Staff photo / Dan Hiner. Boardman’s Blake Daniels competes in the high jump during Wednesday’s All-American Conference Track and Field Championship at Austintown Fitch.

AUSTINTOWN — It’s been several years since the Boardman track and field program swept the All-American Conference Championship.

But with dominant performances from its boys and girls, Boardman took both titles for the first time since 2021 on Wednesday at Austintown Fitch.

The Spartan boys won with 123.5 points. Howland was the runner-up with 73.5, Fitch was third with 66, Canfield took fourth with 56 and Warren G. Harding was fifth with 33.

On the girls’ side, Boardman had 150 points. Fitch was second with 112.5, Howland finished third with 38, Canfield was right behind in fourth with 34 and Harding was fifth with 16.5.

It was a familiar outcome for the Boardman girls. The Spartans won their eighth straight conference crown.

“It’s one of those meets that we circle because it’s a really, really good tuneup for the postseason, and hopefully we have something good happen for districts, regionals and state,” Boardman girls coach Rick Sypert said.

As for the Boardman boys, it was a return to the top. The Spartans had some battles in the past with Fitch, but the Spartans didn’t leave any doubt this year as they claimed their first AAC championship since 2021.

“We’ve had some heartbreaker years — couple points here, couple points there making the difference. Our focus this year has been every event, every point, everything matters, and from start to finish, our guys were locked in,” Boardman boys coach John Phillips said. “We overperformed in a lot of areas tonight, we did our job in a lot of areas, and I’m so proud of the effort these guys gave tonight.”

Boardman started the day with an 8:24.99 to take the 4×800. The Spartans added another win in the 4×200 with a time of 1:30.09.

The Spartans added to their lead when Dylan White ran 4:41.60 to take the 1600. And shortly after, Robrick Taylor was clocked at 49.72 to win the 400.

Adam Nigro continued the Spartan surge with a 2:03.72 to claim the 800. And the Spartans finished the distance events with the top two times in the 3200, with Jonathan Burgos-Perez (10:03.48) winning and Dominic Theodore (10:04.34) ending as the runner-up.

Then they picked up a field victory as Blake Daniels was measured at 6-02.00 as the winner of the high jump.

A victory in the boys’ 4×400 brought an end to the day for the Spartans, officially marking their conference win with a 3:29.50.

One of the keys to the Spartans’ success started last week. On May 5, the Spartan boys and girls swept the Mahoning County Championships. The event was held at Fitch, just like the league meet, so it gave the athletes some insight into their performances at the facility.

Now the Spartans can return home with some hardware for the first time in a few years.

“When we were in the Federal League, it was us and GlenOak. It was us and GlenOak butting heads year after year after year,” Phillips said. “That’s a great program over there, and in this league, it’s Austintown. We butt heads with them year after year after year. It’s really good to get this one.”

A DECADE OF DOMINANCE

The Boardman girls have won the league title every year since 2017, with COVID-19 canceling the 2020 meet and rain washing out the 2024 championships.

Gigi Angiuli and Olivia Brady led the way for the Spartans in the girls’ half of the meet.

Angiuli claimed the 100 for Boardman with a 13.16. She followed it with first-place finishes in the 100 hurdles after going 15.97, 47.54 in the 300 hurdles and 27.48 in the 200.

Brady added another top finish for the Spartans after running 5:20.03 in the 1600. Later in the day, Brady ran 2:28.02 to win the 800.

“Olivia Brady, she’s one of our best distance runners,” Sypert said. “She was all-state in cross country. She’s starting to build upon that here in track, starting to light it up.

“Gigi, she won four events today. She set our school record in the 300 hurdles earlier this season. She had a really good camp in the winter. Really proud of her efforts.”

Boardman also had the two top times in the 400, with Kealia Bravo (1:02.81) winning and Ava Gaps (1:04.25) finishing second.

Just like with the boys, the Spartans also had early success in the relays. The 4×200 won with a 1:49.76, and the 4×800 combined for a 10:18.75.

In the field, Julia Forbes (108-02) and Liliana Ison (105-04) took the top spots in the discus. The Spartans also had the top-three finishers in the shot put as Ison (35-06.00), Gwen McClain (33-01.50) and Damarria Tubbs (33-01.50) picked up a handful of points in the event.

Boardman concluded its day with a win in the 4×400 relay. The Spartans ran 4:17.78 in the final girls event.

“They were having fun and doing really good things,” Sypert said of his girls. “Really happy for our girls, but really excited for our boys. It’s the first (conference championship) they’ve gotten in a long time.”

OTHER BOYS WINNERS

Canfield’s Donnie Ferko bested Harding’s Matthew Richardson by 0.02 in the 100. Ferko won with a 11.27. He added another top finish with a 22.67 in the 200.

Kellan Halcomb threw 60-04.00 to win the shot put for the Cardinals, and again took first with a 156-10 in the discus.

Richardson got an early field victory after leaping 20-04.25 in the long jump, for Harding’s lone first-place finish.

Howland got the top spot in the 110 hurdles when Gianmarco Mavasi ran 15.09. Mavasi also won the 300 hurdles by going 39.84.

The Tigers also ran a 43.96 as the winners of the 4×100, and Carter Nielsen went 11-00.00 to take the pole vault.

Howland’s Kellan Shipman competed in several seated events. He posted a 21.04 in the 100, a 1:08.84 in the 400 and 2:25.56 in the 800. In the shot put, he threw 20-07.25.

OTHER GIRLS WINNERS

Fitch’s Ayanna Williams registered a 5-00.00 for first in the high jump, and Lilly Trolio took the 3200 with a 11:50.16. The Falcons also saw Keneisha Russell, Kyndra Lake, Briah McArthur and DeAira Smith run 51.76 to win the 4×100.

In the field for the Falcons, Mallory Whorten recorded an 8-00.00 to take the pole vault and Smith (15-03.75) and Kayla Clinkscale (14-11.50) were the top finishers in the long jump.