MIKE BROWN: Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana County track teams have basked in the state title sun
It’s hard to win a team state championship in track in Ohio
Need an example?
Think of all of the great runners and field event athletes the greater Youngstown-area has produced over the years. The list of individual state champions is endless, it reads like a thick book.
Mahoning County has only had two boys track teams who have won state track titles
And despite all of that talent and all of that success, Mahoning County has produced two schools that have won state team championships in boys’ track since the OHSAA began sponsoring the sport back in 1908. Trumbull has had six schools attain that feat and Columbiana County has had two boys state team track champs in the 115-year history of the sport in the Buckeye State.
In doing my research of Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana County teams that have won boys team track titles, I was shocked there weren’t more. Having covered track and field for over 40 years, I never would have guessed that, but that’s how challenging it is to accomplish.
The honor of being the first Mahoning County school to win a state championship in boys track belongs to the Poland Bulldogs, who accomplished the feat back in 1947. Poland was so good it repeated that feat in 1951, and in more recent times, the Bulldogs won it all in the year 2000.
The second and final Mahoning County School to lay claim to a boys’ state track title was the Youngstown Cardinal Mooney Cardinals who captured the crown in 1990.
Six Trumbull County boys track teams have won state titles
Trumbull County boys track teams have actually fared better than their Mahoning counterparts when it comes to state team championships in track and field.
Six schools from Trumbull County have claimed boys track team titles over the years. The first to do it from Trumbull County was Braceville (now LaBrae) which won it all in 1957 and tied for the state crown in 1962.
McDonald, with its history of great distance runners, won state titles in 1999 and 2011. Other Trumbull schools to claim championships include Maplewood (which tied for the crown in 2000), Warren G. Harding in 2010 and LaBrae in 1995. The most recent boys team from Trumbull to lay claim as the best in the Buckeye State was the Warren JFK which claimed the crown in 2015.
Two Columbiana County boys track teams have won state titles
Columbiana County has had two schools win a state boys’ track title. The Columbiana Clippers won it all back in 1938 and the Leetonia Bears did it in 1984.
The OHSAA didn’t sponsor a state championship in girls track until 1975.
Trumbull County schools have produced three girls’ state team champions in track
Trumbull County Schools have produced three girls’ state team champions in track. Liberty won in 1978, followed by the Girard Indians in 1980 and the McDonald Blue Devils who won the small-school state title in 2014.
In Columbiana County, no girls track team has ever claimed a state team title on the oval.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(EDITOR’S NOTE: Get the latest Mahoning Valley news in your email inbox weekday mornings. Sign up here for our free daily newsletter.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here’s how you can support Mahoning Matters.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Follow Mahoning Matters on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
This story was originally published May 1, 2023 at 4:00 AM.