Track season heating up as league meets approach

Whether in the cold and rain or heat and sunshine, the track season is rolling along. The Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division prelims are May 12 at Perkins High School while the Bay and River division prelims take place the same day at Huron. The finals are scheduled for May 15 at Huron. For the Firelands Conference, prelims are May 13 and the finals take place May 15, both at New London. The area is once again rich in talent with state championship possibilities high as the tournament expands to five divisions beginning with district meets May 20. This year, the state tournament will take place June 4-7 at Jesse Owens Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University. The Huron boys team has won a state title each of the past two seasons. The Tigers are strong once again under Mike Lemponen and they will look to also defend the SBC championship they've won the last two years at their home stadium in a few weeks. Joe Schaeffer broke a school record that stood for more than 20 years when he was timed in 10.51 seconds in the 100-meter dash at the Perkins Relay meet in early April. That's the best time for all of Division IV this season and the second-best time in the entire state, regardless of division. Schaeffer was runner-up in the 200 last year at state and has the second-best Division IV time in the state at 21.84. The 4x200 quartet of Caleb Staley, Ayden Miller, Peter Cencer and Schaeffer are No. 3 in Division IV. Huron's girls also won the SBC title last season. The Tigers were runners-up at the Pirate Relays while winning the Pirate Invitational and Edison Invitational. The 4x800 relay of Andrea Lesnak, Claire Putnam, Laney Schlessman and Rylie Towns currently is No. 1 in Division IV while the 4x200 relay of Ava Manner, Olivia Kohlmann, Sasha Fry and Kate Ryan is No. 4. Towns broke the school record in the 3200 with a time of 10:58.02 (No. 1 in Division IV). She also took down the meet record in the 1600 at Edison, crossing the line in 5:05.15 (No. 2 in Division IV). Towns has the fourth-best time in the 800 in the division in a time of 2:22.10. Records were also falling at Bellevue recently. Senior Amerie Wagner broke the school record in the 200, running a blistering 25.17. That bested a 46-year-old record held by Sheryl Haynes, who ran a 25.40. "That was something she was pushing for quite some time," Lady Red coach Lee Booze said. "It's been a big motivator for her and the rest of the team as well. We're on the verge of some other school marks too, and hope to get them to fall in the next couple of weeks if all goes right." Bellevue is the defending Lake champion on the girls side while Perkins was runner-up. For the Lady Red, Hallie McCarthy and Bella Slater are the top hurdlers while Lilly Sosa (pole vault) and Natalie Littlejohn (long jump) lead the jumps group. Sophomores Kami Koch and Reese Meacham have been competing with the best distance runners in the area. "We have a solid group of sprinters and jumpers that are competing with the best in the area," Booze said. "Our distance program is getting faster every week and also improving from last season and our throws group is getting better week by week. "It takes a well-rounded team to win a league title and we hope that we are in the hunt for the SBC Lake trophy in a couple of weeks." The Bellevue boys finished as runners-up at the Perkins Relays and Shelby Invitational. "In throws, Caden Cramer has been towards the top of the leaderboard every meet," Redmen coach Dylan Fultz said. "Our 4x400 team of Evan Bova, Justin Bucher, Jeremiah Tuttamore and Owen Hancock broke the school record with a time of 3:26.84. That time puts us fourth in the state in Division III. "We have high hopes for our 4x100 of Caden Cramer, Mack Strause, Jeremiah Tuttamore and Justin Bucher) and 4x400 to make a deep tournament run." At Clyde, Dekin Crockett has top-2 district times in the 100 (10.89), 200 (22.66) and 300 hurdles (38.17) while Reese Rex is top-2 in the 800 (2:03) and 1600 (4:46). "I'm very proud of how our kids have competed at this point," Fliers coach Jake Jenne said. "We are getting better each meet both physically and mentally. We have a couple kids with some injuries right now and hoping to get them back by tournament time, but overall very proud of our kids and excited to watch them grow the remainder of the year." The Margaretta boys haven't won a conference title since 1979, but coach Kasey Haerr thinks the Polar Bears have the pieces to change that. Kale Bailey, Carter Luzader and Zack Bouy bring state meet experience while combining with Julian Washington, Mason Reinbolt and Jake Bouy to put up some great times. Colt Watson and Jace Berg have been powerhouses in field events. Watson had a personal-best mark of 14 feet in the pole vault while Berg has a discus toss of 174-10. Bailey (long jump), Zack Bouy (high jump) and Jake Bouy (high jump) will be joining the field events soon after some injuries and rehab. Haerr mentioned Kenadie Saylor and Lillian Belak have been leaders for the girls team. Saylor had a personal record in the long jump with a 17-4 while Belak is dropping time in the 100 and 300 hurdles. "Right now, our athletes are performing right where we want them to be at this point in the season," Haerr said. "We have a lot of talented kids who have been putting in the work over the last month, and they're locked in and ready to keep this season moving forward." Sandusky girls coach Chris Croom likes what he has in Taliyah Farris, who is fast in the 100 hurdles (15.09) and 300 hurdles (46.7). Maekhiya Rameau (shot put, long jump), Rylee Simmons (discus), Mckenzi Johnson (400, high jump), Emani Thames (800) and Vivian Johnson (100) are other Blue Streak