Young Tigers take 2nd in Division IV

COLUMBUS — The Huron girls team isn't leaving the state track & field championships disappointed. Sure, the Tigers would have liked to have finished first, but second place in the team standings is nothing to be upset about. Huron scored 31 points to take Division IV runner-up honors Friday at Jesse Owens Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University. "It's the best finish the girls have ever had," Tigers coach Mike Lemponen said. "We brought down 12 girls with only one senior. They did amazing. The 4x800 state champions are all coming back. We have a freshman scoring in the pole vault and a freshman scoring in the hurdles. The 4x200 just missed a final spot. "Obviously you want to come down and win the whole thing, but this shows how hard it is to actually do it." Beachwood won the state title with 53 points. Huron's Laney Schlessman, Claire Putman, Andrea Lesnak and Rylie Towns opened the meet Thursday with a win in the 4x800 final. "I'm extremely proud of how hard they worked," Lemponen said. "This is a culmination of the whole season. It was a max effort. We preached every day to get one percent better and see what happens at the end of the season. We wanted them to go on a mission and see how it ends. They did amazing." Towns, a junior, finished second in the 1600 meters in 4:58.51. Lesnak, a freshman, was eighth in 5:10.64. "I've never been to state in the mile, so I figured there was nothing to lose," Towns said. "I would have been happy with first place or second place. I really just wanted to get a PR. With a PR, a good placement would follow with that. I wanted to shoot for a PR and follow the girl in front of me." Freshman Makenna Conley took seventh in the 100 hurdles in 15.35 seconds, shaving over five seconds off her time from the beginning of the season. Huron's school record is 15.15. "The very first thing she said to me this year after she ran it was that she was going to break that school record," Lemponen said. "She's right there." Huron's 4x400 quartet of Olivia Kohlmann, Schlessman, Kate Ryan and Sasha Fry was ninth in 4:10.82. Kohlmann was the lone senior competing this weekend for the Tigers. "She has been rock solid," Lemponen said. "She's been part of multiple state-placing relays. She has been an awesome leader. Not so much a vocal leader, but by example. She has always been willing to do anything. She's been a steady presence for those girls." Huron was also runner-up at the state cross country meet last November. The motivation to return to Jesse Owens will fuel itself. "They want to beat everybody," Lemponen said. "This program is unbelievable. We have young sprinters. We like what we have coming up next year. Those relays will just get re-loaded. The goal will be to come back and get another big trophy."