LEXINGTON — Emily Thomas may be a newcomer to the 300 meter hurdles, but the Lexington junior makes arguably the hardest event in high school track look easy.
Not only did Thomas qualify for this weekend’s Division II state meet at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium, she broke a 40-year-old school record during last week’s regional meet on her home track. Thomas’ regional runner-up time of 45.18 seconds was more than a half-second faster than Tracy Au’s 1984 mark of 45.7.
“That’s actually been my goal this whole entire season,” Thomas said through a wide smile after collecting her medal Saturday afternoon. “Even just starting out with the hurdles, I was like, ‘I need to break this record.’
“When I kept on getting closer and closer, I just knew I could do it.”
So why the late start in hurdles?
“Honestly I never thought about doing hurdles,” Thomas said. “I thought about it a little during my sophomore season, but it was took close to the end. It was in districts and I thought, ‘Oh, this looks fun.’ “
Thomas’ teammate, Elyana Weaver, won a regional title in the 800 (2:14.83), as did Shelby’s Madison Henkel in the long jump (18-7.5). Henkel had the top jump in the state during last week’s regional meets.
A sophomore, Henkel was fifth at state in the long jump as a freshman.
“Going into the season I didn’t know if I was going to get 18 (feet) or not. I was really hoping to get 18,” Henkel said. “I’m really just working on staying consistent in the 18s and hopefully getting that 19 this year.”
Galion’s Miranda Stone should be in contention for a podium finish in the discus after taking runner-up honors at the Lex regional with a throw of 139-11. Stone is seeded second.
“I would like to be over 140, but it was survive-and-advance,” Stone said. “It’s probably going to take 150 to win at state. I think that is something I can do.”
Lady Lex’s 4×800 and 4×200 teams both punched their ticket to the state meet. The 4×800 team of Brailey Slone, Julia Wyant, Katya Prykhodko and Weaver was third in 9:39.10. The 4×200 crew of Allison Laury, Olyvia Stoots, Makenna Arnholt and Thomas was fourth in 1:43.31.
The Shelby 4×100 team and the Ontario 4×400 team also qualified for state. The Whippet foursome of Princess Timko, Jaleeza Zehner, Henkel and Peyton Putnam was fourth in 49.38. The Ontario quartet of Sasha Bulakovski, Audrey Mahon, Arialyn Bischak and Kenzie Goodlin was third in 4:00.65.
On the boys side, individual qualifiers include Shelby’s Graham Yeager in the discus (155-11, third), Galion’s Jacob Chambers in the long jump (22-2.75, fourth) and the 100 (10.95, fourth), Ontario’s Aiden Fox in the 300 hurdles (39.59, second), Ontario’s Bodpegn Miller in the 200 (21.98, third), Ontario’s Jace Young in the 800 (1:53.62, fourth), Ontario’s Dean Morrison in the 3,200 (9:53.02, third) and Clear Fork’s Davis Hoeflich in the high jump (6-4, fourth).
Ontario’s 4×800, 4×200 and 4×400 relay teams all qualified. The 4×800 team of Xavier Trent, Morrison, Austin Boughton and Young was second in 7:58.04. The 4×200 crew of Brady Fletcher, Quinton Frankhouse, Grady Muncy and Miller was fourth in 1:29.24 and the 4×400 quartet of Fox, Miller, Landon Foltz and Young was first in 3:22.56.
The Shelby boys 4×800 team and the Galion 4×100 team also will be in action this weekend in Dayton. The Shelby foursome of Marshall Moore, Indy Mayer, Luke Baker and Luke Lesseuer was fourth in 8:06.29, while the Galion team of Linkon Tyrrell, Zach Sallee, Gave Ivy and Chambers was third in 42.54.
