Thirteen area athletes earned spots in the state track and field championships this past weekend. They will be competing in 10 events across three divisions at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the Campus of The Ohio State University beginning Thursday.
With track and field now split into five divisions, competition begins Thursday and runs through Sunday.
Division II
LEXINGTON — Teays Valley’s girls have six runners scheduled to compete on Saturday and Sunday.
Reese Galinger qualified in three events with her first competition coming at 2 p.m. Saturday as part of the 3,200-meter relay team. She joined Addison Keplar, Khloe Maxwell and Grace Thanasack to place fourth at their regional with a time of 9:31.28. The Vikings have the ninth best time among the 18 qualifers.
Galinger will return to the track at 4:25 p.m. Saturday for the 3,200-meter run. She placed sixth at the regional with a time of 11:08.26.
While the top five finishers automatically qualify to the state, three additional qualifiers also earn spots if they have one of the best performances across the state. Galinger’s 3,200 time was the best amongst the non-automatic qualifiers and 12th best for those competing at the state meet.
Galinger will be back at 4:25 p.m. Sunday for the 1,600 after placing fourth in her regional with a time of 5:02.43. That has her ninth fastest for the state qualifiers.
Abby Henderson qualified in the 400 meters for the Vikings after placing fifth at the regional in 58.40 — 12thfastest for the state qualifiers. She will run in the semifinals at 3:35 p.m. Saturday.
Complete results from Lexington Regional
Division III
NEW CONCORD — Logan Elm had its boys team qualify with a relay team, while LE’s girls and Circleville’s boys each had an athlete advance in field events.
Logan Elm’s 1,600-meter relay team of Andrew Pryor, Ayden Hartley, Owen Russell and Dane Liggins extended their season by finishing fifth at the regional with a time of 3:26.28. That is the 12th fastest time among qualifiers. They run in the semifinals at 12:35 p.m. Friday.
Logan Elm’s Claire King earned one of the at-large qualifying spots following her sixth-place showing at the Muskingum University Regional. She cleared 10’ 6” which is 12th best among qualifiers. Girls pole vault starts at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Circleville’s Liam McConnell will be competing at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the discus. He threw 155’ 5” to place fifth. That is the 13th best distance among state qualifiers.
Complete results from Muskingum University Regional
Division IV
MARION — Amanda-Clearcreek’s Gavynn Sowers qualified in two events and will be joined at the state meet by teammate Samantha Buckley.
Sowers finished third in the 800 meters and the 1,600 meters at the Marion Harding Regional.
In the 1,600 meters, Sowers ran a time of 5:05.95. That is fourth-best for the state qualifiers. She will compete in the finals at 2:35 p.m. Friday.
She ran the 800 meters in 2:16.84, which is the fifth fastest time amongst the 18 qualifiers. She will compete in that event at 3:20 p.m. Friday.
Buckley took third at the regional in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 15.51. That puts her seventh-best in the field coming into Thursday’s semifinal. That race is scheduled to start at 1 p.m.