standouts. "Our team is off to a strong start this season," Croom said. "We are continuing to compete at a high level and are beginning to come together as a complete team, with our strength currently led by our sprint group and field events. "Early on, it was a bit of a challenge balancing schedules with our dual-sport athletes, but they've fully bought in and are starting to peak at the right time. We also have lots of younger girls starting to come into their own which we are excited to bring some competition to our team." For Edison, freshman Claire Michaelis has been consistent in the 100 (13.6), 200 (27.8), 400 (1:02.8) and 800 (2:31). On the boys side, senior Colin Butler is leading the way in the 110 hurdles (16.78) and 300 hurdles (42.37). Trevor Leimeister has a 100 personal-best of 11.11 and 200 personal-best of 22.97. "Our program is led by some incredible leaders, senior captain and sprinter Mia Stover being one of them," girls coach Tiffany Caponi said. "We are lucky to have her guide our young growing team. Our program has been full of positive changes and we are excited to see continued growth and success in the future." One school that feels it will compete better in the five-division format is St. Mary Central Catholic. Nicolette Hile runs the 800, 1600 and 3200 for the Panthers and has finished first at every meet for the event she runs. She qualified for the regional last year and is aiming for the state competition as a senior. Gabe Burch advanced to the regional last year in the shot put while Crew Trumpower is hoping to get at least that far this season. Ben Jones runs in the 400, 800, 4x800 relay and 4x400 relay and is hoping to make a big impact as a senior. "Our team as a whole is really showing some promise this year," SMCC coach Gia Gennari-Lynch said. "This is a senior class I've been waiting for four years for and a freshman girls team I'm excited for their future. It's not even halfway through the season and these kids are shattering their personal bests from last year and the freshman girls are getting better every meet." For Vermilion, Brooke Whisenant has consistently finished first or second in every race she's run in the 100 (personal-best 12.67), 200 (26.21) and 400 (58.99). The senior qualified to state last year and hopes to get back there this season. She also anchors the 4x200 that includes sophomores Jazlyn Rayl, Morgan Frenk and Addison Williams. Their best time is 1:48.67. On the boys side, senior Brady Parker leads the Sailors in the 100 (11.13) and 200 (22.64) while returning to a 4x100 team that qualified for state last season. Perkins is led by Joel Smelcer, who qualified to state last year in the 3200 and ran a 9:25.22 this season. The Pirates won the boys SBC Lake title last year and hope to make it two in a row this season. Port Clinton returns Michaela Stork, the girls state champion in the discus last year. Also for the Redskins, Morgan Wiechman looks to improve at state in the 1600 and 3200. The Willard girls won the Buckeye Central Stache Dash Invitational last week. The Crimson Flashes also won the Plymouth Invitational. Coach John Buss said he likes what he has seen from Paige Adams (shot/discus), LaMya Hicks (long jump) and Cora Clark (long jump, high jump) in the field. Willard took fifth on the boys side at Buckeye Central. Buss said he's been impressed with Dream Mills (400, 800) and Jose Lopez (800) this season. Crestview swept the Firelands Conference titles last season. For the boys, Western Reserve was runner-up while Monroeville was third. On the girls side, South Central was second, St. Paul was third and Western Reserve finished fourth. South Central's Autumn Fry has the top time in the 100 (13.08), discus (130-8) and shot put (36-2) this season while teammate Emily Lamoreaux's run of 17.66 in the 100 hurdles leads the field. The Trojans' Taylor Smith cleared 11-0 in the pole vault while Lauren Ingram leads the way in the high jump (5-2). St. Paul has the top times in the 4x200 (1:50.77) and 4x800 (11:15.01) while the Flyers' Deanna Vasquez has the best mark in the 200 (26.97). Plymouth's Morgan Follett leads the way in the 1600 (5:37.54) while WR's Frankie Hoover's 52.1 in the 300 hurdles is the top mark. WR's Kara Woodruff is best in the 800 (2:30.51). New London is led by Raeann Mitchell in the pole vault (11-0) and Hailey Crockett in the 3200 (13:21). For the boys, Western Reserve's Hayden Keith has the top marks in the shot (58-4) and discus (169-5) while Xzavion Meagrow has the fastest time in the 100 (11.60). The Roughriders' 4x100 group is No. 1 with a time of 45.3. "We are having a good spring so far," WR coach Guy Schuler said. "This time of year it is nice to see our athletes' hard work start to pay off as the weather begins to get warmer. We are excited about our girls and boys depth this season which allows us to get creative with lineups. We have a well rounded team in both field and running events which helps in competition." New London is led by its 4x400 (3:43.04) and 4x800 (8:58.32) teams. Carter Hicks has the top time in the 3200 (10:13.04) while Jayden Bracken cleared 12 feet in the pole vault. "Our teams are making a lot of progress this season and are learning to be competitive at a higher level," New London coach Tyler Cawrse said. "All of the athletes are working hard." Izaya Reynolds leads Plymouth with a pair of top marks in the 200 (23.00) and 400 (51.59). The Big Red's quartet in the 4x200 has the best time in 1:37.10. "The season thus far has been going well, with many new faces to track stepping up and learning the sport for the first time," Plymouth coach Matt Anderson said. "Currently, I know that as a program, we have not entered our best lineup into a meet, giving the coaching staff great hope for postseason success."