Lady Lion 4 x 2 relay qualifies to State

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NEW CONCORD — There was elation and there was disappointment for the Washington Blue Lion track team members on the second day of the Division II Regional meet at Muskingum University Saturday, May 27, 2023.

The Washington Lady Lion 4 x 200-meter relay placed second in the finals to qualify to the State tournament Friday at The Ohio State University.

The team of Allie Mongold, Kierstyn Mitchell, Megan Mongold and Morgan Cartwright, ran a time of 1:48.61, second only to Steubenville (1:47.79).

Washington will run Friday, June 2 at 2:30 p.m. at the Jesse Owens Memorial Track.

It was a very tough result for the Blue Lion boys 4 x 100-meter relay team in the Regional finals, with the top four finishers qualifying to State.

Washington placed fifth, just narrowly missing making it to State.

The team of Mason Coffman, Rocky Jones, Toby Mitchell and Caden Shiltz ran a 43.52.

St. Clairsville edged Washington with a time of 43.46. To finish .07 seconds from going to State has to rank as one of the toughest results at this stage of the track season.

Especially with Mitchell and Shiltz having just graduated from Washington High School less than 24 hours before.

Coffman had another close fifth place finish in the finals of the 100-meter dash. The junior placed fifth in 11.16, just .11 of a second from State qualification.

Gavin Henry, a senior from Indian Valley, took fourth in 11.06.

Coffman placed sixth in the finals of the 200-meter dash in 22.50.

“We’re pretty excited, obviously, having our girls 4 x 2 team make it to State,” Washington head coach Louis Reid said. “We’re a little disappointed; we wanted to get some more events (to State), too. It’s heartbreaking at the Regional level.

“Mason was fifth in the 100,” Reid said. “Our boys’ 4 x 1 was fifth and we had a couple of seniors on that. Mason was sixth in the 200.

“Morgan Cartwright made the finals in the 100 hurdles,” Reid said. “She didn’t score because she touched a hurdle. But, she worked really hard to make it to the finals there.

“Our girls 4 x 1 finished eighth,” Reid said. “We thought we had a chance there. Our (girls) 4 x 4 was sixth and Kierstyn Mitchell was seventh in the 100 (dash).

“At this level, everyone is fighting for that spot,” Reid said. “It’s difficult. I’m proud of the season those kids had, those whose season is complete. We’re excited that we have a 4 x 2 competing at the State meet.

“To get to this level, it takes a lot of training and a lot of hard work,” Reid said.

“I was super-lucky to have them during the indoor season as well,” coach Raquel Warner said of the 4 x 200-meter relay team. “We took the exact same relay team to State back in March. We had the goal since the beginning of the outdoor season that we wanted to go back (to State).

“I’m super-proud of their work ethic and for them sticking with me from November until now,” Warner said. “It’s been a long season. For them to still be injury-free and them still focused and still working and still getting faster, it’s extremely impressive and it speaks to their work ethic.”

“I just try and keep up with her,” Megan Mongold, a freshman, said of older sister, Allie. “I try to push her in workouts here. No one wants to get beat by their younger sister, but no one wants to get beat by their older sister, either.

“I hope we can PR (run a personal best time at State),” Mongold said. “If we PR enough to make it to finals, then we’ll break the school record, too. So, that would be really cool.”

The current school record is 1:46.72.

“It was tough,” Kierstyn Mitchell, a junior, said of the Regional. “It was tough competition that we were not used to seeing at the District. They’re very athletic down there, very disciplined. So are we. Even though we didn’t have that competition during the season, we could still keep up with them and change our times dramatically, just from two days.

“They push you more because they’re faster,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell is hopeful of another PR for the team.

“When we have that competition, that adrenaline, we just kick in,” Mitchell said.

Morgan Cartwright quickly had to dismiss from her mind her disqualification in the 100-meter hurdles to turn around and run in the 4 x 200-meter relay.

“When I was running (in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles), the girl in the lane next to me, her trail leg hit my hurdle, which made me fall into the hurdle in front of me,” Cartwright said. “I did get dq’d for it, even though it wasn’t my fault. I still finished the race. At least I can say that I made it to finals and that was a really big accomplishment for me.”

There was not much time at all between the 100 hurdles and the 4 x 2 relay.

“It was really, really upsetting, obviously,” Cartwright said. “I did walk off upset. But both of my coaches approached me and they hugged me and said they were really proud of how I’d done in the hurdles this season. And, they said I really had to get focused for the next race because we really had a good chance of making it to State.

“I just had to get in my zone and focus on the next race,” Cartwright said.

