Correspondent photo / Lowell Spencer Warren G. Harding’s Antonio Smith (right) and Donovan Salero-McCoy (left) each run in the 200m dash at Saturday’s Poland Invitational.

POLAND — The 27th Annual Poland Invitational Track and Field Classic brought together 25 local schools to compete Saturday morning at Dave Pavlansky Field to give local athletes a chance to test themselves against competition that they may not have had a chance to see so far this year.

The event included some of the largest schools in the area like Boardman, Harding, and Canfield, but it also hosted schools like Heartland Christian, Maplewood, Leetonia and Badger, which are far smaller.

With CVCA winning the boys team title, Boardman was the top local team, taking second with 85.5 points, half a point behind CVCA. On the girls side, Salem took home the team title with 110 points, while Boardman was the girls runner up.

Smith and the Harding boys finished third, while the Harding girls tied for fourth with McDonald.

One of the athletes that participated in the Invitational knows firsthand what it is like at both large and small schools.

Warren G. Harding junior Antonio Smith transferred from Warren JFK to Harding back in February, moving from a small private school to one of the area’s largest public schools. But for Antonio, it was simply going back home.

“I’m originally from Harding, and I wanted to finish out my last year there,” Smith said. “The transition wasn’t really that bad because coming from Harding, I knew people, I already had a relationship with the coaches and all. So, it was all right.”

Smith attended JFK for two-and-a-half years, playing for the Eagles football team that reached the final four his sophomore year, and came up short in the Division VII state championship game this past fall.

He was a standout running back, slot receiver and safety for the Eagles, helping to power them to their successful playoff runs. He admits that he prefers football, but recognizes that track helps him greatly in his gridiron performance.

“I run track because it helps with getting my speed up and my hips. I’m into football more, but I love track. It’s just natural, I love to run,” he said about the connection between the two sports.

This spring, however, he is focused on running the track events for the Raiders. Smith competed in the boys 4x200m relay, the 4x100m relay, and the 200m dash in Saturday’s Poland Invitational.

Smith, along with Raider teammates Bryan Powell, Donovan Salero-McCoy and JaVontae Jones captured the 4×200 with a time of 1:30.83, edging out Lowellville at 1:31.19 and CVCA at 1:31.71. He also helped to power the Raiders to the top in the 4×100 with a time of 43.89, ahead of Crestview at 44.87 and CVCA at 45.16. The Raiders 4×100 consisted of Smith, Chandler Jackson, Salero-McCoy and Jones.

“We have a really good relay team,” Smith said about the Raiders 4×100 team. “We are all running under 11.1, so I think we have a shot to go onto state this year. Our 4×200 can also make it, we just have to build our stamina, but our 4×100 can definitely get there.”

In his lone individual event, he finished fifth in the 200m dash recording a time of 23.407, just milliseconds behind teammate McCoy in fourth.

“We did really well today, coming in first place in both (relays),” Smith said. “I didn’t do too well in the 200. Coach told us to take it easy, not to pull anything, especially before the Trumbull County meet this Tuesday.”

Although the event provided several schools to compete against, Smith is looking for even bigger and tougher competition.

“I’m looking forward to bigger schools and trying to compete against them,” he said. “If I stay at this level, we have to try to reach up to (bigger schools) or we won’t get to our full potential.”