NEW CONCORD — Four student-athletes from Fayette County have qualified to the State track meet that begins Friday at The Ohio State University in Columbus.
From Washington High School, Rayana Burns is going to State in three events: the long jump, the 200-meters and the 400-meters, in which she was the Regional champion.
Maddy Garrison is returning to State in the 1600-meters.
From Miami Trace, Katie Seyfang is going back to State in the shot put and discus throw. Seyfang won the Regional title in the shot put.
Macy Creamer is going to State for the first time in the 300-meter hurdles.
“I was really happy with the effort from our team today,” Washington head coach Louis Reid said. “Jaelyn (Mason), my daughter, I’m really proud of the career she had. She cleared the opening height. She got on a brand new pole. We knew she would have to go, like, 10’ 4” to make it to State.
“Our 4 x 4(00-meter relay) from the other day, they knocked seven seconds off and almost made the finals. Halli Wall and Tabby Woods, they’ll be back. Jaelyn and Maddy Garrison both ran really well. I was proud of that team.
“Rayana qualified (to State) in three events and she was Regional champion in the 400-meters,” Reid said. “And she’s battling through some things. She dug down today. Sometimes you have to dig down and that’s what she did today and the effort she gave was outstanding.
“Maddy finishes up a great career, once again qualifying to State in the mile (1600),” Reid said. “Her times are going down. She set a school record (5:14.40) in the mile. She broke Alexis Gray’s record in the mile. What a better place to do it than here at the Regional. She’s been working hard and I think she’s going to run even faster at the State.
“All of our kids have worked very hard,” Reid said. “I’m really proud of the effort.”
“We were very, very pleased, coming out of Districts, moving so many people on to Regionals in so many different events,” Miami Trace head coach Brent Noes said. “We were really happy about that for the kids.
“We had a very good showing at the Regional meet against top-notch competition,” Noes said. “We had a very strong Region again this year. All of the Miami Trace athletes really stepped up. We had a lot of (personal bests) at the Regional and that’s a great place to do that. We were very pleased.
“We’re just exstatic to have two young ladies heading up to Columbus,” Noes said. “Katie Seyfang, making a return trip to the State meet in both the shot put and the discus. Macy Creamer is making her first appearance in Columbus in the 300-meter hurdles.”
Seyfang is now a five-time State qualifier (three times in the shot put and twice in the discus throw).
“We’re very pleased Katie won the Regional shot put championship,” Noes said. “We hope to see that momentum carry over up in Columbus where she reached the podium in sixth place in both events last year. Her goal this year is obviously to move up.
“Macy ran well enough (in the Regionals) to get out to State,” Noes said. “We’re going to continue to work hard in practice this week. We think she can run a little better than what she did. She definitely has a goal of making it through to the finals on Saturday in Columbus.
“Our girls 4 x 1 were District champions,” Noes said. “They went to the Regional and on prelims, we didn’t have real good exchanges. We still had a decent time. Then, in the finals, we had great exchanges, but we just ran a little slower. They still finished sixth and we don’t lose any of those young ladies to graduation. We’re looking forward to what they can accomplish next year.
“On the boys’ side, Wyatt Cory set a (personal record) in the pole vault where he finished in sixth place,” Noes said. “He actually cleared two heights at the Regional meet that were personal bests. We were really excited for him.
“He ran a great 110-meter hurdles at Regionals,” Noes said. “He ran right around his best time in the 110’s. He won the District high jump at 5’ 10” and that’s where they opened the competition at the Regional. He came out and cleared that opening height. It was a great two-day meet for Wyatt and we’re expecting great things from him next year.
“Wes Seyfang was right there in both the shot put and the discus,” Noes said. “He was so close to making it out. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get the top four there.” Seyfang was sixth in both events at the Regional.
“He had a great two-day meet and a great career for us at Miami Trace,” Noes said. “His senior leadership was invaluable to us this season. He’s really done a great job.
“Brady Wallace in the 100-meter prelims, he ran an 11.3 and that wasn’t good enough to get him into the finals,” Noes said. “I’m still kind of shocked by that. It was a fast track on Thursday.
“In the 200, Brady qualified to the finals on Saturday,” Noes said. “He was eighth in the finals of the 200, where he earned a medal.
“The boys 4 x 200-meter relay ran a PR for the season,” Noes said. “They moved up to place seventh (1:33.25).” Those runners were Wallace, Noah Wiseman, Josh Liff and Jaden Haldeman.
“Jaden Haldeman just miss the cut in the 300-hurdles in the prelims,” Noes said. “As a freshman to be able to compete in the 300-hurdles at the Regionals, he was one of only two freshmen in the 300-hurdles at our Regional. That says a lot about the toughness in that race. Typically you see a lot of older guys running that race at this level. For him to be there, that says a lot about the hard work that he’s put forth this season.”
