Local track athletes just getting started
Everything you need to know about this week's regional track meets
BUCYRUS – Local track athletes have one more stop before they can earn a trip to Columbus.
Three relay teams and 11 individual event girls participants are joined by five relay teams and 15 individual boys in making the trips to the regional track meets Wednesday for the preliminaries. The boys travel down the road to Columbian High School in Tiffin, while the ladies take a 2-hour bus ride to Fairfield Union High School in Lancaster.
Redmen leap to Regional
The Bucyrus Redmen have just two female athletes making the trip to Lancaster. Senior Gabby Seibert used a strong showing in last week’s district meet on her home track to advance to the regional in pursuit of one final shot at making it to state. Her 1:03.97 in the 400 meter dash earned a fourth-place finish and a slot in Wednesday’s preliminary race.
She is also advancing in the high jump after leaping 4-feet-10 and a district runner-up finish.
Senior Kelci Simms launched the shot put 38-3.5 on her way to a district title. That mark gives her the second best seed mark heading into the regional meet behind Grace White of Pleasant who comes in with a 38-11 mark.
On the boy’s side, the Redmen send three athletes to the Tiffin Regional. Mykal Smathers in the 400, Carson Pirnstill in the 800 and Harley Robinson in the high jump. Robinson leaped 6-2 on his way to a district championship as a freshman. Pirnstill ran a 2:03.49 in the 800 and Smathers clocked a 52.35 in the 400 to advance.
Wynford sends speed, power
The Wynford Royals send a nice representation to regional with four individual event participants and two relay teams on the boys’ side and two individual event participants from the girls’ team. Senior Cole Fortner will have a busy day competing in the 100 and 200 as well as the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.
He is joined by Tony Watson, Alizhah Watson and Robbie Miller on the relay teams and Alizhah Watson joins Fortner in the 200. Fortner’s 11.14 seed time in the 100 is fourth best in the regional and his 22.57 seed time in the 200 is eighth best. The 4x200 seed time of 1:31.91 is just .01 slower than the top seed time owned by Eastwood. The 44.31 seed time in the 4x100 is also second best in the regional behind Waynesfield-Goshen.
The Royals send a pair of throwers to Wednesday’s finals with senior James Ort advancing in discus and junior Seth Hoffman making it in both shot put and discus. Hoffman launched the shot put 47-7.75 and the discus 153-8 good for a district title. Ort advanced after a 146-8 discus throw and a third-place finish.
For the ladies, Margaret Willford and Hayley McCoy join Seibert in the long haul to Lancaster. Willford is competing in the long jump and 100 hurdles, while McCoy joins Seibert in the 400. Willford ran a 16.45 in the hurdles finishing in third at last week’s district meet to punch her ticket. Her leap of 15-8.5 nabbed her a district title in the long jump. McCoy’s 1:01.6 in the 400 was second best in the even at districts.
Three Bucks Left
The Buckeye Central Bucks send a trio of athletes to regional as Aubrey Wright and Isabelle Biglin advance for the girls and Brice Brenneman for the boys. Wright is competing in the 100, high jump and long jump. Biglin looks to advance in the 300 hurdles and Brenneman in the long jump.
Wright is a three-event regional qualifier thanks to an impressive showing in the district meet. She jumped 15-7.25 and finished second in the long jump, 4-10 in the high jump and sprinted 12.84 in the 100, taking fourth place.
Biglin used a 50.55 in the 300 hurdles to punch her ticket, while Brenneman leaped 19-10.5 in the long jump to advance.
Eagles a-plenty
The 2016 District Champion Colonel Crawford Eagles send by far the highest number of representatives to regional with three girls relay teams, two boys relay teams, five individual girls and seven individual boys. Both teams swept the district meet by a sizable margin.
Senior Callie Ruffener is a four-event regional qualifier, joining Fortner as the only athletes from the area to compete in four events at the regional level. She is running in the 4x100 relay with Alyssa Spears, Kirsten Vehrs and Kendra Koge, the 300 hurdles, the 200, and her specialty, the pole vault.
Anna Reffey is tackling three events during Wednesday’s regional at Lancaster. She anchors the 4x800 meter relay team featuring Emily Kemper, Courtney Britt and Kari Teglovic and will run the 1,600 and 3,200.
Kemper joins Reffey in the same three events. Vehrs joins Ruffener in the 300 hurdles as well.
Sam Mutchler earned a district championship in the high jump after leaping 5-feet. Her seed mark makes her tied for third behind a 5-6 mark and two 5-2 marks. There are two other jumpers holding a 5-foot mark in the event. Mutchler is a part of the 4x200 meter relay team featuring Spears, Koge and Vehrs.
Sophomore Chad Johnson leads the way for the boys. He earned two district championships last week in the 3,200 (9:47.56) and 800 (2:00.62). He anchored the 4x800 team of Brad Bauer, Brandon Long and Wade Hopkins to a second place finish with a time of 8:28.84.
Long and Bauer advanced in the 1,600 after Bauer ran a 5:01.17 earning a runner-up finish. Johnson is joined by Nick Studer in the 3,200 after Studer finished second behind Johnson with a 10:22.17.
Owen Adams will be a three-event participant after advancing in the 300 hurdles, long jump and as a member of the 4x100. He earned a district title in the long jump with a lead of 21-9.75 and in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.28. He anchors the 4x100 team featuring Owen Kocher, Cody Reed and Colton Rowland.
Jaret Tinkey and Noah Ferguson represent the Eagles in the throwing competitions. Tinkey finished second in discus with 151-8 at districts and Ferguson took third in the shot put with a 48-9.25.
Regional Bound
The Division III Boys Regional Track Meet begins at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Frost-Kalnow Stadium in Tiffin and running finals begin at 5 p.m. on Friday.
The Division III Girls Regional Track Meet begins at 4 p.m. on Wednesday at Fairfield Union High School in Lancaster, with finals beginning 5 p.m. Friday.
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Twitter: @JakeFurr11