Beachwood’s Dakota Houston leads CVC Chagrin team title race with four courageous afternoons of individual events – News-Herald

Beachwood poses after winning the team titles May 8 during the second day of the CVC Chagrin meet in West Geauga. (Chris Lillstrung – The News-Herald)

Long after the rest of the conference contingent left the CVC Chagrin meet on May 8 at West Geauga, Beachwood was still there to savor what he had accomplished.

West G may not be bison territory. But this time, it was their domain.

And no one owned that moment like Dakota Houston.

One of the preeminent multi-event performers in the News-Herald’s coverage area throughout her decorated career, the Beachwood senior pulled off a rare feat that any contemporary could appreciate in its difficulty: Open 1. Open 2. Open 4. Long jump. Somehow EVERYTHING went well.

For the Bison, it was part of a job well done across the board.

Beachwood swept the CVC Chagrin team titles, with the girls recording four day two wins and 141.5 points to avoid Chagrin Falls (134) and the boys also with four day two titles and 146 points to win. away from Harvey (115).

Houston swept the 100 and 200, captured the long jump and finished second in one of the best races of the afternoon in the 400. A quad like that is enough to make your hamstrings ache. legs at the mere thought. But Houston was not about to give in.

“Freshman and sophomore year, I had the 4×1, the 4×2 and the open 1 back to back,” Houston said. “Me running the 4, it’s a lot of strength and conditioning not only physically but also mentally. And this year, I really wanted to go all the way and help the girls come first. So we changed our controls and I ran wide open.

“I’m just happy I got enough points for the girls. I got 38 points for the girls. I’m just glad we can all come together and do some good today, boys and girls.

Houston began her long but brilliant day by landing the long jump with a best effort of 17 feet, 3 inches. She is the third women’s long jumper in the coverage area to surpass 17 this spring, along with Mentor’s Kylie Coleman and Geneva’s Caramia Boland, and realizes the importance of reaching a 17 before district.

“Usually in tri-meets I just focus on technique, reaching and getting up,” Houston said. “This year, everything really came together. My second jump was a foul, but it was definitely like a high-17, maybe even an 18. But I’m really hoping for district this year, I can qualify for regional and just top district.

She has been faster this season in both sprints, with a 2024 News-Herald best coverage area of ​​12.24 in Open 1 at the Woodridge Wrapup last weekend and a 25.20 that is second behind the Euclid’s must-see Eve Clark in open 2. But as part of a four-a-list event like this, Houston is always impressed.

The senior clocked 12.44 seconds in open 1, in which she was a Division II state qualifier as a sophomore in 2022, and ran a 25.58 in open 2.

“I was very surprised,” Houston said of being that deep inside the 25 after an open 4. “Because a lot of people were saying, ‘Outside of that curve, you’ve done really well.’ The thing is, I just know that whatever the meet, I can win by 10 seconds, I can lose by 10 seconds. I just know that I have to race for myself.

“Especially for HVAC, I know other people have me and depend on me. So I do my best for the team and myself and make everyone happy.

For the open 4, going head-to-head with one of Ohio’s top 400 runners in coverage, Hawken’s Leila Meters, Houston held on until the 300 turn before Meters reached her mark of made last 50 gears as Houston took second place. in 59.29.

“I love Leila,” Houston said. “She’s always run the open 4. It’s her event, so I’ll always give her that. And it’s always good. She pushed me into public relations. I pushed her to PR. And I’m just happy that everything is falling into place.

Meters praised Houston’s courageous open 4, especially since it’s not a race she usually competes in.

“I think Dakota definitely got the job done this season,” Meters said. “It was cool to see her do really well. This race for me, once I felt it on me, I was like, “All right, I’ve got another gear I can shift into.” So it was nice to have someone push me to take it to the next level.

Houston was named CVC Chagrin girls’ track MVP, with Meters and West G’s Kara Deister also making a strong case for the honor.

The Beachwood boys got a sprint double from Osita Ogor, with an 11.06 in open 1 and a school record 22.26 in open 2, an open 8 crown from Peter Adobamen (2:01.56) as well as a 4×2 victory in 1:31.89. .

Metres’ open 4 victory was her typical masterclass, dropping a record 58.23 in the News-Herald’s coverage area in 2024. She also anchored the Hawks’ victorious 4×4 in 4:13.62.

“I saw our first daughter Lila (Morley) do really well, and I thought, ‘Wow, I hope they can keep their lead,'” Meters said. “And they did very well. So I picked up the stick and I was like, “I’m just going to take it home for the team.” » It was really special.

“(Open 4) was good. I was hoping for a 57, but a low 58 isn’t too bad. I’ll take it and hope to keep the momentum going.

Deister, following his high jump title on the first day, swept the hurdles. The West G sophomore had a coverage area record of 15.70 in the 100 hurdles and 47.87 in the 3s.

“It’s definitely not my cleanest race,” Deister said of the 1s. “I definitely ran better. I was a little unsure. I encountered some obstacles. This is not my maximum speed. I was a little too high, but overall I’m happy with the weather.

“I’ll definitely take (the 47.87 in 3s). This is two seconds from my last competition and only my third time participating in this event. So I’ll take it. I can’t wait to lose a few more seconds at district time, hopefully regional. But I’m happy with today.

Other individual event champions on the second day of the News-Herald coverage area were Levi Mullen-Zurbrugg (shot put) and Eryck McClain (high jump) of Harvey, Gabrielle Turner (discus) of Hawken, Mila Gresh of Chagrin Falls (1,600), Jack Kittle (400). ) and Bella Radomsky (800), Matthew Dienes of West G (1,600) and Alexandra Kheyfets of Beachwood (3,200).