), fifth, 118-9 feet, girls discus. … Gianmarco Malvasi (Howland, junior), sixth, 14.92, boys 110 hurdles. … Olivia Brady (Boardman, sophomore), sixth, 5:05.46, girls 1600. … Alex Taranto (Canfield, sophomore), 14th, 4:34.55 and Dylan White (Boardman, sophomore), 16th, 4:37.91, boys 1600. … Robrick Taylor (Boardman, sophomore), sixth, 50.05, boys 400. … Justin Sahli (Fitch, senior), fifth, 1:54.26, boys 800. … Donnie Ferko (Canfield, freshmen), fifth, 22.03, boys 200. … David D’Altorio (Boardman, senior), eighth, 9:30.27, boys 3200. … Boardman girls 4×400 (Abbi Mihok, Gina Dinapoli, Olivia Brady, Mia Duble), eighth, 4:06.61.