TROY — Five area athletes and four relay teams punched their state tickets on Wednesday during the first night of the Division III regional meet at Troy Memorial Stadium, while many others advanced to Saturday’s finals.
Houston’s boys 4×800 relay team of Tristan Freistuhler, Parker Cox, Blake Jacobs, Ethan Knouff finished third in 8:14.78 to advance to the state meet.
Houston was third for much of the race, before anchor Ethan Knouff took the baton in second and went on to finish third.
“I probably could have gotten second,” Knouff said. “I was mainly just thinking about staying in third and making it to state.”
All four were on the Houston cross country team that made it to state.
“When we found out Tristan (Freistuhler) was running track this year, our thoughts instantly were state,” Knouff said. “He hadn’t run track since junior high. The goal was getting to state. Now, that we have done it we can look at where our time is.”
They will be chasing a familiar opponent. Fort Loramie won the region on Wednesday with a time of 8:10. Arcanum finished second, just ahead of Houston at 8:14.09.
“That does help,” Knouff said of going against the Redskins. “Knowing they are regional champion and we have been running close to them all year.”
The top four finishers in each final advance to the state meet, which will be held on June 1 and 2 in Columbus.
Minster’s girls finished first in the 4×800 relay in 9:25 to win the region and advance to state. Fort Loramie was fourth in 9:52.
Minster’s Max Prenger qualified for state in boys discus. He was third on Wednesday with 143-4.
Botkins’ Grace Homan and New Knoxville’s Erin Scott qualified in girls shot put. Homan finished second with 39-2.5 while Scott was third with 37-4.
New Bremen’s Elli Roetgerman was fourth in the high jump with 5-2 to earn a trip to Columbus. Fort Loramie’s Jarrett Meyer was second in long jump (21-6) to qualify for state.
A number of local runners did well in preliminary races on Wednesday to advance to Friday’s finals. The top eight finishers in preliminary races advance to finals.
Botkins’ Adriana Jutte was fourth in girls 100-meter hurdles in 15.98 while Fort Loramie’s Alyssa Wrasman was fifth in 15.85 and New Bremen’s Jess Lane was sixth in 16.14.
Meyer was third in the boys 110-meter hurdles in 15.31.
Lehman Catholic’s Lindsey Magoteaux advanced in the 100-meter dash by finishing third in 12.79,
Minster was third in the girls 4×200 relay in 1:47.08. Fort Loramie was seventh in 1:47.32 while New Bremen was eighth in 1:48.29.
Lehman’s Alanna O’Leary, Lauren McFarland, Magoteaux and Riley McIver were first in the 4×100 relay in 50.42. Minster was sixth in 51.06.
Fort Loramie was fifth in the boys 4×100 relay in 44.89 while Riverside was eighth in 45.31.
New Bremen’s Julia Goettemoeller was second in girls 300 hurdles in 46.88. Botkins’ Jutte was fourth in 46.94 while Lehman’s McIver was eighth in 48.45.
Fort Loramie’s Meyer was seventh in boys 300 hurdles in 42.00.
Lehman Catholic’s O’Leary had the fastest time in the girls 200-meter dash in 25.91. Fort Loramie’s Kennedi Gephart was sixth in 26.28.
Riverside’s Caleb Stevens was fifth in the boys 200-meter dash in 22.54.
New Bremen’s girls were second in the 4×400 relay in 4:05.98, while Minster was fourth in 4:06. Botkins was sixth (4:12) and Fort Loramie was eighth (4:15).
Houston’s 4×400 relay (Dakota Francis, Jacobs, Freistuhler, Knouff) advanced to the finals by finishing fifth in 3:30.
