NWO brings home 3 team titles and 28 individual titles at Track & Field State Championships

Volume 2 Issue 23

Jun 04, 2023

Division III

Minster girls got the state championships rolling for Northwest Ohio on Friday when they took the 4x800m state title. They crushed the competition coming in with a time of 9:19.85, almost nineteen seconds ahead of 2nd place. Bluffton boys then kept it going with a time of 7:52.13 to take the boys 4x800m state title ahead of second place Ottawa Hills and third place Tinora.

All Division III field events took place on Friday. Jennifer Patrick of Margaretta took the discus crown with a toss of 145’08. She is Margaretta’s ninth state champion since 2017. On the boys side, Tadd Koch of Columbus Grove took a close battle to win the discus over teammate Lawson Maag and county rival Seth Apple of Leipsic. Koch’s throw of 175’02 was just two feet and one inch ahead of second place and only five feet two inches ahead of third.

One of the biggest surprises of the day came from boys high jump. Owen Ackerman of Defiance Tinora finished fifth in his region. In years past he would have been eliminated, however, since the implementation of the wild card, which allows the top two athletes at the regional level that did not finish top four in their region to compete at the state championships, he was allowed to go. It was a good thing too because he was the fifth best jumper in the state. He went from wild card to state champion as he defeated top seed and freshman sensation Calvin Willow of Arlington by clearing 6’05 and 6’06.

The big heavyweight battle of the field event came in the boys pole vault. Two time defending state champion Zaiden Fry of Mohawk was facing off against Marion Local standout Nate Buschur. These two were the only two competitors left for five different heights. At 15’10, Buschur made it on his second attempt while Fry went out on his third attempt. That win made Buschur just the second boy in Marion Local history to win a track and field state title.

On finals Saturday Azure Travis of Woodmore took home the first state title of the day in the 100m Hurdles with a time of 14.42, giving Woodmore 10 points to add to the 4 they earned in the 4x800m.

The girls 100m saw Leah Smith of Tiffin Calvert take the title in a time of 11.97. That time puts her 9th fastest in Northwest Ohio history. She is also the first girl in Seneca County history to win a state title in the sprints. To add to the accomplishments, Smith with teammates Miller, Shook and Brown, took home the state title in 4x200m with a time of 1:43.00, defending Calvert’s state title from a year ago.

Allen East then took home the boys state title in the 4x200m with a time of 1:29.57. It is the first relay state title in Allen East history.

Possibly the top athlete in Division III and defending state champion Sydnee Sinn of Wayne Trace topped not just her personal best in the 400m, but also took down the state record with blistering time of 55.00. That is the fourth fastest time in Northwest Ohio history.

After a near disater in prelims where Azure Travis hit the final hurdle and was one spot away from not qualifying, she rebounded on Saturday to win the state all the way from lane 9 with a time of 43.82 in the 300m hurdles. She is the first NBC athlete to win a state title in two different events and the first Ottawa County girl to win a title in both hurdles.

On the boys side, Kellen Schlagbaum of Ottoville went 38.60 to win the 300m hurdles. He is the first Putnam County boy and first PCL athlete to win a state title in the event.

Taylor Roth of Minster put on a clinic in the 800m to defend her state title with a time of 2:11.72. She is the only girl in Minster history to win a state title in the 800m. Her time puts her 7th all-time in NWO history. Meanwhile Emma Hammer of Woodmore finished fourth to help bring Woodmore’s total points to 29. With only the 4x400m left for them, they still were 5 points behind first place Norwayne.

Standout sophomore Izzy Zahn of Coldwater took home the 200m crown with a time of 24.39. Her time places her 10th all time in NWO history. She is the only Coldwater girl to win a state title in the sprints.

Wayne Trace 4x400m girls team rounded out the individual champions for Division III as they went 3:54.85 to set a new state record. They defended their title from a year ago and ran the 6th fastest time in NWO history. Right behind them in 2nd place was Woodmore who gained 8 points to pass Norwayne and capture the team state title. Woodmore won their first track and field state title since 1993. They have most of their team returning and will be joining the SBC-River next school year.

Marion Local boys got their first points from thrower Jack Knapke. He was ranked 8th in the shot put and 9th in discus and battled his way 6th place in both to get a much needed 6 points for the Flyers. Nate Buschur’s heavyweight battle in the pole vault gave the Flyers another needed 10 points to bring the total up to 16. The boys 4x100m claimed a bronze medal to bring the point total up 22. Then Owen Rindler, who was ranked 9th coming into the state meet, finished an amazing 2nd place in the 300m Hurdles to give the Flyers 8 points and bring the total to 30. Going into the 4x400m Marion Local was in a three way tie for first. All they had to do was not finish last or get disqualified in the 4x400m and they would be state champions. They finished second. They earned the first boys track and field team title in both MAC and Mercer County history.

Division II

Dakota Keifer of Otsego brought home the only field event title in Division II on Friday when took home the pole vault title with a jump of 16 feet. That jump tied him for 6th all time in NWO history.

On Saturday, Nyla King of Toledo Central Catholic got things started with a time 11.83 to take home the 100m state title. She became the first Toledo Central Catholic girl to win a state title in the sprints. Her time of 11.83 is 7th fastest in NWO history.