As for the upcoming semifinals at State, Cartwright said, “I think we’re all very capable of running a PR. I think we will run a PR because we work well under pressure. When there are people pushing us to run faster, I think we will run faster. I honestly think we can break our school record at State. That’s what our goal is. We’ll all run to the best of our ability. I’m just proud that we’ve made it this far.”

The Mongold sisters got to play one season of basketball together and now their one season together on the track team, is nearing the end.

Allie Mongold (along with Morgan Cartwright) graduated from Washington High School Friday, May 26.

The sisters have at least one more high school race together.

“It’s really fun and I’m grateful that we get to hand-off to each other,” Allie Mongold said. “Because, I only get to play sports with her for one year. We did basketball and indoor (track) together. It’s really fun to be able to do something like that with your sister. We were also in the 4 x 4 together and that was pretty successful. We didn’t do too well (in the finals at Regionals) but we still PR’d and worked as hard as we could.

“I’ve always been close with these two girls (Cartwright and Mitchell),” Mongold said. “From volleyball season at the beginning of the school year and they all care about track as much as I do and that’s really important.

“The best part of this relay is that we have really good chemistry,” Mongold said. “I feel like that really helps us PR and wanting to get this far.

“The biggest goal is always winning,” Mongold said. “Just making it to finals and ending with a PR is a really good goal, too.”

Alec Terakedis of Claymont claimed the 200-meters, as he did the 100-meter dash.

Peyton Caudill of Minford was fourth in 22.17 and Rashid Sesay of West Muskingum was fifth in 22.22.

Very recent Washington High School graduate, Paris Nelson, earned a spot on the podium by placing seventh in the high jump at 6’ 0”.

The winner was Kyle Malatrich of West Holmes at 6’ 4”.

A trio of jumpers qualified to State, all at 6’ 2”.

Hillsboro’s Steven Kibler tied for eighth at 6’ 0”.

Washington placed sixth in the 4 x 400-meter relay in 4:14.44. Those runners were Morgan Cartwright, Megan Mongold, Kierstyn Mitchell and Allie Mongold.

Fairfield Union won in 4:03.16. West Holmes took the final State-qualifying position in 4:10.50.

Washington was eighth in the 4 x 100-meter relay in 52.30. Those runners were: Aysha Haney, Megan Mongold, Kierstyn Mitchell and Mackayla Cartmell.

McClain ran a new school record time of 50.56 to place second and earn a second consecutive trip to the State meet in the 4 x 1.

Ryan Butterbaugh, Brenna Wright, Katie Cook and Luca Matesic carried the baton for McClain.

Steubenville won with a time of 50.44.

Jackson placed seventh in 52.20.

McClain’s Becca Bergstrom was 11th in the pole vault at 9’ 6”.

Brayden Snider of John Glenn won at 11’ 8”.

Aysha Haney was 10th in the long jump at 15’ 11 1/2”.

Matesic was 16th at 14’ 9”.

The winning leap was 17’ 3 1/2” turned in by Sabria Jones of Steubenville.

McClain’s Lily Barnes finished in fifth place in the discus throw with a best distance of 119’ 10”. Barnes advanced to State with one of the two best distances of a fifth place competitor in any of the four Regional meets.

The fourth place throw of 120’ 1” was from Kendra Detillion of Zane Trace. Mykell Bowen of West Muskingum won at 122’ 9”.

Kierstyn Mitchell placed seventh in the finals of the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.82.

Emma Henry of St. Clairsville set a new Region 7 record with a time of 11.91 to win.

The previous record was long-standing: a time of 11.98 by Jodi Bates of Meadowbrook in 1998.

Hillsboro freshman Jailyn Williams qualified to State in the 800-meters, placing fourth in 2:20.39. Williams was ninth-fastest coming in, having placed third at the Washington Court House District with a time of 2:26.36.

Hillsboro’s Ayden Clemons was 10th in the shot put with a throw of 46’ 5 3/4”.

Johnny Sabinski of Union Local won the Regional with a throw of 56’ 10 3/4”.

Spencer Brower of Zane Trace took second at 54’ 8”. A throw of 52’ 7 3/4” placed Perry Patrone of St. Clairsville in fourth.

Frontier Athletic Conference champion, Trent Evans of Jackson, was eighth at 48’ 5 1/2”.

The team from John Glenn High School won the girls’ Division II Regional title with 65.5 points.

Minerva was second with 41 team points.

Unioto was ninth with 25 points; McClain was 11th with 21 points and Washington was 20th with 11 points. Forty-three high schools scored in the meet.

South Point won the boys’ Regional with 53 points. St. Clairsville was second with 50 points. Zane Trace was fourth with 34 points and Unioto was sixth with 23 points.

The Blue Lions were 19th with 13 points.

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