Staff photo / Neel Madhavan The Girard girls track and field team celebrates winning the team title at the Northeast 8 Track and Field Championships on Tuesday at Poland.

POLAND — The Lakeview boys team came into the Northeast 8 Conference Track and Field Championships on Tuesday with a chip on its shoulder.

The Bulldogs fell short of the conference crown each of the last two years, losing out on the team title to South Range. But this year, Lakeview was determined to get back on top of the podium.

The Bulldogs dominated the meet from start to finish, capturing the Northeast 8 title with 146 points to fend off second-place Girard (116 points) at Poland High School.

“We all had a bitter taste in our mouths that we let that conference title slip out of our hands last year at South Range. We wanted it so bad, and those guys, they needed this title,” Lakeview boys coach Sean Voorhies said.

“I told them, South Range, Poland, they will go to the very end of that meet to win. So we amped it up to another level. We’ve been talking about this for the last few weeks. We’ve got a lot of young guys on our team this year, and I’m trying to teach them the importance of this meet and bringing that title back to our school.”

Meanwhile, on the girls side, Girard continued its recent dominance at the Northeast 8 championships, coming from behind to capture its third consecutive conference title.

Lakeview jumped out to a lead in the points standings early. But then a little more than halfway through the meet, the Indians pulled ahead to win the title with 135.5 points over Lakeview’s 112 points.

“Three years in a row, so it’s like a triple crown for us,” Girard coach Jen Gassman said. “I think the multiple coaches that we have on staff really focus on every event and bring it all together, especially our sprinting staff. We just had a great team effort.

“Everybody does all their events. It’s not an individual win, it’s a team win. We come into this and we put girls in different events — I have a girl that ran four events in a row tonight, all distance. So it was just amazing. They all contributed today. Everybody knows that they have a job as a team.”

Lakeview’s Noah Engle was named the meet’s MVP for the boys, while South Range’s Taylor Dado was named meet MVP for the girls.

Individually, Engle won the 100-meter dash (11.00) and 200 (22.77), setting a meet record in the 100. He was also part of the Bulldogs’ winning 4×100 relay team, which also set a meet record (43.29), and the 4×400 relay team, which took third with a time of 3:50.16.

Dado also set a meet record, taking the 400 with a time of 59.05. She also won the 200, got second in the 100 and was part of the Raiders’ fourth-place 4×200 relay team and second-place 4×400 relay team.

“All the meet records and stuff show that these guys, they knew how important that league championship was, how much pride was on the line to take that back,” Voorhies said. “They stepped it up tonight. … It means they’re buying into my philosophy, which is, show up every day, pick out something that you can improve on and get better at. We picked a couple things out of our relay, and they set the meet record today.”

With county and conference meets behind them, local teams now turn their attention to the district meets next week.

“We put all the hard work in, now this is like we’re reaping the benefits of all the hard work,” Gassman said. “We train in the fall, we start lifting and then we do indoor track and train all through the season. This is where it pays off. This is where their dedication pays off.”

Following that, the regional meet is at the end of the month, and the state track and field championships wrap up the season June 4-7 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus.

“We always try to get as many people on our roster to that regional meet,” Voorhies said. “They redid the districts, and our district, it’s got some great competition. Salem’s good, Marlington is coming on down. It’s good, but I’m pretty happy with some of our guys. We got some good relays and we have a lot of thirds and fourths. We’ll nickel and dime — we may not win an event, but tell you what, fourths and fifths, with the scoring at these meets, that adds up.”

BOYS

In the relays, Lakeview won the 4×800 (9:03.44) and the 4×100 (43.29), and South Range won both the 4×200 (1:35.11) and 4×400 (3:40.70) races.

Poland’s Cody Collins took the 110 hurdles (17.84) and the 300 hurdles (44.56). Girard’s John Lamm won the seated 100 (21.94) and the seated 400 (1:31.59). Also, Girard’s Braxton Sloan won the 400 with a time of 51.16.

In the distance races, Girard’s Dylan Mirone took the 800 (2:12.48) and 1600 (4:56.04), while Lakeview’s Thomas Rawl won the 3200 (10:55.40).

In the field events, South Range’s Collin Engle set a meet record at 157-01 in the discus, while Poland’s Jonathan Tonya won the shot put with a throw of 50-00.50. Hubbard’s Rome Odem took the long jump at 20-02.50, and South Range’s Guido Miller won the high jump with a 6-00.00. Lakeview’s Luke Nixon and Liam Gavitt tied in the pole vault.

GIRLS

In the relays, Poland won the 4×800 (10:45.92), Girard won the 4×100 (50.76), 4×400 (4:22.00) and set a meet record in the 4×200 (1:46.41).

Girard’s Emily Ragozine won the 100 hurdles (17.25), while her Indians’ teammate Raegan Noel won the 300 hurdles (51.71). Also, Lakeview’s Marisol Easton won the 100 dash in 12.65.

In the distance races, Lakeview’s Claire Remmick took the 1600 with a time of 5:42.97, while Hubbard’s Taylor Rodgers won the 800 with a time of 2:31.98. Lakeview’s Kendall DeLeon rounded out the distance events with a win in the 3200 (13:09.07).

Finally, in the field events, South Range’s Cassandra Habeger won the shot put with a 31-08.00 throw, and her Raiders’ teammate Virginia Birkmire won the discus with a throw of 99-10. Hubbard’s Khamyah Howell then won the high jump (4-10.00), Poland’s Ashlynn Kushner won the long jump (15-05.25) and Lakeview’s Katherine Rider won the pole vault.