FINDLAY — The first step in the final stretch is complete for a solid pack of Ashland track athletes.
The Arrow boys and girls squads finished off action Thursday night in their two-day Division I district meet at Findlay High School’s Cooper Tire Track and Field Facility.
Ashland’s girls were a factor nearly across the board, taking home third place with 81 points behind Fremont Ross (148.5) and Findlay (84.5) out of 13 scoring teams.
The AHS boys, meanwhile, came in fourth with 67.5 points, trailing Toledo St. Francis (112), Fremont Ross (91) and Defiance (69) in the 14-team field.
A year after placing fifth and moving on to regionals in five events, the Arrows nearly doubled that total with qualifiers in nine events.
Frankie Rupsis was the squad’s lone district champion, earning a title Tuesday after clearing 5 feet, 4 inches in the high jump.
The Arrows added a pair of double-qualifiers to regionals individually, with Vivian Walter taking second in the 100-meter hurdles (14.98) and third in the pole vault (10-0), and thrower Kelsey Kaeser going runner-up in the shot put (35-5) and third in the discus (113-9, one inch off second place).
Walter and Rupsis also were part of the third-place 4×100 relay, which included Evelyn Brockway and Oaklynn Burns and finished in 52.65.
Ashland’s Adria Brock (third in the long jump, 16-2.5) and Ava Cline (fourth in the 3,200, 12:10.21) were the team’s other individual qualifiers, while the 4×200 relay of Brockway, Burns, Alyssa Sampson and Arienne Vaughn survived in fourth (1:52.28).
The Arrow boys, who tied Findlay for the sectional crown a year ago, were paced by a district championship in the 4×100 relay behind the quartet of Dakota Kruty, Tyler Sauder, Garrett Davis and Jacob Holbrook (42.90).
Hurdler Jayden Goings was a double-qualifier, locking up third in both the 110s (14.98) and the 300s (40.92).
Ashland also sealed up third-place efforts individually with Holbrook in the 100 (11.02), Sauder in the 200 (22.99) and Kruty on Tuesday in the long jump (22-0.5).
Greyson Blough moved on as well for the Arrows on Tuesday, clinching fourth in the discus (143-1).
Ty Bates tied for fourth in the pole vault, clearing 11-0 before falling in a jump-off to Bowling Green’s Mac Fogarty.
The surviving Arrows will be in action next week at the Division I regional championships in Port Clinton.