D-III State Track - What I'm Watching

Russia senior Molly Kearns returns to the 2016 OHSAA D-III State Track & Field Championships in the 3200 Meter Run where she competed last year. Molly set a new Russia school record at the Troy Regional Meet last week.

The 2016 OHSAA State Track & Field Championships take place Friday, June 3rd and Saturday, June 4th. The state meet is truly the best post season tournament of the entire year. Jesse Owens Stadium is a dedicated track facility and the perfect venue to host such an event. I've been to Hayward Field, home of the Oregon Ducks, and while nothing can match the history of Hayward, Jessie O is a close second and the parking is even a lot better!

For a $10 entry fee you can watch 34 different events (17 boys events and 17 girls events). Every race and every competition has a story and every one will be decided by seconds and inches. I'll be on the track reporting on Division III and below is a list of events I'm most interested in watching:

GIRLS

1600 Meter Run - This should be a battle between two distance runners that have been going at it all year. St. Thomas Aquinas senior Athena Welsh won a state cross country title and beat Botkins senior Chloe Flora this past fall. Chloe won a state indoor 1600 title and beat Athena back in March. Both girls clocked 4:59's at the regional meet and are equally talented. This race will be won on guts.

4x200 Relay - The top two teams are St. Thomas Aquinas who qualified with a 1:45.04 and Minster who qualified with a 1:45.65. Perfect handoffs make all the difference at this level and will decide the winner in this one.

400 Meter Dash - 2015 state champ and senior Micah Johnston from Toledo Christian, and 2014 state champ and senior Lauren Heaton from Russia are back. Both girls would love to ride off into the sunset with a second 400 title.

In 2014 Russia sophomore Lauren Heaton won a state title by 4/100ths of a second. 

800 Meter Run - Russia junior Grace York ran a personal record 2:14.73 at the regional meet last week, which was a little over a second off 2011 state champ Katie Borchers' school record. Minster's Madeline Magoto is making her debut as the only freshman in the field. They will all be chasing another junior star from St. Thomas Aquinas in Kalee Soehnlen, but I expect a close race down the final front stretch.

3200 Meter Run - Another distance dual between Athena Welsh and Chloe Flora you say? It takes a pretty special athlete to double in both the 1600 and 3200, which is what both those stars would be doing if they don't scratch this race. My pick is Peebles freshman Jenny Seas. Local fans may remember Jenny from her junior high career at Coldwater. She's pretty special too.

Peebles freshman Jenny Seas (left) is our dark horse pick to win the 3200 Meter Run.

High Jump - Ottoville senior Brooke Mangas set a new Troy Regional record last week with a jump of 5'-7". She's the defending D-III state champ with a jump of 5'-8" last year. The current state meet record is 5'-8.25" by Anna's Laura Gehret in 2008 and the D-III state record is 5'-9". Sounds like plenty of motivation for Brooke and well worth watching.

Brooke Mangas has her eyes set on a couple state records after setting one in Troy last week.

Others I'm Watching... Minster #2 seed & Russia #5 seed 4x800 relay... Ft. Loramie senior Olivia Quinter in both the 100 Hurdles & 300 Hurdles... Marion Local freshman Aubrey Thobe in the 100 Hurdles and Long Jump... Covington sophomore Breanna Kimmel in the 100 Meter Dash... Jackson Center's 4x200 relay team... Minster freshman Kaitlyn Albers as the lone freshman in the 1600 Meter Run.... Minster & Anna's 4x100 relay teams... Lehman sophomore Alanna O'Leary in the 200 & 400 Meter Runs... Russia's Lauren Heaton in the 200 Meter Run... Russia senior Molly Kearns in the 3200 Meter Run...  Minster senior Kaci Bornhorst in the 3200 Meter Run... 4x400 relay with Botkins, Minster and West Liberty-Salem... Jackson Center senior Nicole Fogt in the discus for the fourth consecutive year... Botkins freshman Grace Homan as the lone freshman in the Discus and Shot Put... Juniors Savanah Luthman from Minster and Maddy Moeller from New Bremen in the Shot Put... Pole Vault with Ft. Loramie senior Andrea Meyer, Russia sophomore Emily Bohman and New Bremen sophomore Celeste Kuck... and Minster junior Jordyn Heitbrink in the High Jump.

BOYS

Brady McBride of Newton, Tom Ballas of Ft. Loramie and Joey Adams of West Liberty-Salem all advanced to the State Meet

1600 Meter Run - I'm a sucker for distance races and I'm biased towards the local kids. So, would I bet my house on West Liberty-Salem senior Joey Adams or Ft. Loramie junior Tom Ballas winning this race? No, but I'll be rooting for them.

3200 Meter Run - Much like the 1600, the 3200 will give local fans reason to cheer. Newton senior Brady McBride runs for a final time. Former Coldwater star Dan Seas, now a senior at Peebles, will be there. As will the only freshman in the field, Joe Ballas of Ft. Loramie. There's a phenom from Fisher Catholic named Aaron Wood who led his team to a state golf title last fall and finished 5th at the state cross country meet. Count on him picking up a title in the 3200 this Saturday as well. 

4x400 Meter Relay - The boys 4x4 always creates a buzz with fans because it's the last race of any high school track meet. Now consider it's the last race of the high school season and you can triple that buzz! Russia and Covington fans will be buzzing no doubt with both of their teams expected to compete in this final event. Russia qualified at regionals with a 3:27.07, Covington with a 3:28.73. The top qualifying time of the field is Eastwood with a 3:24.21. I'll warn fans now, don't leave early or you might regret it.

High Jump - Russia senior Josh York watched the state meet from the grandstands last year. This year he qualified with a jump of 6'-3". St. Henry senior Jesse Niekamp will also be there qualifying at 6'-4".  The top jumper coming in is junior Isaac Naayers of Lancaster Fairfield Christian at 6'-5". Sounds like anyone's game to me.

Others I'm Watching... Ft. Loramie 4x800 relay... Covington sophomore Cade Harshbarger in the 110 Meter Hurdles and 300 Hurdles...  Ft. Recovery's Robby LeFevre as the lone freshman in the 100 & 200 Meter Dashes and part of the 4x200 Relay Team... Botkins junior Josh Miller in the Shot Put and Discus... and Pole Vaulters Ethan Monnier a senior at Minster, Alan Holdheide a junior at Ft. Loramie and Jett Murphy a sophomore at Covington.