COLUMBUS — Odds and ends from the weekend’s Division II and III state track meet:
SHIPMAN PLACES SECOND: Niyah Shipman finished second on Friday in the high jump, going 5 feet, 4 inches.
“I work hard; I go to practice every single day. My coaches are really good with that. Just stayed out of the sign and keeping my energy was big. Not only my coaches, but also my teammates have pushed for me to succeed so highly.”
The atmosphere caught her eye.
“It was extremely cool to look up in the stands and see it’s packed. We come from a little county, so it was very overwhelming.”
The close finish by the Lady Eagles meant everyone contributed.
“It means a lot that everyone puts in the effort, whether it’s our 4X400, which sadly didn’t qualify, Katie with all her points, me coming runner-up. It means a lot that I can contribute to that.”
She credits the adrenaline rush for her second-place finish.
“I feel like I could have done better, but 5-4 is a great accomplishment. It’s understanding and processing what I need to do in the next jump.”
Shipman, whose PR is 5-foot, 5 inches, has two more years to compete along with several of her teammates.
“Hopefully, I’ll be here next year. We’re losing Katie and Liv Krassow, but we’re still going to have a team back,” she said.
VOGT COMPETES: Colonel Crawford sophomore Trevor Vogt finished 13th overall in the 110-meter hurdles Friday with a time of 16.05. He was 17th in the 300-meter hurdles in 43.39.
Vogt qualified for both events as an at-large bid. He is one of many Colonel Crawford performers who will return for another year or two of competition.
TATE RUNS: Galion’s Zaynah Tate competed in the 800-meter run. She finished 13th in a time of 2:20.67 seconds.
“That felt like the fastest race ever, even though I didn’t necessarily go that fast,” Tate said.
“It’s like we were done in the blink of an eye. The atmosphere here is completely different than cross country. There’s so many people here supporting me. I would not be able to make it through that race without my teammates. They had signs with my name spelled out.”
Tate ran against Reyna Hoffman of Shelby for the final time, who finished one place ahead of her.
“It was awesome. She’s improved the last couple meets. The Shelby girls are so wonderful to be around,” she said of her MOAC rivals.
“I have people from Elgin, Highland, Ontario. Everyone saying hi to me and being here for me all day.”
Tate will run at Tiffin University next season.
“Podium was the goal, but my first goal was just getting here and to experience it was pretty awesome.”
AREA NOTABLES:
· Elgin’s Cy Starcher took the Division III state runner-up in the 100 meters (10.98).
· Juliette Laracuente of Highland wrapped up her season with a third-place finish in the 100 hurdles.
· Mount Gilead senior Michaela McGill grabbed second place in the girls 3200 in Division III. She ran a 10:57.18. The Indians Parker Bartlett was 12th in the boys 3200 in 9:58.05 and Will Baker was 15th in 10:06.43.
· Carey’s Sarah Reinhart was 13th in the 1600 meters in 5:24.16.
· Lady Blue Devil teammate Lexi Plott cleared 5-foot-4 on her second attempt in the high jump, which was good for a tie for runner-up in D-III.
RECORD BREAKER: Kenna Stimmel of Margaretta put on a show on Friday. After setting a new state meet record in the pole vault, Stimmel cleared 14 feet, 6.25 inches. That set a new Ohio record. It also is a new National Federation of High School Sports record. And it surpassed Margaretta’s boys pole vault record.
OHSAA’S TIM STRIED: “Great to see 2,600 athletes, 12,000 fans, 525 staff and officials, and 342 credentialed media for the OHSAA track and field state tournament back at Ohio State University.”