Burns won the 400-meter dash in a time of 57.92. She appeared to be in fourth place with about 150 meters to go.
In the finals of the 200-meter dash, Burns placed fourth in 26.71 to advance to State.
She was seventh in the finals of the 100-meter dash in 13.02.
Burns tied for second in the high jump on Thursday with a best of 5’ 4”.
Garrison placed third in the 1600-meters in 5:14.40, which was 14 seconds better than her District meet time.
She opted out of the 800-meter event.
Freshman Cloe Copas ran a 6:14.25 for 14th in the 1600-meters.
Seyfang won the shot put title at the Regional on Thursday with a throw of 41’ 10 1/2”.
On Saturday, she placed second to champion Autumn Mohan of Unioto in the discus throw with a 130’ 2”.
Mohan broke a 19-year old Regional record in the discus with a throw of 148’ 9”.
Creamer placed fourth in the finals of the 300-meter hurdles in 47.05.
McClain’s Chayden Pitzer was second in 46.50 and Kerigan Pollard of McClain was seventh in 48.28.
For Miami Trace, the 4 x 100-meter relay of McKenna Wilson, Isabella Vanover, Tori Morrison and Creamer placed sixth in the finals in 52.22. Those four can all return next season.
River View won the Regional in 50.47.
For the Panthers, Jaden Haldeman, Josh Liff, Brady Wallace and Noah Wiseman placed seventh in the finals of the 4 x 200-meter relay in 1:33.25.
Steubenville was the Regional champion in 1:29.20.
Wallace also made it to the finals in the 200-meter dash where he placed eighth in 23.69.
Jacob Rhodes of Sheridan won the Regional in 22.26.
Wes Seyfang of Miami Trace placed sixth in the shot put with a throw of 50’ 2 3/4”.
He was sixth on Thursday in the discus throw at 143’ 0”.
Hillsboro’s Draven Stodgel was second in the discus and fourth in the shot put to advance to State in both events.
In the pole vault Saturday, Washington’s Jaelyn Mason placed 11th at 9’ 0”.
Erin Bogard of Warren won the pole vault at the Regional at 10’ 8”.
In the pole vault Thursday, Miami Trace’s Wyatt Cory was sixth with a new personal best of 13’ 0”.
Cory was 12th in the high jump Saturday, clearing 5’ 10”.
Joseph Clifford of John Glenn won at 6’ 6”.
On Thursday, Austin Goolsby of Hillsboro won the Regional pole vault at 15’ 4”. He was eighth in the long jump at 20’ 6 3/4”.
Ethan Tabor of Sheridan won the long jump at 22’ 3 1/2”.
Creamer qualified to the Regional in the long jump, but opted out of that event.
Karlie Zumbro of John Glenn won the Regional long jump at 17’ 9 1/2”.
Lilly Ritz of Cambridge won the high jump at 5’ 5”.
Washington’s Brandon Underwood placed ninth in the 800-meters with a time of 2:01.89.
“Brandon led the first lap,” Washington head coach Colt Harrington said. “We worked on that all week. Him being in lane one, all the way on the inside, we knew he was going to have to get out hard, which, he did exactly what he needed to do. In the long run, it just came down to strength, honestly.
“He got a little boxed in there in the first hundred of the second lap,” Harrington said. “He gave it everything he had. He had a personal best time in the race, so, you have to be happy with that. He went out and did everything he really could. He’s a great kid and he’s had a great career.”
Kyle Clellan of Sheridan won the Regional 800-meter run in 1:56.42.
Ty Alexander of Hillsboro was seventh in the 400-meter dash in 52.29.
Anna Foster of Sheridan won the 1600-meter run in 5:05.82.
Trent Sayre of Warren won the boys 1600-meter run in 4:22.14.
Hillsboro was 14th in the girls 4 x 800-meter relay in 10:51.07. Those runners were Sami Blair, Sydney Lanning, Molly McCreary and Jaeleigh Hart.
Indian Creek won in 9:26.90. Zane Trace also advanced to State with a fourth-place time of 9:47.82.
Pitzer of McClain was second in the finals of the 100-meter hurdles in 15.37. Zumbro of John Glenn won in 14.74.
Cory was 12th in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.96.
Katie Seyfang will compete in the State Division II discus throw Friday at 9:30 a.m.
She will return on Saturday to compete in the shot put at State, also at 9:30 a.m.
Rayana Burns will compete in the State high jump at 9:30 a.m. Friday.
She will run in the semifinals of the 400-meter dash at 3 p.m. Friday and the semifinals of the 200-meter dash at 3:40 p.m. Friday.
Macy Creamer will run in the semifinals of the 300-meter hurdles Friday at 3:20 p.m.
Maddy Garrison will compete in the finals of the 1600-meter run at State Saturday at 1:35 p.m.
The State track and field championships will be held again this year at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus.
