COLUMBUS — Riley Patrick was all business.
Mansfield Christian’s senior distance ace placed fourth in the 3,200-meter run during the opening day of the Division V state meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on Thursday.
Patrick’s time of 11:05.43 was more than 25 seconds faster than her finishing time at state last spring. She finished 12th in the event as a junior, while teammate Meagan Them was 16th.
“Last year my teammate Megan and I didn’t know if we were going to get here or not,” Patrick said. “We didn’t have any confidence racing.
“This year I had more goals and less of a laid-back approach.”
The only running finals to take place Thursday were the 3,200 and the 4×800 relay. Lucas’ Ray Lewis finished seventh in the boys 3,200 in 9:40.08 to earn a podium finish and an All-Ohio citation.
“That was my goal, All-Ohio and top-eight,” Lewis said. “I’m happy with that two-mile.”
A senior, Lewis also qualified in the 800 and the 1,600. Those events will be contested Friday.
“I think the 1,600, I can run fairly well,” Lewis said. “I’m a little worried about the 800.”
Lewis’ teammate, junior Joey Desterhaft, also qualified in three events. He finished seventh in the long jump with a leap of 21-6.75.
“I didn’t jump as good as I wanted to today, but I made the podium,” said Desterhaft, who finished just shy of his personal record of 22-2. “I can’t be disappointed about that.”
Desterhaft advanced to Friday’s finals in both the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles. He finished eighth in the 110s in 15.11 and seventh in the 300s in 39.76.
The top nine finishers in Thursday’s preliminaries advanced to the finals.
Lucas’ Katie Griddey finished ninth in the shot put competition. The senior had a throw of 37-8.75.
Division IV
Crestview had a strong showing on opening day of the Division IV meet.
Zoe Kuhn took fifth in the pole vault with a jump of 11-4, while Lane Robinson tied for fifth in the high jump (6-2).
“I started the season with a 6-2 jump, but then I kept getting lower and lower. I would jump 6-foot and then 5-10,” Robinson said. “Then I hurt my foot and was out for two weeks.
“I ended up getting eighth at the regional meet to get the last (state) qualifying spot.
“To place fifth at state feels pretty good.”
Max Durbin advanced to the finals in the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles. He finished ninth in the 110s in 15.48 and fourth in the 300s (40.16).
