COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Lexington boys 4×800 relay team raced to a gold medal in record setting fashion Friday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The quartet of Ryan Johnston, Bailey Stach, Forest Volz and Nick Stricklen cruised to the Division II title in a school-record 7 minutes, 48.53 seconds — 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Carrollton — to highlight the first day of action at the state meet.
Placers: Crestview’s Michael Kochenderfer tied for second in the Division III pole vault competition. Kochenderfer and Seneca East’s Cory Depinet both cleared 14 feet, 4 inches. Mapleton’s John Smith finished 12th with a vault of 12-6.
Galion’s Dani Court earned a spot on the podium with a seventh-place finish in the Division II girls discus competition. Court had a throw of 122-6.
The Lexington girls 4×800 team of Mackenna Curtis-Collins, Whitney Wendling, Olivia Wolfe and Abby Miller finished eighth in 9:28.45, also earning a spot on the podium in Division II.
In the Division II girls high jump, Galion’s Marisa Gwinner was ninth with a leap of 5-2. In the Division II boys long jump, Galion’s Houston Blair was 15th with a jump of 19-8.75.
Shelby’s boys 4×800 team of Sam Logan, Danny Friebel, Tyler Green and Robert Moore was 14th in Division II in 8:19.79.
Back to Work: The remaining running finals in all three divisions as well as the Division II boys discus and high jump and the Division II girls long jump, shot put and pole vault and all the Division I field events will be contested Saturday.
