Staff report
COLUMBUS — It turned into quite a day for County athletes at the Division III State Track Meet on Saturday.
Three individuals, two of them from Botkins, took runner-up finishes in their events, and the Anna boys 1600 relay team did likewise.
In addition, the Anna boys, on the strength of that performance a day after Logan Konst won the pole vault and Blake Stephens placed third in the high jump, finished fourth in the final team standings with 27 points.
And in the girls team standings, Minster turned in another imnpressive effort, placing second behind St. Thomas Aquinas and scoring 58 points.
Botkins had an outstanding final day of the meet, with two girls taking second place. Distance standout Chloe Flora was runner-up in the 1600 run in 5:02.11, and senior teammate Whitney Bornhorst ran a 45.21 to take second in the 300 hurdles.
Flora, a junior who was sixth in the 1600 last year at state, finished about three-and-a-half seconds behind the repeat winner in her race, and Bornhorst was just over a half-second behind the winner in the hurdles.
The third runner-up finish came from Russia senior Leah Francis in the 100 hurdles in 15.2. The winning time was 14.95.
“My freshman year, I didn’t get out of districts,” said Francis, who finished fourth in the event the past two seasons at state. “It was a really loaded district. At the time, I never would have expected this. I ran my best time today, so I am happy with that.”
Fort Loramie junior Olivia Quinter was also quite impressive over the weekend, placing in three different individual events. On Friday, she placed eighth in the long jump at 16-feet, 9.75 inches. Then on Saturday, she was fifth in the 300 hurdles in 46.02, and sixth in the 100 hurdles in 15.71.
Meanwhile, the Minster girls 1600 relay team set a new meet record in taking first place Saturday. The foursome of Cassie Jute, Maggie Meiring, Julia Slonkosky and Cassie Francis ran a 3:55.16 to break the old mark of 3:55.48.
Minster also got a third-place finish from the 800 relay team, a third-place finish from Meiring in the 300 hurdles, a fourth-place finish from the 400 relay team, as well as a second-place finish from Francis and a third-place finish from Slonkosky in the 800 run.
Russia had two more individual placers Saturday in Lauren Heaton and Emily Borchers. Heaton was going for a repeat championship in the 400 and wound up sixth in 58.75. And Borchers took seventh in the 3200. Both also ran on the eighth-place 1600 relay team.
Heaton, a junior, found herself in a loaded field in trying to defend her state title in the 400.
“There is nothing I can do about it, except come back here and win next year,” Heaton said. “For sure, it is definitely motivation for next year. I won last year and was sixth this year. I just have to come back here next year and move back up.”
In Division I, Sidney’s Lauren Boyd made her way to the podium, finishing seventh in the pole vault at 11-feet, 6-inches.
“The girls had a great weekend at state,” said Sidney coach Ruth Baker. “Lauren cleared all of her heights on her first attempt and had some great atempts at 12 feet. And our 400 relay team (Brandi Johnson, Kaitlyn Davis, Keyli Murphy, Mersadi Timmons) ran a 49.74, which was only the second time under 50 seconds. It capped off a great season, and both Kaitlyn and Lauren were named Academic All-Ohio.”
And in Division II, Versailles had two runner-up finishes, from Jenna Frantz in the pole vault and from the 1600 relay team of Haley Winner, Kayley Ruschau, Taylor Winner and Camille Watren.
• The Anna boys 1600 relay team of Shane Grieves, Nathan Arling, Luke Gaier and Grant Glover ran a 3:23.24 to take second and set another new school record. And the 400 relay team of Konst, Matthew Bruce, Camron Layman and Glover finished sixth in 4.59.
“They really wanted to win, but we knew Columbus Academy would be good,” said Anna coach Dean Stewart of the 1600 foursome. “They’ve been the dominant team for a long time. Our first two legs were a little slower than the day before, and our leadoff runner was a little sick.
“We fell behind, but Luke (Gaier, third leg) brought us up to sixth, and Grant (Glover) ran an unbelievable race. He had a 48.4 split to bring us up to second, but we were just a little too far behind to catch Columbus Academy.”
Minster’s Eli Wolf placed fifth in the 200 in 22.42, Richie Ware of Versailles was sixth in the 800 in 1:57.77, and Minster’s 800 relay of Jacob Stechschulte, Jack Poeppelman, Jacob Dues and Wolf finished seventh.
GIRLS
DIVISION I
Pole vault — 7. Lauren Boyd, Sidney, 11-6.
DIVISION II
1600 relay — 2. Versailles (Haley Winner, Kayley Ruschau, Taylor Winner, Camille Watren) 3:56.7.
Pole vault — 2. Jenna Frantz, Versailles, 12-4.
DIVISION III
100 hurdles — 2. Leah Francis, Russia, 15.2; 6. Olivia Quinter, Fort Loramie, 15.71.
800 relay — 3. Minster 1:45.69 (Gabrielle Barga, Cassie Jutte, Maria Heckman, Katie Wuebker); 9. New Bremen (Paige Jones, Makenna Brackman, Shelby Paul, Steph Brandt).
1600 run — 2. Chloe Flora, Botkins, 5:02.11.
400 relay — 4. Minster 50.8 (Maria Heckman, May Francis, Paige Thobe, Katie Wuebker).
400 dash — 6. Lauren Heaton, Russia, 58.75.
300 hurdles — 2. Whitney Bornhorst, Botkins, 45.21; 3. Maggie Meiring, Minster, 45.44; 5. Olivia Quinter, Fort Loramie, 46.02
800 run — 2. Cassie Francis, Minster, 2:16.82; 3. Julia Slonkosky, Minster, 2:17.69.
3200 run — 7. Emily Borchers, Russia, 11:23.5. 8. Morgan Pohl, MInster, 11:49.06; 10. Molly Kearns, Russia, 12:03.0.
1600 relay — 1. Minster 3:55.16, new meet record (Cassie Jutte, Maggie Meiring, Julia Slonkosky, Cassie Francis); 8. Russia 4:08.28 (Leah Francis, Grace York, Emily Borchers, Lauren Heaton).
BOYS
DIVISION III
110 hurdles — 9. Teddy Jackson, Lehman, 15.42.
800 relay — 7. Minster 1:31.18 (Jacob Stechschulte, Jack Poeppelman, Jacob Dues, Eli Wolf).
1600 run — 12. Tom Ballas, Fort Loramie, 4:40.02.
400 relay — 6. Anna 44.59 (Logan Konst, Matthew Bruce, Camron Layman, Grant Glover).
800 run — 6. Richie Ware, Versailles, 1:57.77; 9. Austin Jones, Botkins, 1:58.81; 12. Luke Gaier, Anna, 2:00.59.
200 dash — 5. Eli Wolf, Minster, 22.42.
3200 run — 10. Devon Jester, Houston, 9:38.18.
1600 relay — 2. Anna (3:23.24 (Shane Grieves, Nathan Arling, Luke Gaier, Grant Glover); 4. Minster 3:25.86 (Jack Poeppelman, Jonathan Fausey, Joe Trzaska, Eli Wolf).
Shot put — 12. Josh Miller, Botkins, 50-2; 12. Ben Montgomery, Lehman, 49-9.
Long jump — 16. Jacob Dues, Minster, 20-4.25.