Division I
Madison senior Nevaeh Lewis will have two chances to bookend her high school career with state championships. Lewis, who scored both goals for the Rams in a 2-1 win over Granville in the 2020 Division II girls soccer state championship game, qualified for the Division I state meet in both the 100 and 200. She finished second in the 100 at last week’s Port Clinton regional in 12.00 and was third in the 200 (24.92).
Madison teammate Callie Cyrus qualified in the 400. Cyrus finished fourth in 57.90 at Port Clinton.
On the boys side, Lexington’s Latrell Hughes and Chance Basilone each qualified as an individual. Hughes finished fourth in the 400 in 48.56, while Basilone was regional runner-up in the 3,200 in a school-record 9:13.51.
Hughes and Basilone teamed up on Lexington’s regional-championship 4×800 relay team, combining forces with Ethan Slone and Will Perkins to win in 7:49.20. Hughes was also a member or Lexington’s regional-champion 4×400 team, along with Perkins, Carter Newman and Brystopn Hess. That crew won in 3:17.60.
Division III
The Division III state tournament begins Thursday and the Crestview boys will be in the hunt for a team title after winning a fourth straight regional crown last week at Heath.
The Cougars finished fifth in the final team standings at last year’s state meet with 25 points — 13 behind state champ Minster. This year’s seven-man state-qualifying contingent could pile up more than 25 points on the opening day of the two-day event, which concludes Friday.
Wade Bolin is on a short list of favorites in both the shot put and discus. He’s seeded first in the shot after winning the Heath regional title with a throw of 58 feet and second in the discus (178-4).
Crestview’s 4×800 relay crew of Cooper Brockway, Bransen Hider, Everett Smith and Logan Friges is seeded second. That team won a regional title in 8:05.96.
“I’ll put our team up against anybody’s,” Crestview coach Tim Kuhn said his team collected its regional trophy. “I think our guys are ready and … I’m excited for the opportunity that we have and for what we can do. I think it should be fun.”
Kuhn’s son, Liam, won a regional pole vault title last week with a vault of 14 feet. Crestview’s 4×400 crew of Brockway, Smith, Friges and Ayden Reymer placed fourth at Heath last week in 3:28.46. Friges was a member of last year’s state-championship 4×400 crew.
Like the Crestview boys, the Colonel Crawford girls should be in the hunt for a Division III team title. The Eagles (61 points) finished second to Heath regional champ Dawson-Bryant (62).
Niyah Shipman qualified for state in the high jump after finishing third at Heath with a leap of 5-2. Gabby Roston was regional runner-up in the pole vault (11-4), while Cecelia Chase was fourth in the 1,600 (5:11.56).
All four of Crawford’s relay teams qualified. The 4×800 crew of Chase, Brynn Bruner, Rylinn Edgington and Olivia Hardy won a regional title in 9:41.59, as did the 4×100 quartet of Mira Holt, Ayla McKibben, Roston and Hailey Slagle (50.17).
The 4×400 team of Olivia Hardy, Lynae McKibben, Roston and Holt was second in 4:03 and the 4×200 foursome of Hardy, Lynae McKibben, Ayla McKibben and Holt was fourth in 1:46.77.
Three of Colonel Crawford’s four boys relay teams will also be making the trip to Dayton. The 4×200 team of Brady Hill, Jacob Cochran, John DeGray and Trevor Vogt was second at Heath in 1:31.60.
The 4×100 team of Ryan McMichael, Cochran, Lucas Foy and Vogt was third in 44.30 and the 4×400 crew of Hill, Adam Scott, Cochran and Vogt was third in 3:28.45. Vogt also qualified individually in the 300 hurdles, taking regional runner-up honors in 39.65.
Other individual state qualifiers included Buckeye Central’s Corbin Bloomfield in the long jump, Plymouth’s Layne Bushey in the high jump and Lucas’ Rebekah Case in the pole vault.
Bloomfield was a regional runner-up at Heath with a leap of 22-2. Bushey was fourth with a jump of 6-2 and Case was third with a vault of 11-4.