(photo coutesy of PlymouthPictures.com)

Plymouth places second at Observerland Relays; Salem takes 4th; Canton 10th

May 2, 2010, 7:50 p.m.

  Novi Detroit Catholic Central dominated Saturday's Observerland Relays, but the PCEP schools all had their share of memorable moments.

  CC, which placed first in three of the six field-event competitions, compiled 80 points, 27 more than runners-up Farmington and Plymouth.

  The runner-up showing was the best finish ever for the Wildcats, who were paced by senior distance runner Warren Buzzard.

  Led by its record-breaking, first-place shot put trio of Ed Merhi, Ethan Walsh and Dana Baltazar, Salem earned fourth with 50 points.

  Sparked by a strong effort from Nick Alaniva and Co. in the field events, Canton placed 10th in the 15-team event.

  "Warren was our standout today," said Plymouth head coach Jon Mikosz. "He anchored our first-place four-by-mile team, he won the open mile and anchored our four-by-800 team, which placed fifth.

  "Our pole vaulters -- Grant Senkbeil, Andy Bihn and Phil Bockstanz -- also had a great day, placing second."

  Salem's shot-putters (Dana Baltazar, Ed Merhi and Ethan Walsh) broke a school record at the event, eclipsing the old mark by seven feet. The Rocks became the first team to finish first in the event other than CC in the past eight years.

  Canton received second-place points from its 3,200-meter relay team of Keith Zech, Max Schmiel, Paul Rakovitis and Zack Spreitzer.

  Alaniva was instrumental in the Chiefs' third-place showing in the pole vault competition -- Luke Freeman and Ryan Kilgore also performed well -- and the fifth-place long jump trio that also included Ben Spreitzer and Josh Evans.

  Canton's distance medley relay team of Tyler Socha, Jordan Wisniewski, Paul Rakovitis and Zack Spreitzer placed third in 11:10.5.

  "We were a little disappointed in some events, but we had a lot of guys get their personal bests," said Canton coach Bob Richardson. "It was a great meet, as it always is. Chip Bridges did an awesome job running it with the help of Orlean and Bill Lewellyn and Brad Fairchild."

FINAL STANDINGS: 1. Novi Detroit Catholic Central, 80; 2. (tie) Farmington and Plymouth, 53; 4. Salem, 50; 5. Livonia Stevenson, 49; 6. Farmington Harrison, 46; 7. Northville, 44; 8. Livonia Franklin, 38; 9. Livonia Churchill, 33; 10. Canton, 22; 11. Westland John Glenn, 18; 12. Redford Union, 9; 13. Wayne Memorial, 1; (Redford Thurston and Garden City did not score).

DISCUS: 1. Catholic Central (Justin D'Agostino, Mike Still, Dylan Young), 427 feet, 11 inches; 2. Salem, 372-2; 3. Churchill, 370-11; 4. Franklin, 366-4; 5. Farmington, 346-1; 6. Wayne, 312-3.

HIGH JUMP: 1. Catholic Central (Andrew Campbell, JAck Malinowski, Mike Shearon), 17-6; 2. Salem, 17-1; 3. Farmington, 16-8; 4. Farmington Harrison, 16-6; 5. Stevenson, 16-6; 6. Franklin, 16-6.

LONG JUMP: 1. Farmington Harrison (Kyle Carter, Christian Success, Tendo Lukawago), 60-8.5; 2. Stevenson, 59-9; 3. Catholic Central, 57-4; 4. Churchill, 57-1; 5. Canton, 56-4; 6. Farmington, 56-0.

SHOT PUT: 1. Salem (Dana Baltazar, Ed Merhi, Ethan Walsh), 148-7.25; 2. Franklin, 144-9.75; 3. Catholic Central, 139-05; 4. Plymouth, 138-8.25; 5. Churchill, 130-2.

POLE VAULT: 1. Churchill (Alex Ryktarsyk, Joseph Marlow, Michael Greer), 35-6; 2. Plymouth, 35-6; 3. Canton, 33-6; 4. Northville, 31-0; 5. Salem, 31-0; 6. Franklin, 29-0.

6,400-METER  RELAY: 1. Plymouth (Matt Neumann, Joe Porcari, Justin Heck, Warren Buzzard), 19:00.26; 2. Churchill (Quinn Osgood, Mark Freyberg, Ryan Keeling, Tom Windle), 19:08.44; 3. Catholic Central (Evan Badge, Sean Carney, Steve Turzewski, Ryan Boyd), 19:17.19; 4. Northville, 19:27.18; 5. Farmington, 19:51.07; 6. Salem (Rabe, Harper, James Middleditch, Zachary Basanese), 19:55.83.

110 HIGH HURDLES: 1. Ali Arastu (N), 14.72; 2. Kenton Janzen (FRM), 15.32; 3. Chris Ryba (FRM), 15.64; 4. Brandon Piligian (P), 15.66; 5. Josh Kyles (CC), 16.13; 6. Mike Sharp (LF), 16.32.

DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY: 1. Stevenson (Travis Gosselin, Zaid Shareef, Adam Chludzinski, JoeUrso), 11:02.96; 2. Franklin, 11:10.04; 3. Canton, 11:10.42; 4. Plymouth, 11:12.53; 5. Northville, 11:18.82; 6. Farmington, 11:39.56.

800 RELAY: 1. Catholic Central (Josh Gatt, S. Hall, Bill Riga, Jake Spaller), 1:28.35; 2. Farmington, 1:29.88; 3. Franklin, 1:31.43; 4. Northville, 1:31.65; 5. Harrison, 1:32.03; 6. Plymouth, 1:32.59.

1,600 RUN: 1. Warren Buzzard (P), 4:37.92; 2. Frank Griffiths (N), 4:45.10; 3. Herath (FRM) 4:48.36; 4. John Lynch (LS), 4:49.92; 5. Slavsky (CC), 4:51.22; 6. Steven McEvilly (S), 4:52.67.

3,200 RELAY: 1. Salem (Jimmy Daniels, Zachary Gaskell, Shawn Quinn, Dan Martin), 8:22.17; 2. Canton (Zack Spreitzer, Paul Rakovitis, Max Schmiel, Keith Zech), 8:24.99; 3. Stevenson (Travis Gosselin, Joe Urso, Adam Dabkowski, Adam Chludzinski), 8:28.26; 4. Farmington (Scholer, Matt Clunis, Hayes, Herath), 8:30.32; 5. Plymouth (Matt Neumann, Justin Heck, Joe Porcari, Warren Buzzard), 8:33.75; 6. Churchill (Quinn Osgood, Mark Freyberg, Tom Windle, Ryan Keeling), 8:40.26.

100 DASH: 1. Jeremy Langford (JG), 11.18; 2. Charles Anthony (FRM), 11.20; 3. Bill Riga (CC), 11.32; 4. Will Ferguson (FH), 11.52; 5. Richard Duncan (LF), 11.58; 6. Keith Marshall (RU), 11.67.

SPRINT MEDLEY RELAY: 1. Stevenson (Zaid Shereef, Alex Law, Stephen Pollard, Matt Williams), 2:29.93; 2. Harrison (Max Chapman, Will Ferguson, Tendo Lukwago, Chris Massey), 2:30.14; 3. Franklin (Dave Koponen, Zach Miller, Mike Sharp, Mike Beasley), 2:31.56; 4. Plymouth, 2:31.72; 5. Catholic Central (Steve Pyzik, Dominic Salinas, Anthony Capatina, Ryan Majsak), 2:32.19; 6. John Glenn (N. Kenne, Lulians Kenle, Anthony Stefon, Dane Foster), 2:33.85.

SHUTTLE HURDLE RELAY: 1. Harrison (Tendo Lukwago, Beneth Akalefu, Denzel Owens, Kenton Janzen), 1:01.01; 2. Catholic Central (Josh Kyles, Jack Malinowski, Tyler Brown, Andrew Campbell), 1:02.93; 3. Northville (Hsieh, Schanne, Ali Arastu, Cherry), 1:05.95; 4. Plymouth (Grant Senkbeil, Brandon Piligian, Daniel Edgerton, Doug Deykes), 1:06.69; 5. Churchill (Marshall Fry, Ryan Rodeman, Ian Guerin, Matt Szuba), 1:06.78; 6. Stevenson (Will Burek, Joe Mins, Jeremy Kozler, Mike McDermott), 1:07.52.

400 RELAY: 1. Catholic Central (Josh Kyles, Anthony Capatina, Dominic Salinas, Ryan Majsak), 42.78; 2. Farmington (Kuckarslan, James Vincent-Taylor, Jarifus Ingram, Herath), 42.86; 3. John Glenn, 43.24; 4. Stevenson (Jon Pauley, Adam Duncan, Jonathan Gudeman, Alex Law), 43.96; 5. Plymouth (Brandon Piligian, Stefan Terrentine, William Askew, Anthony LeMerise), 44.78; 6. Franklin (Antoine Banks, Jay Woolfork, Ryan Hurt, Richard Duncan), 45.10.

1,600 RELAY: 1. Salem (Brian Maksimovic, Shawn Quinn, Dan Martin, Zachary Gaskell), 3:27.87; 2. Redford Union (Kevin Stephens, Brandon Tinsley, Francis Mensah, Keith Marshall), 3;30.90; 3. Northville (Paul Gibson, Park, Joseph, Ali Arastu), 3:31.67; 4. Stevenson (Pat Smith, Stephen Pollard, Adam Chludzinski, Matt Willliams), 3;32.74; 5. Catholic Central (Josh Gatt, Bill Riga, Anthony Capatina, Jake Spaller), 3:33.87; 6. John Glenn, 3:34.47.