COLUMBUS — The Shelby boys and Lexington girls 4×800 relay teams set the stage for what should be an exciting Day 2 of the state track and field tournament.
The Whippets placed third, while Lady Lex was sixth in the only running finals on opening day at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The Shelby quartet of Marshall Moore, Huck Finnegan, Indy Mayer and Luke Dininger finished in 7:56.87. The Lexington team of Elyana Weaver, Brailey Slone, Kenley Miller and Lily Wolfe crossed the line in 9:25.16.
The remainder of the running finals will be contested Saturday. Here’s a look at north central Ohio athletes who qualified for the running during Friday’s preliminaries:
Division II
Clear Fork’s Joe Stupka will run in the finals of the 100, 200 and 400. He qualified second in the 400 in 48.84. He has the sixth best time going into the 200 (21.89) and the seventh fastest time in the 100 (10.79).
The Galion boys 4×100 team grabbed the ninth and final qualifying spot in the prelims. The foursome of Gabe Ivy, Jack Hart, Zach Sallee and Jacob Chambers finished in 43.19.
On the girls side, Shelby’s Ava Bowman qualified for the finals in the 100. Bowman was sixth after the prelims with a time of 12.18.
Bowman joined with Alainah Carmel, Jaleeza Zehner and Madison Henkel on the finals-qualifying 4×100 relay team. The quartet was third in the prelims in 49.48.
The Lexington girls 4×200 team of Allison Laury, Josalynn Patterson, Makenna Arnholt and Emily Thomas finished will run in the finals after placing fourth in the prelims in 1:44.79.
The Ontario girls 4×400 team placed seventh in the prelims in 4:02.38. Members of the team are Arialyn Bischak, Adi Turnbaugh, Ally Potter and Sasha Bulakovski.
Division III
Lucas’ Shelby Grover, who won a long jump state title Friday, qualified for the finals int he 100 and 300 hurdles. She was fourth in the 100s (14.75) and first in the 300s (44.08).
Bucyrus’ Emma Tyrrell qualified for the finals in the 400. She was eighth in 59.60.
The Colonel Crawford girls 4×100 relay team of Ayla McKibben, Mira Holt, Reagan Ritzhaupt and Hailey Slagle was fifth in 50.51.
Crawford’s 4×400 crew of Mira Holt, Reagan Ritzhaupt, Rylee Ritzhaupt and Gabby Roston was fourth in 4:03.17.
In Division III boys action, Crestview’s Adison Reymer qualified for the finals in both the 100 and 200. He was seventh in the 100 (11.03) and second in the 200 (22.22). Plymouth’s Riley Ramey will join Reymer in the finals in the 200 after finishing eighth Friday in 22.48.
Reymer joined with Caden Cunningham, Malachi Spoerr and Logan Friges on Crestview’s 4×400 relay. The foursome turned in the top time in the prelims (3:23.25).
Plymouth’s Ramey is also a member of a finals-qualifying relay team. He joined with Gavin McClary, Caiden Allen and Layne Bushey to finish sixth in the prelims of the 4×100 relay (43.70).
St. Peter’s Peyton Bodnar qualified for the finals in the 400 after placing eighth in the event last year. Bodnar was sixth in 50.45.
Colonel Crawford’s Trevor Vogt turned in the second-fastest qualifying time in the 300 hurdles. Vogt finished in 39.50.
