“They did better than anybody thought they would,” first-year Central coach Wayne May said. “They’re more upset that they didn’t win it. They’re hurt. They didn’t even want to put the medals on. I’m like, be proud. You’re second in the state.”
May put together a team of second-year track athletes in senior Ashton Young, his junior brother Tyler Young, and first-year sophomores Ty Myers Jr. and DaShawn Martin, who split time between the track and baseball teams. They ran 45.5 seconds in their first meet, taking over two seconds off that time at state.
“I definitely wouldn’t rather have my senior year any other way, and I love them,” said anchor Ashton Young, who also placed eighth in the 100. “We didn’t have the outcome we wanted but very proud.”
May said that Friday night in a hotel room he sat with the four and they talked about how they were the only five people who believed they would get to state and have a chance to win.
“It’s pretty incredible that we were able to do this considering we didn’t have an actual team to start the season,” Tyler Young said.
Myers said his dad, the Central football coach, convinced him that track would make him faster for football season. Myers said the drills and increased flexibility have definitely increased his speed.
Martin was the fourth piece to the puzzle. “I knew once we got the whole team together that we could do something big for the school and the program,” he said.
The three who return next year are intent on finding someone to replace Ashton Young. May believes he will and he said the three returners will be faster and make another run at state.
“You’re a step away, and this burns until next year at the same time till you can jump up on that podium again,” May said. “And it’s going to burn and burn. We’ll get another guy.”
In other Division III state action:
• Minster junior Taylor Roth knew she would have to run a personal record to win the girls 800. And she did with a time of 2:12.65 to edge Marie Souther of Zane Trace, who ran 2:13.41. Roth’s best time this season had been 2:16.
“The 800 was insanely fast today, and I knew that coming in,” Roth said. “Marie, I was racing with her the whole time, and she really pushed me on the back stretch. And I’m not really used to having that push on the back stretch. I’m confident in my finish, so I just use that to my advantage today.”
• Coldwater senior Tyler Schweiterman won his second straight state title in the boys 300 hurdles with a time of 38.96. His winning time last year was 39.48. He also placed sixth in the 110 hurdles.
• Legacy Christian junior Maddy Merritt finished second in the 400 in 57.20. Last year she missed the final by spot. She started running the 400 just before the postseason last year.
“I was ready to work hard and see what I could do,” she said. “Coming into finals today I wasn’t really that nervous because whatever happened, I knew that I’ve already ran faster than I ever had. It was just cool being here, taking in the experience.”
Minster’s girls finished third in the team standings with 30 points and Marion Local tied for fourth with 24. Fort Loramie’s boys finished seventh with 24 points and Anna was eighth with 23.
SATURDAY’S DIVISION III RESULTS
GIRLS
100 hurdles: Aurora Schubert, Dayton Christian, third, 14.98; Sam Hoelscher, Marion Local, sixth, 15.21.
100: Delaney Jones, West Liberty-Salem, fourth, 12.33.
1,600: Clarie Rethman, Fort Loramie, second, 4:58.35; Margaret Hemmelgarn, Minster, 8th, 5:08.12.
4x200 relay: Marion Local (Lynn Schweiterman, Natalie Pohl, Maddie Keller and Sam Hoelscher), sixth, 1:45.32.
4x100 relay: Anna (Tanner Spangler, Gabrielle Myers, Ashley Bertke and Kaitlyn Harris), second, 49.57; Coldwater (Izzy Zahn, Shelby Linn, Kiersten Keller and Allison Hamberg), eighth, 50.73.
400: Maddy Merritt, Legacy Christian, second, 57.20.
300 hurdles: Hoelscher, Marion Local, second, 43.72.
800: Taylor Roth, Minster, first, 2:12.65; Haley Alig, Coldwater, third, 2:16.42; Aleena Cook, Cedarville, 16th, 2:26.40.
200: Abbie Francis, Fort Recovery, seventh, 26.03.
3,200: Megan Adams, West Liberty-Salem, third, 11:05.01; Paige Steinke, Anna, 12th, 11:29.43; Brittany Arnold, Botkins, 15th, 11:57.73; Lauren Moore, Fort Loramie, 17th, 12:05.23; Elyza Long, Covington, 18th, 12:15.43.
4x400 relay: Coldwater (Haley Alig, Carlee Goodwin, Izzy Zahn and Ava Giere), second, 3:58.53; Minster (Cameo Cedarleaf, Lillian Barhorst, Keri Heckman and Taylor Roth), fourth, 4:01.02; Marion Local (Hoelscher, Schwieterman, Keller and Jayden Huelsman), ninth, 4:03.35.
BOYS
110 hurdles: Tyler Schwieterman, Coldwater, sixth, 15.26; Justin Finkbine, Tri-Village, eighth, 15.60.
100: Justin Richards, Anna, seventh, 11.15; Ashton Young, Catholic Central, eighth, 11.32.
1600: Hayden Schmidt, Anna, fourth, 4:21.07; Alex Albers, Minster, sixth, 4:22.52; Colten Gasson, Fort Loramie, 11th, 4:29.21.
4x200 relay: Mechanicsburg (Kailen Butler, Jack Wolf, Peyton Leeson and Jake Hurst), second, 1:30:05; Anna (Brandon Axe, Xavier McEldowney, Ben McDermott and Justin Richards), sixth, 1:31.20.
4x100 relay: Catholic Central (Tyler Young, Tyrone Myers, Da’Shawn Martin and Ashton Young), second, 43.34; Anna (Brandon Axe, Xavier McEldowney, Ben McDermott and Justin Richards), fourth, 43.76; Mechanicsburg (Kailen Butler, Jack Wolf, Jake Hurst and Peyton Leeson), sixth, 43:88; Marion Local (Brayden Pavelka, Kyle Otte, Peyton Moeller and Peyton Otte), sixth 44.10;
400: Dewey Hill, Dixie, fourth, 49.36.
300 hurdles: Tyler Schweiterman, Coldwater, first, 38.96; Joseph Slonosky, Minster, fourth, 40.12.
800: Caleb Sultan, Cedarville, fifth, 1:55.92; Colin Gasson, Fort Loramie, eighth, 1:57.41; Alex Albers, Minster, 11th, 1:58.02; Carter Pleiman, Botkins, 15th, 2:02.43.
3,200: Hayden Schmidt, Anna, fourth, 9:23.58; Kellen Reichert, Jackson Center, sixth, 9:32.08; Trevor Heitkamp, Fort Recovery, 13th, 10:01.25.
4x400 relay: Fort Loramie (Colin Gasson, Trey Ranly, Colten Gasson and Frank Rethman), fpurth, 3:26.50.
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