by Devan Matthews
Correspondent
The Bedford High School girls track and field team prepared for this week's Lake Erie League Championships with a dual meet on the road against Shaker Heights May 7.
Although the Bearcats weren't able to defeat the Raiders, losing 102-23, they're optimistic about the upcoming LEL event.
"We were down a little bit [against Shaker Heights]," said Bedford head coach Heather Starn. "We have several girls out right now due to injuries, especially in our relays, so it was a challenging meet for us. Some of our younger girls stepped up and did a nice job, though. It was a good experience for them and for us as a team."
The LEL Championships are scheduled for two days this week. The first day was May 13, when some of the field events were contested, as well as selected preliminary races in the track events.
The second day May 15, when the finals for all remaining events will be held.
The site of the LEL Championships is Bedford Stadium.
"This will be a challenging meet, too, because we'll be going up against some of the bigger schools in the Lake Division," said Starn.
According to Starn, her squad has made strides in several areas since the beginning of the season.
"We've really improved in the last couple of weeks," she said. "Andrea Boyd and Marcedes Caver have been strong jumpers in the past, and they continue to be strong. Brittany Turner and Shannon Walton had personal records in the shot put and discus against Shaker Heights, and all of the hurdlers have done a really great job. They've worked extremely hard during the last few weeks."
Starn credited assistant coach Pat Griffis for helping the hurdlers to improve.
"He's done a wonderful job with them," she said. "We're excited to see how they compete."
Starn also lauded two of her freshmen distance runners, who have made major contributions as the campaign has unfolded.
Those freshmen are Arielle Ciprian and Krisha Shine.
"Those two have been competitive for us all spring," said Starn. "They're excited and anxious to run in their first league meet."
Next week, Bedford will compete in the district meet, which will be at Ravenna Stadium.
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