Devils' Crosby highlights state qualifiers
PICKERINGTON – Friday will be a day etched in Leo Crosby's memory.
The Zanesville junior won the shot put title and helped the 4x100 relay earn a state berth during the Division I regional track and field meet at Pickerington North.
The top four placers in each event qualified for the state meet at Ohio State.
Crosby threw 59-feet-0 to top Pickerington Central's Clayton Glasco (58-2 1/2), while running with Ben Kaufman, Alessio Amato and Austin Gillinger on the fourth-place 4x100 (:43.11).
The best part for Crosby was competing in front of his mother, Stephanie Means, for the first time.
"Having my mom here was a boost of confidence," he said. "Being able to represent Zanesville and doing this with the support of my family, friends and Coaches (Mike) Casapini and (Michael) Law means a lot."
Gillinger also came in second in the 100 (:11.16), finishing behind Nick Gray of Pickerington North, who won in :10.79.
It was a dream come true after finishing fifth in the 100 as a junior.
"I've been working towards this for four years," Gillinger said. "I didn't start well on Wednesday, but I was nervous all day. Those jitters helped me with a better start. I'm looking forward to being in that atmosphere in Columbus."
Kaufman, who fell short of qualifying in the long jump by 1/4 of an inch Wednesday, credited handoffs to the relay's state-qualifying run.
"It's about perfect handoffs. If you don't do that, you don't get out," he said. "This has been our goal all year, and it's awesome to make state."
Tri-Valley senior Kaylee Antill collected another state berth in the discus, finishing second with a school-record toss of 157-5.
Oyesade Olatoye of Dublin Coffman won (157-5), while Tri-Valley teammate Allie Farmer came in sixth (114-5).
"(Oyesade) is a competitor like me, and I knew she was the one I had to beat," Antill said. "I wanted to come out and do my best. This is the third straight meet where I have thrown over 150 feet.
"State is another day, and I have another week to get better."
The Tri-Valley 4x100 of Logan Bash, Jordan Jones, Bryce Goss and Marcus Hawkins came in seventh (:43.5); Zanesville's Tavian Butts placed eighth (49-9) and Tri-Valley's Cameron Little 11th (48-61/2) in the shot; the Scotties' Brady Mozena took seventh in the high jump (6-3), teammate Matt Gray was 10th in the 800 (1:58.37) and fellow Scottie Caden Sauerbrey was 15th in the 3200 (10:39).
In Division III at Fairfield Union, Rosecrans junior Samantha Swackhammer earned a pair of state berths after finishing second in both the 100 hurdles (:15.49) and 300 hurdles (:46.09).
Swackhammer made a late surge to get second in the 300 hurdles after coach Mike Bullock took her out of the 4x200.
"I don't think she would have had the legs if she had run the relay," he said. "This was her personal best in both events, and she is primed to go right now."
The 4x200 relay of Peyton Farrell, Riley Hagy, Abby Hutcheson and Emily Nash came in seventh (1:50.66), while Swackhammer, Farrell, Hutcheson and Hagy were seventh in the 4x400 (4:13), Hagy seventh in the girls 800 (2:25.65), Logan McLaughlin seventh in the 400 (:53.56), Peter Tran 10th in the shot (44-1) and Carter Hagy 12th in the 1600 (4:50) for the Bishops.
The Crooksville boys 4x100 relay of Tristan Riggs, Tanner Watson, Bruce Thompson and Michael Carter fell short in sixth (:45.27).
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