Marlington's Colin Cernansky sets district records in sweeping distance double

SALEM — Colin Cernansky is raising the bar a notch for himself one more time as a high school runner.

So far, the Marlington senior's final postseason has been picture perfect.

Cernansky set Salem Division II meet records in winning the 1,600 and 3,200 on Saturday at Sebo Stadium. Those wins came less than 48 hours after he helped the Dukes' winning 3,200 relay set another meet record.

An all-time Stark County record run in the 3,200 at last month's Wayne Invitational made Cernansky think twice about how to attack the postseason. He is aiming for a third straight state title in the 1,600 and could have opted for the 800, too. Instead, he will set his sights on the 1,600 and 3,200.

"I did a lot of thinking and praying on it," Cernansky said. "I don't think I could have missed this opportunity. Not many guys complete the 16-32 double."

Cernansky knows his 1,600 and 3,200 state title sweep history. He mentioned the one in Division III completed by East Canton's Brylan Holland last season. Shelby's Caleb Brown had the last one in Division II in 2019.

"Those are two really respectable names," Cernansky said. "I want to try to make a name for myself. I want to complete the triple crown, including the 4-by-8. After talking and thinking a lot of the time, I think the 32 is the smart thing to do.

"It was a real tough decision, but I'm happy with the decision I made."

The Cernansky sweep helped lift Marlington to the boys team championship. The Dukes clinched it when he and Michael Nicholls finished 1-2 in the 3,200. His time of 9:21.40 broke former teammate Nash Minor's meet record by over seven seconds.

Cernansky's 4:14.98 in the 1,600 broke the meet record he set last season. All this came on a day he was "not feeling great."

"This was my first 16-32 double all year, so I'm super happy with that," Cernansky said. "I think I'm only going to run it better. I still have regionals to get ready for state. Come state, I think I'm going to be fully prepared for that. It's just a matter of getting the hang of it this week and next week."

The Dukes scored major points in the 1,600, too.

Logan Citino, who has been nursing a sore back, was just outside a regional berth down the stretch. He gutted out the final 100 meters and earned the final qualifying spot by 21 one-hundredths of a second.

His back, the heat and the intensity of the race caused Citino to collapse in exhaustion on the lawn afterward. He ultimately had to pull out of the 800.

"It was definitely a thrill," Citino later said of the 1,600. "Coming through that bell lap, I knew it was going to be a dogfight. I knew I just had to grit it out that last 100."

Marlington head coach Bob Dagenhardt knows Citino the competitor. The way Citino finished the 1,600 was no surprise to him.

"He is such a tough kid and does such a great job for us," Dagenhardt said. " ... He'll get (his back) together and be back next week. He is such a competitor."

The Marlington boys ended up with four wins on Saturday and seven overall.

With a team title already in their pocket, the 1,600 relay of Brady Denham, Logan King, Cameron Evanich and Logan Kuhn ended the meet with a win. Evanich also won the long jump on Thursday.

Diontae Lester won the discus on Thursday and the shot put on Saturday for a throws sweep.

"One of our goals was to come here, put on a show like we did today and come out with a win," Citino said. " ... This by far is one of the most complete teams we've had in awhile."

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marlington's Colin Cernansky sets more records at OHSAA district meet