THE PLAINS — There will be two student-athletes from Miami Trace High School competing in the State track meet Friday in Columbus.
Senior (now recent graduate) Drake Litteral, won the Regional title in the 200-meter dash Saturday at Athens High School. His winning time: 22.56.
Litteral placed an extremely close second (by just .02) in the finals of the 100-meter dash, also advancing to the State meet in 11.26.
Kameron Bowen of New Lexington won the Regional 100-meter dash in 11.24.
Faheem Gilbert of Waverly was third at 11.41 and Tre Ivey of Unioto was fourth at 11.46.
McClain’s Tristan Pitzer placed fifth in 11.49.
In the 200-meter dash, Gilbert was second in 22.85, Pitzer was third at 22.92 and Alex Leeper of Cambridge was fourth in 22.95.
Junior Katie Seyfang completed her throwing double for State-qualification, placing third in the discus throw (129’ 6”) Saturday after placing second to advance to State in the shot put on Thursday with a throw of 43’ 1/2”.
The same four student-athletes all qualified to State in both throwing events.
Lindsay Baker of East Liverpool won the Regional discus title at 144’ 2”. Autumn Mohan of Unioto was second at 134’ 11” and Alivia Bentley of Carrollton was fourth at 123’ 2”.
In the shot put, Baker won with a new Regional record of 47’ 8 3/4”.
Bentley was third at 42’ 2 3/4” and Mohan was fourth at 39’ 7 1/4”.
It was a tough break for the Miami Trace boys 4 x 200-meter relay team. After running the fastest semifinal time of 16 teams (1:31.27), the quartet was disqualified after the running of the finals on Saturday.
That team was comprised of Litteral as the anchor, juniors Brady Wallace and Noah Wiseman and senior Elijah Sauceda.
Athens won the Regional in 1:30.08, followed by Steubenville, 1:30.65, St. Clairsville, 1:31.14 and Ridgewood, 1:32.21.
Sauceda placed sixth in the finals of the 400-meter dash Saturday in a time of 51.41.
Brayden Chaney of West Holmes won in 49.04. The next three places going to State were: Nae Rennie, Fairfield Union, 49.85; Tanner Jennings, Waverly, 50.04 and Justin Merrick, Tuscarawas Valley, 50.31.
Miami Trace sophomore Macy Creamer took a fifth place finish in the finals of the 300-meter hurdles in a time of 46.49.
Karlie Zumbro of John Glenn won in 44.25. Madi Oiler of Gallia Academy was second in 44.53, Taylor Yerian of West Holmes was third in 45.39 and Ellie Ruby of Wheelersburg was fourth in 45.62.
Miami Trace junior Wes Seyfang placed 11th in the shot put with a best throw of 43’ 7 3/4”.
On Thursday, Seyfang took fifth in the discus throw at 140’ 5”.
Chucky Morris of Jackson won the discus at 147’ 1”. Blake Linard of Claymont was second at 145’ 5”, Louie Reicher of John Glenn was third at 144’ 7” and Josh Goudy of West Holmes was fourth at 143’ 1”.
Reicher won the shot put at 55’ 11 1/2”. Garrett Dostall of Cambridge was second at 51’ 9”; Linard was third at 50’ 9 1/2” and Kyler Hooper of Maysville was fourth at 50’ 2 1/2”.
The McClain boys 4 x 100-meter relay was sixth in the finals in 44.47.
That team was comprised of Tristan Pitzer, Landree Gray, Tyler Jackson and Jensen Knaff.
McClain’s girls relay placed fifth in the 4 x 100-meter finals in 50.57.
The same quartet, Maddie Stegbauer, Hunter Scott, Ashley Hardesty and Chayden Pitzer, qualified to State in the 4 x 200-meter relay, placing fourth in 1:46.23.
Pitzer won the Regional 200-meter dash in 25.46.
The Hillsboro boys 4 x 100-meter relay advanced to State with a fourth place time of 44.19. That quartet consisted of Austin Kimball, Jeremy Hayton, Luke Gallimore and Austin Goolsby.
Goolsby won the Regional pole vault on Thursday, clearing 15’ 0”.
“The Miami Trace Panthers track and field team competed hard in all events today,” head coach Brent Noes said. “We had two PR’s (personal records), another new school record, a Regional Champion, and two competitors who qualified to the State meet in a total of four events.
“Katie Seyfang returned to Athens on Saturday with a third place finish in the Discus throwing 129’ 6”, which is just three inches shy of her PR,” Noes said. “Katie, who already qualified to Columbus in the shot put, will be making her first trip to the State meet competing in Discus.
“Katie has worked extremely hard this past year to reach her goal of competing in the State meet in both throwing events,” Noes said. “Her dedication has paid off.
“Drake Litteral qualified to the State meet in the 100-meter dash, finishing second and was the Regional champion in the 200-meter dash,” Noes said. “Drake has also worked extremely hard during this past year and he is making the most of it.
“Macy Creamer had another exciting day in the 300-meter hurdles,” Noes said. “It was bittersweet finishing in fifth place, just missing out on a trip to Columbus, but she set a new school record in the process. She will be more determined than ever next season.
“Elijah Sauceda also set a new PR in the 400-meter dash,” Noes said. “He also moved up two places from his seed time for a sixth place finish.
“In the 4 x 200-meter relay there was a problem with one of our runners who lined up outside of the fly zone, which is an infraction,” Noes said. “As a result, what was thought to be a qualifying time in the finals and a return trip to Columbus, ended up a disqualification.
“Overall the coaching staff could not be more proud of the effort put forth over the two-day Regional meet and we look forward to see what we can accomplish at the State Meet (this) weekend.”
