HIGH SCHOOL

Track: Several area competitors earn state berths

Brandon Hannahs
Reporter
Sheridan's Emily Taylor competes in the shot put during the Division II Regional Track and Field Tournament on Thursday at Muskingum University in New Concord.

NEW CONCORD – Several area competitors punched their ticket to next weekend's state track and field meet during Thursday's Division II regional at Muskingum University.

The top four in each event will compete in the Division II state meet on Friday and Saturday at Ohio State.

The Morgan girls 4x800 relay of Tayler Smith, Jordan and Jasmine Penrod and Jozi Brown fell short on the victory, settling for second in a school-record time of 9:35.95.

West Holmes won in 9:35.67.

Smith said the group focused on the school record knowing that time gave them a chance to reach state.

"We wanted to break the school record," she said. "We haven't had a lot of competition this season, but our mentality changed a lot when we got out there. We're really excited to keep going."

The Sheridan boys 4x800, led by Joey Palumbo, came in third in 8:08.7, while Emily Taylor placed third in the girls shot (39-1 1/4) and Ethan Tabor was eighth in the boys long jump (20-2) for the Generals.

Taylor credited a relaxed approach to her finish.

"I just threw. I was behind after my first couple throws, but I didn't think about it," she said. "It feels good to see the hard work pay off. This is just another step in my career."

John Glenn sophomore Louie Reicher also earned a berth with a fourth-place finish in the discus (150-11), while Philo's Payton Henderson was sixth (145-0), Morgan's Kade Mayle seventh (138-7) and Maysville's Morgan Browning ninth (132-8) in the event.

John Glenn's Louie Reicher competes in the discus throw during the Division II Regional Track and Field Tournament on Thursday at Muskingum University in New Concord.

"My coaches really helped me. They told me to keep driving up and to relax before throwing," Reicher said. "I wasn't expecting this, and there are no words to explain it."

John Glenn's Brooke Fatheree took fifth (5-0) and Sheridan's Natalie Eberts sixth (5-0) to just miss moving on in the girls high jump; Maysville's Chase Himmelspach placed seventh (13-9), and teammate Taylor Touvell 10th in the shot (33-6 1/4), and John Glenn's Austin Blatt was 11th in the long jump (19-6 3/4) in other field events.

Several running preliminaries also took place with the top eight qualifying for Saturday's finals. Area competitors advancing were Eberts and John Glenn's Karlie Zumbro in the girls 100 hurdles; Zumbro and Eula Berry of John Glenn in the girls 300 hurdles; Philo's Taylor Evans in the girls 100, John Glenn's Caleb Gaiters and Philo's Dasean Goldsmith in the boys 100 and 200; the Philo girls 4x200 relay; and Colin Veyon of Morgan in the boys 300 hurdles.

In addition, Sheridan's 4x400 relay of Ethan Snider, Justin Snider, Ryan Powell and Palumbo reached the finals after placing second in their heat, while John Glenn's girls 4x400 team of Berry, Cassie Desalvo, Zumbro and Fatheree won their heat to advance.