MADDOX ROACH

BUTLER, Pa. — It was only a matter of time for East Liverpool junior Maddox Roach.

Roach set the outdoor school record in the 1600 meters at the 60th annual Butler Invitational on Thursday.

He finished third out of 113 boys runners in 4 minutes, 19.18 seconds at Art Bernardi Stadium — the best time in Ohio Division II this season and the fifth best in all divisions. That broke the school record of 4:25.00 set by Randy Burke in 1981.

North Allegheny senior Jack Bertram, a Notre Dame recruit, won in 4:11.76. Penn-Trafford senior Jake McGhee was second (4:18.81).

Sixteen runners went under 4:30.

Roach passed the school mark twice in indoor races last month, finishing sixth (4:19.28) at the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Association indoor high school state championship and placing 121st in the mile (4:23.05) at the New Balance Indoor Nationals in Boston.

Roach also was sixth in the mile run (4:26.64) and ran on the sixth-place 3200 relay team (8:16.53) with Isaac Christian, Quintin Conrad and Julius Jones.

East Liverpool finished 16th out of 53 teams that scored with 12 points.

Also for the Potters, Gavin Wright was ninth (6-foot-0) and Tyler Kirby 21st (5-8) in the high jump; Dontay Taylor was 15th in the shot put (44-11); Conrad was 22nd in the 400 dash (51.99 seconds); Kirby was 64th in the long jump (17-10); Meshach Harris was 51st in the 300 hurdles (45.06) and 73rd in the 110 hurdles (27.83); and Christian was 76th in the 800 run (2:13.95).