COLUMBUS – Saturday featured podiums aplenty for Richland County’s high school track athletes.
In the 4×800 relay, Lexington girls finished third and Ontario boys took fourth. Later in the day, Katrina Neal of Clear Fork placed fourth in the girls’ 3200-meter run.
The Lexington girls; Katya Prykhodko, Jersie Palmer, Morgan Harrod and Mia Twedt, logged a 9:26.36 time, more than six seconds ahead of fourth-placed Fairfield Union.
“The state tournament is all about the place and fighting for it more than it is about times,” Prykhodko said. “Of course, all of us looked at our times and wanted to go a little faster, but at the end of the day, we put a good race together and got an outcome that we are very happy about.”
Prykhodko started strong for Lexington, finishing her two laps with times of 1:08.92 and 1:13.03. From that point, the group consistently gained on the field.
Harrod made her way up in the pack on laps three and four with times of 1:07.78 and 1:15.00. Palmer kept a steady pace as distance started to form, logging laps of 1:09.67 and 1:14.60. When Twedt came in to round things out, all she had to do was maintain order to secure a top-three finish.
She did more than that, recording the fastest first and second lap of the event for Lexington, at 1:07.30 in lap seven, then 1:10.06 in lap eight – the fastest second lap by almost three seconds..
“There’s always a chance of getting boxed in, so that’s why you just have to get out and don’t let other people push you around,” Twedt said. “Just stay in your space, stay in your zone and run your race. Don’t run other people’s races.”
Ontario relay finishes 4th
Ontario boys were fourth in a highly contested race, with a final time of 7:52.00; just under six-tenths of a second behind third-placed Woodridge. Xavier Trent started the event strong, going 2:00.44 through two laps, followed by a 2:01.54 pair of laps from Michael Ward.
Ontario was pacing well for a to- five finish, and busted the tape with nearly a two-second advantage over Fairfield Union at fifth. Xander Chitwood was third, with a fifth lap of 54.13 and a sixth of 1:01.63. Jace Young completed the last leg, going 53.47 and 1:00.78 in laps seven and eight.
“We should all be proud of our races, but I think we all know there was a little bit more we had to prove today, and it just didn’t happen,” Ward said. “That happens sometimes, progress isn’t always going to be up.”
“Our time would have won it for us last year, or gotten us close,” Chitwood said. “It was just more competitive this year.”
The girls 3200-meter run took place Friday afternoon, with Clear Fork junior Katrina Neal finishing fourth, with a personal best time of 10:55.88.
Neal’s opening lap of 1:16.38 got her off to a strong start in the middle of the pack, with a consistent middle and strong final lap seeing her create separation towards the end.
Division III Qualifiers
Boys 110-meter hurdles (39 inches)
Gavin Baker (Shelby): 14.53, seventh.
Girls 100-meter dash
Audrey Mahon (Ontario): 12.30, sixth.
Boys 100-meter dash
Tre Fowler (Ontario): 11.03, eighth.
Jermel Powell (Ontario): 11.03, ninth.
Girls 4×200–meter relay
Ontario: 1:42.53, fourth.
Girls 4×100–meter relay
Shelby: 48.00, first.
Lexington: 49.28, fifth.
Boys 4×100–meter relay
Shelby: 42.17, second.
Ontario: 42.69, fourth.
Clear Fork: 42.84, ninth
Girls 400-meter run
Taylor Bly: 55.86, first
Girls 4×400-meter relay
Ontario: 3:51.20, first
Cleark Fork: 3:51.25, third
Lexington: 3:58.03, fifth
