NORTH ROBINSON – After recently locking in a sweep of titles in the Firelands Conference track and field championships, the Crestview boys and girls squads came up big again Friday during their Division III district meets hosted by Colonel Crawford.
Both Cougar squads finished as runners-up in their respective 16-team fields, with the CHS girls narrowly trailing Colonel Crawford, 87.5-82, and the Crestview boys coming in second to Seneca East, 116-92.
The CHS boys logged huge points behind five different district-championship efforts. None were more impressive than Liam Kuhn in the pole vault, as he set a new meet record by clearing 15 feet, 8 inches – more than three feet better than any other competitor.
Max Durbin was the best hurdler in the district, topping the field in both the 110 meters (15.14) and the 300 (40.15).
Meanwhile, Crestview had a pair of district-winning relays, including the 4×100 of Trenten Weaver, Kuhn, Keith Abshire and Durbin (44.21), and the 4×400 of Durbin, Bransen Hider, Everett Smith and Logan Friges (3:28.85).
Second place for the Cougar boys also was claimed by Kuhn in the 110 hurdles (15.34), Friges in the 400 (52.33), and the 4×800 of Friges, Hider, Smith and Cooper Brockway (8:21.54).
Smith also collected fourth to move on in the 400 in 53.12.
The CHS girls did their damage without posting any event champions.
The Cougars advanced all of their relay quartets to regionals, including the 4×100 of Makenzie Hoover, Tori Kidney, Olivia Grant and Devon Hickey (second in 52.35); the 4×200 of Logan Moore, Kidney, Grant and Hickey (second in 1:50.87); the 4×400 of Gracie Gallaway, Kidney, Grant and Hickey (fourth in 4:18.77); and the 4×800 of Leyna Gerich, Georgia McFarland, Bailey Chapman and Alina Durbin (fourth in 10:49.93).
Individually for Crestview, runner-up efforts came from Grant in the 300 hurdles (49.59) and Logan Moore in the long jump (16-7.5).
Third place went to Cougars Hickey (27.76 in the 200) and Chloe Ringler (113-4 in the discus), while nabbing fourth in the 1,600 was Gerich (5:46.86).
Loudonville teams are 4th & 7th
RAVENNA – The Redbird girls rode a pair of district championships from distance-running phenom Tess Shultz to place fourth out of 20 teams with 57.5 points at the Division III Ravenna meet (Mogadore won the team title with 122).
Shultz won the 3,200 in 11:14.19 and cruised to the crown in the 1,600 by more than 10 seconds in 5:14.96.
Loudonville’s second-best placement came from the second-place 4×800 relay in 10:05.41 (runner names were not available).
Additionally moving on to regionals with third-place efforts were Redbirds Sophie Shultz in the high jump (4-8) and Lina Brecheisen in the pole vault (9-0).
Loudonville’s boys, meanwhile, picked up seventh place out of 20 teams, notching 40 points (Rittman was the district winner with 89).
Braden Carr was the top-placing Redbird with a runner-up spot in the pole vault (13-6) while Josiah Hershberger doubled up for third-place finishes in both the 110 hurdles (17.44) and the 300 hurdles (44.46).
Austin Cawrse also was third in the discus (128-10) and Cooper Sage moved on with a fourth-place clearance of 12-0 in the pole vault.
Hillsdale’s McFadden, Mapleton’s Goon lead area charge at Cuyahoga Heights
CUYAHOGA HEIGHTS – Hillsdale and Mapleton both moved along regional qualifiers out of the Division III Cuyahoga Heights District meet.
For the Falcon boys, who were sixth out of 15 teams with 49.5 points, Hayden McFadden was the top scorer. The all-around talented junior took district gold in the long jump, setting a new meet record with a measurement of 22-3.
McFadden also was runner-up in the 200 (22.66) and took fourth in the high jump (6-2) to move on to regionals in a trio of events.
Also staying alive for the Hillsdale boys were Cooper Baker in the 800 (third in 2:05.26) and Ethan Miller in the pole vault (fourth at 11-0).
The Mounties finished one spot behind the Falcons, totaling 36 points for seventh as a team.
Braylon Goon was the top performer for MHS, nabbing district gold in the 800 (2:02.27) and finishing less than a second off the title in the 1,600 (runner-up in 4:31.75).
Mapleton senior Scotty Hickey also is headed to regionals after a runner-up effort in the high jump (6-2).
The Mountie 4×800 relay of Sean Gayheart, Goon, Jay Kettering and Dylan Hartzler took fourth in 8:50.46, running a 20-second PR to keep its season alive.
Mapleton’s girls tallied 27.5 points to claim ninth place out of 18 teams, as Valerie Klimkewicz paced the squad with a third-place clocking in the 3,200 (12:45.08).
She also was a member of the fourth-place 4×800 relay that included Paige Beattie, Layla Perzy and Kenzie Hellickson. That quartet ran a 10:50.77 – a PR by nearly a minute.
Individually moving on for the Mounties in fourth was first-time regional qualifier Emily Katsaris in the pole vault (8-6).
Hillsdale’s girls collected 13 points as a team, placing 14th.
Adalyn Tipton represented the bulk of that scoring by winning the pole vault with a clearance of 9-8.
Team titles at the district went to the Smithville boys (131.5 points) and the Oberlin girls (103).