james simpson ii, ashland times-gazette
·4 min read
DAYTON − Let the fun begin.
The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) will hold this year's three-day state track and field meet in Dayton from Thursday-Saturday (May 30-June 1). Ashland County will have it's share of athletes and teams competing at Welcome Stadium across the three days. Here are the main storylines to pay close attention to throughout the state track meet.
Hurdlers will take center stage
Ashland County will be well-represented in the hurdling department in Dayton.
The Ashland Arrows pair of Jayden Goings and Braydon Martin have been at it all outdoor season. Goings qualified for the 110 hurdles (4th at regionals) in Division I, while Martin, this year's Ohio Cardinal Conference champion in the 300 hurdles, made state in the 300 hurdles (4th at regionals). Both are coming off running personal records in their events, as Martin busted out a 38.04 in the 300 and Goings put up a 14.47 in the 110.
More: Ashland's Jayden Goings, Braydon Martin stand side-by-side, clearing one hurdle at a time
Goings and Martin will also be teaming up with Ayden Behrendsen and Jacob Holbrook in the 4x200 relay. Add the 4x400 relay to Goings schedule too, where he will run with Behrendsen, Tyler Sauder and Gavin Hoffman.
Black River will have their share of hurdlers to follow, as seniors Braylon Oneal and Olivia Todd will make their first appearance at the Division III state meet.
Oneal, the Lorain County Conference and district champion in the 300 hurdles, will be running in his bread and butter race at state. Oneal finished as runner-up in the 300 hurdles at regionals. Look for Oneal as well in the 4x100 relay, where he'll be beside Seth Gaspari, Aden Macfarlane and Stephan Kozopas. That group broke the school record in the event at the district meet in Norwayne with a time of 43.29.
More: Mapleton, Black River churn out multiple regional qualifiers at district track meet
Todd, a district champion in the 100 hurdles two years in a row, will be hurdling in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. She finished third in both events at regionals. South Central senior Grace Lamoreaux will be making her third trip to state in the 100 hurdles (a Division III regional champion) and she'll also be in the 300 hurdles, where she placed fourth at the regional meet. Joining her will be Firelands Conference opponent in New London's Madison Smith, as she'll be in the 100 hurdles.
Plenty in field events
Field events will be where most of the action will be at in Dayton.
Crestview's Wade Bolin and Liam Kuhn will be big players in their events in Division III. Bolin has been winning everything in site in his senior year in both the discus and shot put. He won the Firelands Conference, district and regional titles this year in the discus and shot put. At regionals, he threw 178-feet-4 inches in the discus for the title and 58-feet in the shot put. A state title could be well-within reach for Bolin.
Kuhn, an All-Ohioan (6th place) last year in the pole vault as a freshman, has a chance to finish higher on the podium in Dayton. On his way to state, Kuhn won district and regional titles in the pole vault.
Joining Kuhn in the pole vault, will be Loudonville's Braden Carr (11th at last year's state meet) and Mapleton's Hayden Kidney. On the girls side in the pole vault will be Hillsdale's Adalyn Tipton and Black River's Zoey Bungard.
Northwestern will have Emily Thompson competing in the shot put and Jule Stoller in the high jump.
South Central's Angela Williams will make her fourth overall trip to the Division III state meet, as she will compete in the long jump for the fourth time. She medaled last year as a junior (8th place), and a higher place on the podium could be in store. Williams will also run the 400 meters, as she has been a two-time state qualifier in 200 meters in her career.
Distance runners to look out for
New London's Reese Landis, Loudonville's Tess Shultz and Mapleton's Isaik Schoch will all be in contention to medal (top-eight) in their respective distance events.
Landis, a senior, will be one of the major favorites to win the Division III state title in the 3200. The 3200 field will be stacked with Landis, defending state champion in Maplewood's Caleigh Richards, last year state runner-up in Heartland Christian's Rebecca Geiss and Smithville's Kaitlyn Carr.
Shultz will be running in the 3200 but her best event just might be the 1600, where she was an All-Ohioan last year (4th place) as a junior.
Schoch finished 12th in the 1600 at the state meet last year, and he'll look to get on the podium in his senior year.
jsimpson@gannett.com
Twitter/X:@JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Here is what to watch at state track meet for Ashland County
