Buckeye put together a strong postseason showing at the Division II OHSAA District Meet in Tallmadge, finishing fourth out of 17 teams with 59 points and advancing seven athletes in seven events to next week’s regional meet at North Royalton. The Bucks were led by district titles from Brady Salazar in the boys 400 meters and Caden Fike in the boys pole vault, setting the tone for a meet filled with qualifying marks across the track and in the field.
Salazar won the boys 400 meters in 50.03, giving Buckeye a district champion in one of the meet’s premier sprint events. Fike added another title in the boys pole vault by clearing 13 feet. Buckeye also secured regional spots with its boys 4×800 relay team of Dimitry Pshonyak, Joe Stahl, Nolan Rieth and Salazar, which placed third in 8:09.04. In the throws, Denis Shevchenko advanced with a third-place finish in the boys discus at 142 feet, 3 inches.
Brayden Bonnett turned in a productive day in the sprints, qualifying in two events with fourth-place finishes in the boys 100 meters and boys 200 meters. He ran 11.04 in the 100 and 22.36 in the 200 to claim two regional berths. Stahl added another qualifying effort in the boys 3200 meters, placing fourth in 9:57.59. That gave Buckeye regional qualifiers in the sprints, distance races, relay competition, discus and pole vault, underscoring the range of the team’s scoring across the two-day meet.
The Bucks also picked up valuable district points from several additional placers. Pshonyak finished fifth in the boys 1600 meters in 4:32.21, while Stahl was seventh in the same event in 4:37.71. The boys 4×400 relay team of Pshonyak, Rieth, Eddie Hondroudakis and Salazar placed sixth in 3:36.31, and the boys 4×200 relay team of Salazar, Cael Miller, Hondroudakis and Bonnett took eighth in 1:33.13.
In the field events, Shevchenko doubled back to place eighth in the boys shot put with a throw of 42 feet, 6.5 inches, adding more team points after his qualifying discus performance. Lucas Vasel also scored in the boys pole vault, finishing seventh at 11 feet. Across a large and competitive district field, Buckeye consistently found points in every event area, and that balance carried the Bucks to a fourth-place team finish, much higher than they were projected to get.
With two district champions and seven regional-qualifying performances secured, Buckeye now turns its attention to the regional meet at North Royalton. The Bucks will arrive with momentum after showing both top-end talent and scoring depth at Tallmadge.
Denis Shevchenko took 3rd in the Discus to qualify for Regionals
The Boys 4×800 took 3rd on Wednesday May 20, 2026
