CHILLICOTHE — The Washington Blue Lion track teams returned to Chillicothe Saturday, May 28 for the second and final day of the Division II Regional meet.
The boys pole vault, which was suspended just prior to extremely heavy rains that inundated the facility Thursday night, was completed Saturday.
Also, the track events were contested, with just one race, instead of the normal two (in most events, except for the 4 x 800-meter relay, the 800, 1600 and 3200-meter races) with the top four fastest times qualifying to this week’s State meet at the Jesse Owens Memorial Track at The Ohio State University.
Chloe Lovett, who graduated from Washington High School less than 24 hours previous, placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles in 46.85.
Odessa Smith of Morgan won the event in 45.79. Claire Shriner of Sheridan was second in 46.16 and teammate Beckett Strong was third in 46.72.
Ryan Butterbaugh of McClain was eighth in 48.27.
Lovett placed fifth in the 100-meters in 16.37.
Camden Black of Meadowbrook was fourth in 16.24, Kodi Kinsey of Beaver Local was third in 16.06, Kara Fields of John Glenn took second in 15.43 and Smith of Morgan won in 15.24.
Brenna Wright of McClain placed ninth in 16.85 and Rylie Kilgour of Jackson was 10th in 17.03.
“I’m super-excited,” Lovett said. “I’m so glad I got here. I couldn’t have done it without all of my coaches and my family here. They’ve been here to support me every step of the way.”
Washington’s Jacob Stone finished ninth out of 16 participants in the pole vault, clearing 12’ 0”.
David Adams of Indian Valley won with a new Regional record height of 16’ 1”.
Karl Kain of St. Clairsville was second at 14’ 0”, Tyler Shipley of Westfall was third with 14’ 0” and Zach Buitendorp of Circleville took the final State-qualifying spot at 13’ 4”.
On Thursday, May 26, Washington’s Rocky Jones placed 15th in the long jump with a leap of 18’ 1/2”.
Anthony Richards of Hillsboro qualified to State by placing second with a jump of 21’ 7 1/2”.
Mason Tucci of Sandy Valley won with a jump of 21’ 10 3/4”.
Braydin McKee of Alexander took third at 21’ 1” and Luke Rader of Minford was fourth at 20’ 8”.
Washington’s 4 x 400-meter relay team of Allie Mongold, Kierstyn Mitchell, Morgan Cartwright and Lovett placed 10th out of 16 teams in 4:17.99.
Sheridan won the event in 4:06.26.
Circleville was second with a time of 4:07.78, followed by Tuscarawas Valley, 4:08.40 and Fairfield Union placed fourth in 4:08.88.
McClain’s Iva Easter, Luca Matesic, Ryan Butterbaugh and Kaitlyn Jett placed 15th in 4:26.80.
McClain’s Matesic, Butterbaugh, Katie Cook and Easter placed fourth in the 4 x 100-meter relay to qualify to State with a time of 51.30.
Steubenville won in 50.85, followed by St. Clairsville, 51.04 and Morgan, 51.21.
Hillsboro’s team of Kelsey Gilkison, Allison Browning, Sinai Roberts and Eden Edenfield placed fifth in 51.63.
McClain’s Brandon King, Max Eikenberry, Seth Wise and Braden Wright placed seventh in the 4 x 100-meter relay in 44.56.
Washington’s Madison Hayes placed sixth in the 1600-meter run in 5:29.69.
Hannah Wyler of Tuscarawas Valley won in 4:56.37. Hera Hoffee of Minerva was second in 5:14.01 and teammate Kayla Crissman was third in 5:16.88.
Anna Conrad of Fairfield Union was fourth in 5:24.59.
Hayes placed eighth in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:51.59.
Wyler won in 11:24.91, followed by Andrea Phillips of Fairfield Union (11:37.19), Lexy Starner of West Holmes (11:37.67) and Hannah Ison, Minerva, fourth in 11:43.55.
Addie Wechter of Jackson was 13th in 13:00.03.
Washington’s Paris Nelson was 15th in the high jump at 5’ 6”.
Dariyonne Bryant of Portsmouth won, clearing the bar at 6’ 1”.
Kyle Maltarich of West Holmes took second at 6’ 1”, Lucas Ray of Zane Trace was third at 6’ 1”; and Devon Bellomy of Fairland was fourth at 6’ 0”.
Braden Wright of McClain was seventh at 6’ 0”.
Steubenville won the girls Regional championship with 66 points.
Morgan was second with 63 points, followed by Tuscarawas Valley with 55 points and Sheridan with 54 points.
Circleville was seventh with 34 points; Westfall tied for 11th with 19 points.
Unioto was 14th with 14 points and Washington was 15th with 13 points.
Jackson was 18th with 10 points; McClain was 20th with nine points and Hillsboro tied for 26th with five points.
Steubenville won the boys Regional title with 61 points, followed by Beaver Local with 50 points, Unioto with 39 and Gallia Academy with 29.
Hillsboro was 22nd with 11 points, McClain tied for 28th, with 5.5 points.
“I’m really proud of the effort by our girls and boys all season long,” Washington High School girls track coach Louis Reid said. “They’ve worked really hard and today we got to see the work they’ve put in.
“Madison Hayes placed in two events in her first time at the Regional,” Reid said. “She was sixth in the mile and eighth in the two-mile.
“Our 4 x 4 team ran really well,” Reid said. “They p-r’d again with Chole Lovett, Morgan Cartwright, Allie Mongold and Kierstyn Mitchell. They ran a 4:17.
“Chloe Lovett ended up fifth in the 100 hurdles,” Reid said. “That’s her all-time p-r in that race. Then she qualified to State in the 300 hurdles. She’s put in three hard years of work. Sometimes people make it to State and sometimes they don’t. The fact that she qualified to State, we’re really happy for her.
“Jacob Stone competed in the pole vault and placed ninth,” Reid said. “Paris Nelson competed in the high jump.
“Toby Mitchell p-r’d in the 200 (23.82, placing 14th out of 15 in the event),” Reid said. “Mason Coffman placed 14th in the 100-meter dash in 11.67.”
Brandon King of McClain was 15th in 11.70.
Caleb White of Beaver Local won the 100-meter dash in 10.99.
“Overall, we’re pretty happy with the efforts of our team and we’re happy we have someone going to the State meet again to continue the tradition of having someone going to the State every year,” Reid said. “For girls, our streak was snapped a couple of years ago, but the fact that there has always been a Court House track athlete at the State, either a boy or a girl, since, I don’t know, 1998, or 1999.”
Chloe Lovett runs in lane 1 in the second heat of the 300-meter hurdles at the Division II State track meet Friday, June 3 at 3:20 p.m.
Anthony Richards of Hillsboro will compete in the long jump at 9:30 a.m. Friday and McClain’s girls 4 x 100-meter relay runs in lane 1 in the first heat of the event at 2:50 p.m. Friday.