Keeping it in the family, brother Solomon King ran a blistering time of 10.34 to win the 100m. Unfortunatley the wind gauge measured +2.1 which is 0.1 over the allowable limit to count for a record. He is the first NWO boy to win the 100m in Division II since 2002.

Toledo Central Catholic girls then went on to win the 4x200m in a time of 1:41.52 and the 4x100m in a time of 48.21. Their time in the 4x100m is the 6th fastest in NWO history. They defended their 4x200m title from a year ago and became the first Lucas County girls squad to win the 4x100m in 40 years.

In the boys 4x100m, Toledo Central Catholic crushed the previous state record by clocking a time of 41.54. That is far and away the best time in NWO history. They are just the second school in NWO to ever run under 42 seconds.

The legend of Alexa Fortman grew even greater as she defended her state title in the 400m and 800m and ran a stellar anchor leg in the 4x400m to take Ottawa-Glandorf to the top of the podium. She has more state titles than anyone in Putnam County and WBL history.

Also at the Division II meet some NWO Top 10 times were registered. Huron’s Kennedy Schlessman ran the 800m in 2:12.53 to finish 3rd and place 10th on the all time list. Huron boys 4x200m went 1:27.09 to finish 2nd and place 5th on the all time list. Huron’s Beau Harkelroad finished 2nd in the 300m Hurdles and placed 10th on the all time list. The Perkins boys 4x400m squad were just edged out for the win but still ran the 9th fastest time in NWO history with a time of 3:18.58.

Division I

In Division I, Maira Scott proved to be the one to beat as she took home the state title in both the 100m and 200m. She out ran Olivia Pace of Westerville Central in the 100m who gave a mighty attempt but just couldn’t keep up with Scott over the last 15 meters. In the 200m however, Scott was untouchable. She had made up the stagger in just 75 meters and just blew away the field, winning over second place by almost a full second. She is by the far the fastest 100m and 200m sprinter in NWO history.

Toledo St. John’s had a very stellar lineup of athletes. But even the biggest Titans supporters may not have seen this coming. If you have followed track and field this year you would know how good St. John’s is as a squad, you would also know how good the squads are in the three C’s. Long jumper Trey Miller got things started with a solid 5th place finish to give them 4 points. Then in the 100m, sophomore Caleb Kelly was the last qualifier to make finals. He ended up running all the way up to 3rd place with a time of 10.66 to bring the Titans up to 10 points total. Their 4x200m team then tied the 2nd fastest time in NWO history with a run of 1:26.70 to finish 3rd and bring them up to 16 points. Joseph Taylor then finished 4th in the 400m and Caleb Kelly (who ran the fastest time in NWO history in prelims) finished 5th in the 200m to give the Titans 25 points.

With just the 4x400m remaining, the Titans were sitting in third place. They would need to finish in 5th place to tie for the state title or 4th or better to win it outright. The problem was, the Titans were 9th ranked team coming out of prelims. They had the capability to win it all, but would it happen? From the get go St. John’s got out hard, they were in the lead after the first leg. However, towards the end of the second leg the rest of the field had closed the gap. The third leg was a dog fight, St. John’s was fighting to stay with Beavercreek who had taken the lead. Then anchor leg Joseph Taylor got the baton and never the turned the jets off. He ran down Beavercreek and made a pass with 100m to go. He kept his form and his stride and Beavercreek couldn’t keep up. St. John’s needed to get fourth, they got first. Their time of 3:13.94 shattered to previous NWO record set by DeVilbiss in 1987. It is their first team state title in a spring sport in school history.

Also at the Division I meet, in a blistering fast mile, St. Francis’ Ethan Cope ran the 7th fastest time in NWO history to finish 7th and Anthony Wayne’s Connor Long ran the 10th fastest time in NWO history to finish 9th.

Leading Updates

Quentin Poling (Elida) was named USFL Defensive Player of the Week for week 7.

Notable Game Updates

On May 28th Adam Wolf (Milan/Edison) faced 13 batters and gave up no earned runs for the Double-A Erie Seawolves.
On May 29th Andrew Chafin (Wakeman/Western Reserve) picked up the save for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
On May 30th Natasha Howard (Toledo/Waite) had 25 points in a Wings win over the Lynx.
On May 31st Nick Thwaits (Fort Recovery) earned the save for the High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps.
On June 1st Jase Bowen (Northwood/Toledo Cen. Cath.) wend 2-for-4 with 2 RBIs for the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers.
On June 2nd Chris Bassitt (Curitce/Genoa) faced 27 batters and threw 8 strikeouts to get the win for the Blue Jays over the Mets.
On June 2nd Natasha Howard (Toledo/Waite) had 16 points and 13 rebounds in a Wings loss to the Mystics.

Interesting Reads

Just For Fun

NWO Athletes to win the World Series

Jim Leyland (Coach) - 1997 Florida Marlins - Perrysburg

Doug Bair - 1984 Detroit Tigers -Oakwood

Doug Bair - 1982 St. Louis Cardinals - Oakwood

Grant Jackson - 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates Fostoria

Gates Brown - 1968 Detroit Tigers - Crestline

Elmer Smith - 1920 Cleveland Indians - Milan

Roger Bresnahan - 1905 New York Giants - Toledo Central

Northwest Ohio Sports Weekly

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