LEXINGTON — Madison Henkel entered rarified air Saturday afternoon.
Shelby’s sophomore long jumper, Henkel won the Division II Lexington regional championship with a leap of 18-feet, 7.5 inches.
While it wasn’t a personal best — Henkel broke the Mansfield Mehock Relays record earlier this spring with a PR of 18-9.75 — it puts her on a short list of jumpers who could reach the top of the Division II state podium next week at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium. She is seeded first among the 18 state qualifiers.
“I’m shooting for 19 (feet) next week. That’s my goal,” said Henkel, who was third at the Lex regional last year before placing fifth at state. “I have to stay focused on my speed and … stay confident in my abilities.”
Henkel was one of three area regional champs. Lexington’s Elyana Weaver won the 800 in 2:14.83 while the Ontario boys 4×400 relay team of Landon Foltz, Jace Young, Aiden Fox and Bodpegn Miller won in 3:22.56.
A senior, Weaver avenged a loss to Huron’s Jadyn Towns in last week’s Ontario district. Towns finished second Saturday.
“I’m a senior, but I’m still learning to be confident in myself,” Weaver said. “I’m just trusting my training and trusting my coach. It’s really all I can do.”
Ontario’s Miller and Young were three-time state qualifiers Saturday. In addition to the 4×400, Miller finished third in the 200 (21.98) and joined Brady Fletcher, Quinton Frankhouse and Grady Muncy to place fourth in the 4×200 (1:29.24).
“In the 4×200, a guys fell in one of the outside lanes and I had to hop over him,” Miller said. “I tweaked my hamstring a little bit, so I didn’t know if I was going to be able to run.”
Young placed fourth in the 800 in a school-record 1:53.62. He was also a member of Ontario’s 4×800 team, along with Xavier Trent, Dean Morrison and Austin Boughton. The foursome placed second in 7:58.04 on Thursday.
“It’s going to be busy but it’s a good kind of busy,” Young said of competing in multiple events at the state meet. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Like Miller and Young, Galion’s Jacob Chambers was a three-time state qualifier. Chambers finished fourth in the 100 in 10.95 and joined with Linkon Tyrrell, Zach Sallee and Gabe Ivy to place third in 42.54. He already had qualified in the long jump, finishing fourth Thursday with a leap up 22-2.75.
“It definitely feels good to be going to state in multiple events,” Chambers said. “I’m pretty happy with the way everything went.”
Henkel and Weaver were among a group of seven area athletes to qualify for state in two events. Henkel was a member of Shelby’s 4×100 relay team, along with Princess Timko, Jaleeza Zehner and Peyton Putnam. The quartet finished fourth in 49.38. Weaver teamed with Brailey Slone, Katya Prykhodko and Julia Wyant to finish third in the 4×800 relay in 9:39.10 on Thursday.
In addition to qualifying on Ontario’s relays teams, Morrison and Fox both earned individual state bids Saturday. Morrison placed third in the 3,200 (:53.02), while Fox was second in the 300 hurdles (39.59).
Lexington’s Emily Thomas placed second in the 300 hurdles (45.18) and was a member of the state-qualifying 4×200 relay team. She was joined by Allison Laury, Olyvia Stoots and Makenna Arnholt to finish fourth in 1:43.31.
Fredericktown’s Ella Bouton placed fourth in the shot put Thursday (39-9.75) and took fourth in the discus Saturday (128-2).
Other individual state qualifiers were Shelby’s Graham Yeager in the discus (third, 155-11), Fredericktown’s Brandon Hogg in the pole vault (fourth, 13-8), Fredericktown’s Grant Hartley in the 400 (fourth, 49.97), Galion’s Miranda Stone in the discus (second, 139-11) and Clear Fork’s Davis Hoeflich in the high jump (fourth, 6-4).
The Shelby boys 4×800 team of Marshall Moore, Indy Mayer, Luke Baker and Luke Lesseuer was fourth in 8:6.29. The Ontario girls 4×400 quartet of Sasha Bulakovski, Audrey Mahon, Arialyn Bischak and Kenzie Goodlin was third in 4:00.65.