River View relay headed to state

ATHENS - River View freshman Alicia Lonsinger understood the stakes on Saturday.

She and sophomore Cassidi Bookless did their parts to make sure senior teammates Whitney Fender and Grace Wherley reached Columbus as the foursome took fourth place in the 400 relay to advance from Saturday's Division II regional track and field meet at Athens High School.

The top four placers in each event qualified for next weekend's state meet at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Stadium.

"I couldn't have asked to be on a better team," said Lonsinger, who was fifth in the 200 (26.83). "I'm glad to be a part of it, and I was doing this for (Whitney and Grace)."

Wherley, who also took seventh in the 100 (12.92), said the team stepped up to the moment, running a personal-best time of 51.20.

"We worked hard and it's amazing to do this," she said. "We've been working for this all year and we ran our best time at the right time."

The same group also made up the seventh-place 800 relay (1:48.27), but running that race first helped Fender.

"That got the nerves out," she said. "We knew if we struggled in that race, we had our better event left. We've been consistent, and it starts with liking each other."

Bookless agreed that chemistry has been as important as good handoffs to their success.

"We haven't run together long, but we meshed well," she said. "It helps being able to get along."

Rdigewood freshman Alexis Prater failed to qualify, but took advantage of the experience. She placed fifth in the long jump (17-3 1/2) and seventh in the 100 hurdles (16.25).

"It's really exciting being in a big competition and seeing where you're at," she said. "I set the school record in the long jump, and I'm 10 times better than I was at the start of the season. It's nice to see that improvement in such a short amount of time."

Coshocton's Tyra Woods finished fifth in the pole vault (10-0) and 13th in the long jump (15-1 1/2), Ridgewood's Tayor Haaman was 12th (90-3) and teammate Josey Lillibridge 13th (82-7) in the discus and River View's Kyle McClain was 14th in the shot (41-6) to round out area competitors.

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