“Going into this year, we didn’t really know what we would have,” Hartman said, “but we had a lot of girls coming in who were a bit younger. We knew we had a shot at the title. Nothing is ever guaranteed. We got our business done and just did as well as we possibly could. Our results were better than we expected. We put in the hard work. We’re all just really excited. It’s a blessing.”
Two years ago, when the state meet was last held, Oakwood finished second to Indian Hill. It also finished second in the state cross country meet last fall.
This time, Oakwood scored 53 points, and Buchtel finished second with 39 points.
“It’s great for the kids,” longtime coach Mark Stiver said. “I’m more excited for the kids than anything else. Things had to fall right, but we thought it was possible.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Here’s how Oakwood scored its 53 points.
• 1,600-meter run (18 points): Hartman won the race in 4 minutes 52.08 seconds. Sophomore Bella Butler placed second (4:55.63).
• 3,200-meter run (13 points): Hartman won (10:48.50) by about eight seconds. Senior Hannah Moulton placed sixth (11:15.05).
• 1,600 relay (6 points): The team of junior Ellerie Nye, sophomore Emma Almoney. Hartman and Butler finished in 3:59.35.
• 800 (6 points): Butler placed third (2:14.39).
• 3,200 relay (10 points): Oakwood’s team of Butler, Almoney, Moulton and Hartman won the first event Friday in 9:14.98.
In other Division II girls finals:
• Chaminade Julienne junior Jaydn Haywood placed third in the 100 (12.25) and fifth in the 200 (25.67).
• The Carroll 1,600 relay team of Meredith Goecke, Ava Lickliter, Melanie Hoffman and Grace Braun placed sixth (4:02.76).
An emotional Dunbar relay team won two state championships in a matter of minutes. The runners told me they were running for their late teammate Qua’Lek Shelton, who died after he was shot in February 2020. pic.twitter.com/BgBAQKFpmz
— David Jablonski (@DavidPJablonski) June 5, 2021
Division II boys meet: Dunbar High School seniors Jalaquan Lusbrough, Shawn Huffman, Myles Lacking and Brandon Wright competed with one name on their mind Saturday: Qua’Lek Shelton.
Shelton was a Dunbar freshman when he was shot and killed in February 2020. One headline at the time described him as a “rising track star.”
The Dunbar runners honored Shelton by winning two state championships Saturday. They won the 4x200 relay in 1:28.30 and the 4x100-meter relay in 42.61 seconds.
“We put our heart out into these last two races,” Wright said. “This was for our brother.”
Lusbrough said Dunbar had been waiting a long time for this opportunity. The 2020 spring season was cancelled because of the pandemic.
“We finally glad we got these two goals,” he said. “That’s all we wanted. We wanted to make everybody proud: Dunbar, our family, everybody.”
In other Division II boys finals:
• Waynesville senior Jake Amburgey placed eighth in the 100 (11.44).
• Waynesville senior Colin Amato placed fifth in the 800 (1:56.96).
• Waynesville senior Kaden Harvey placed fifth in the 1,600 (4:22.49)
In the Division III meet at Westerville North:
• Newton senior Dawson Hildebrand won the shot put (60-9½) on Friday. He placed eighth in the discus (156-10) on Saturday.
• Fort Loramie senior Hannah Raterman placed third in the pole vault (11-0). Newton’s Rylee Resides tied for fifth in the pole vault (10-6) on Saturday.
• Minster senior Bryan Falk placed fourth in the 100 (11.32).
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