Hopewell’s Zach Kovell Named Track Co-MVP & Overall Co-MVP of Beaver County Championship

To say that Saturday’s Beaver County Track and Field Championship was successful for Hopewell’s Zach Kovell would be an understatement.

The Hopewell junior walked away, or better yet, ran away with 3 championships and with that, was honored for his overall performance.

Here’s a look at what Kovell took part in and how he finished:

Boys 100 Meter:
1) Zach Kovell (Hopewell) 11.69
2) Michael Blackshear (Beaver Falls) 11.70
3) Michael Veon (New Brighton) 11.82
4) Josh Brunton (Hopewell) 11.95

Boys 200 Meter:
1) Zach Kovell (Hopewell) 22.79 **Was a New Personal Record**
2) Demeitris Taylor (Beaver Falls) 22.84
3) Michael Blackshear (Beaver Falls) 22.90
4) Brady Noel (Central Valley) 23.05
5) Joseph Work (Aliquippa) 23.17
6) Josh Brunton (Hopewell) 24.02

Boys 400 Meter:
1) Zach Kovell (Hopewell) 52.41
2) Brady Noel (Central Valley) 53.32
3) Michael Veon (New Brighton) 54.14

Boys 4×100 Meter Relay:
1) Beaver Falls: 44.03
2) Hopewell (Brunton, Kovell, Lewis, Jeter): 44.24
3) Blackhawk: 45.35

Three first place finishes of the 4 events that he competed in, along with a 2nd place, earned Kovell the Track C0-MVP of the Championship along with the Overall Co-MVP of the Beaver County Championship. Kovell shared the MVP with Beaver’s Elijah Bechdel, who won the 800 M, 1600 M, 3200 M and got 2nd place in the 4×8 Relay.

Following his outstanding performance, Hopewell Sports Nation spoke with Kovell about his day and what this means to him.

“Coming into the meet, I knew I had the ability to be a contender for the MVP, I just had to go and do what I know I can do,” said Kovell. “I had lots of amazing competition in my races that I knew would push me very hard. I was able to take first in the 100M by .01 second by relaxing and running my own race. That event just kick started my day. Going into the 4×100 race, we knew Beaver Falls would be our biggest competition. All the guys on our 4×100 ran great and we set a new personal record while placing second. I’m excited to see the things we can do in the remainder of the season.”

“Going into the 200 M race, I knew my biggest competition, Michael Blackshear and Demeitris Taylor both from Beaver Falls, were fast. I have looked up to those guys for a while seeing them win lots of races over the past couple years. That gave me even more motivation to go and get them. Coming off the curve, I was behind both guys by about 5 meters, but I stayed relaxed and went and got them. Ended up having a huge personal record and took first place.”

Aside from the relays, track and field is pretty much an individual sport but Kovell wanted to thank and recognize support that he received that was important to his success.

“The biggest factor today was all of the support from my teammates,” said Kovell. “All day, they were cheering me on as loud and proud as they could, and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. I have the greatest teammates ever on this track team and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.”

“I also wanted to also say that all the other Vikings did an amazing job yesterday and I’m proud of all the things we accomplished. But guess what….the season is just getting started!!”