BUCYRUS — Kevin Boggs was a busy man Saturday afternoon.

The Bucyrus head coach had multiple duties, including moving hurdles, coaching his athletes, and coordinating the Bucyrus Elks’ Invitational track meet at Bucyrus High School.

“This is our first year taking charge of it. Coaches and our athletic director, Mr. (Matt) Makeever. So, it’s been a lot to sort out and organize. We changed up a few things and condensed things down,” he said.

Teams ranged from small Division III schools to Division II schools.

“We’re trying to get good numbers out. We are in the low 30s for boys and about 23-24 girls, pretty comparable to most schools our size,” Boggs said of his Redmen squads.

“We have a lot of young kids, inexperienced kids. Just trying to get them to work on their skills and still in the learning process for some of them.”

Boggs said his teams are fairly balanced.

“We have two very talented boys in the high jump, Jorien Durham and Randy Banks. Both placed today.”

Banks was second and Durham fifth. Both are juniors.

“Dalton Barker is doing well in the pole vault, if he can stay healthy,” Boggs said.

He finished fifth at 10 feet.

Senior Braxton Lewis is a utility player, who finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles.

“Braxton does hurdles, discus and relays. He’s all over. Mike Wise and Eddie Dagher are also seniors.”

Wise was seventh in the long jump going 17 feet, 8 and 1/4 inches.

On the girls’ side, sophomore Emma Tyrrell returns after being a regional qualifier last spring.

Tyrrell was second in the 200-meter dash in 27.54 seconds. She also placed fourth in the 100 meters at 13.51 seconds.

“We have a group of young girls sprinters and our distance kids have run pretty well. Three members of our regional qualifying 4X800 is back, Joe Rager, Devin Deskins, and Eli Sprague. They’re running a different mix until we can find a fourth guy.”

Boggs said his team is balanced.

“Our girls throwers have spent a little bit of time in the weight room so they’re throwing better than the past couple of years. Bryant Pfeifer came out for the first time and he’s throwing and learning a lot. He’s a big, strong kid and a great athlete.

Pfeifer was a state qualifier in wrestling at 215 pounds.

“We’ve also got some young guys in the throws who’ve never touched a shot or discus, Dylan Lanker and Ethan Huff.”

County schools overview

Wynford girls’ coach Julie Crall has been around the sport a while and is ready for another season.

“Elks is usually cold, windy, snowy. We’ll take this day,” she said.

“I only lost 2 girls so I’ve got a good team coming back and I’ve gained more sprinters so I can do more relays this year. Last year I had 9 throwers; this year I’ve got 9 sprinters.”

“Chloe Kaple was in regionals in the 400 and Avery McMillan in the high jump. Maddie Coffman is in the sprints. Katie Wagner in the throws and Paige Smith and Trisha Butterfield,” Crall said.

Crall said it’s easier to get some girls to do the weight events rather than run.

“They know they’re going to weight lift, do a little running and then throw the whole practice. Runners, you gotta run the whole time.”

Crall thinks her team will be around the middle of the pack in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

“We got Carey, Seneca East and Upper, battling with them, and Crawford always at the top.”

Crestline head coach Kyle Strauch said the Elks is his team’s toughest test.

“We’re just looking to be competitive. We are a very young team, learning and growing. Last year we had 18 total kids. This year we are over 20 boys and about 10 girls. We’re a young track team.”

Conner Lusk finished seventh in the high jump going 5 feet, 6 inches.

“He’s gonna do some good things in the 400. We have some young girls out and I really like this group of kids. They work hard and keep their complaints to a minimum,” Strauch said.

Galion assistant coach Jerry Myers welcomes the new season.

“It’s a new year and we’re trying to get everybody dialed in. We’ll learn from what happened today.”

Area placers

Andy Sparks took first in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 44.36 seconds.

Myers said Gabe Ivy is doing well. He was 19th in the long jump with a leap of 16 feet, 1/2 inch. Kyle Foust took third in the high jump at 5-feet, 10 inches.

The Tigers finished seventh in the boys’ division and 13th in the girls.

Zaynah Tate took third in the girls 800-meter run. She clocked a time of 2:36.10.

The Eagles’ Corin Feik took the girls’ discus with a throw of 110 feet, 8 inches. Cecelia Chase captured third in the girls’ 3200 meters in 12:40.25.

Liv Krassow cleared the high jump at 4-feet, 10 inches, good for third place. Gabriella Roston took third in the pole vault at 9 feet.

Teammate Carter Valentine took second in the long jump with an effort of 19 feet, 7 and 1/4 inches.

Mohawk’s Zaiden Fry won the pole vault, clearing 13 feet. He was third in the long jump at 18 feet, 3 and 1/2 inches. He added a seventh-place finish in the 100 at 12.19 seconds

Wynford’s Ethan Holt was fourth in the boys 400, hitting it in 54.41 seconds.

TEAM RESULTS

GIRLS 1) Colonel Crawford 143; 2) Lexington 125; 3) Oak Harbor 52.50; 4) Crestview 50.50; 5) Ontario 49.50; 6) Waynedale 47.50; 7) Fredericktown 42; 8) Marion Harding 37.50; 9) Wynford 35; 10) Centerburg 23.50; 11) Bucyrus 19; 12) St. Mary C.C. 18; 13) Galion 16; 14) New Riegel 4.

BOYS 1) Crestview 136; 2) Marion Harding 111; 3) Lexington 83; 4) Oak Harbor 74; 5) Waynedale 54; 6) Colonel Crawford 52; 7) Galion 42; 8) Bucyrus 34; 9) Ontario 23; 10) Mohawk 18; 11) Fredericktown 17; 12) New Riegel 9; 13) Centerburg 8; 14) Crestline 2.