Big start to postseason for area FC standouts

May 14—NEW LONDON — Right where they want to be.

Two returning state qualifiers from the Firelands Conference found themselves right where they wanted to be on Friday.

After breaking the program record in the discus (140-feet-2.75 inches) on Wednesday, New London junior thrower Kaitlyn Gum also won the shot put on Friday at the Firelands Conference track and field championships at Recreation Park in New London.

Gum finished in first with a toss of 41-feet-2.25. She narrowly missed the meet record in both events, but the All-Ohioan from last year is starting to find her stride.

"I had 42 feet in mind, but I was an inch behind," Gum said." I wanted to get to that place of my PR, or possibly surpass it."

Gum threw a 42-1 at home on April 19. She broke both program records in the shot and discus this season by wide margins.

"I've worked really hard," Gum said. "I've been going to Ashland University and working with people up there. I'm able to keep myself motivated more than ever.

"The coaching from AU and New London has benefitted me a lot in the aspect that I'm able to comprehend things better and think about what I'm doing with each throw."

With the postseason portion of the calendar next, Gum said she's gone from being on the fence if she'd even return to state, to know believing there's a high ceiling out there for her.

Both program records had stood for 40 years, set by Susie Howsman in both events in 1982.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting to break either program record this year," Gum said. "Maybe next year I told myself. I wasn't expecting it in the discus at all. I was consistently in the 115-to-120 range.

"I don't know what happened, but everything lined up perfectly. For shot, I thought I'd get close to it but not break it."

Another returning state qualifier to sweep two events on Friday was Western Reserve senior Jake Jarrett. He won the 110 hurdles in 15.71 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 41.43 seconds, edging out Crestview's Jace Hill (41.66).

"Right now I'm just trying to beat myself, beat my own PRs, and take that with me into the districts to try and make another run at state," Jarrett said. "Jace is always right ahead of me, but he tends to kick early and I kick late. We've gone back-and-forth.

"Once I hit that last hurdle, I could feel myself give a little burst and make a little bit of space, but it was a nice race."

Jarrett qualified for state last season in both hurdle events.

"I just need to keep training like I am," he said. "The goal is to beat myself at practice, then beat myself at districts, too."

Also for New London, Reese Landis smashed the program and meet record in the 3200-meter run on Friday.

Landis won the race by 1:23 over second place in a time of 11:21.47. The old mark set by Western's Amanda Miller in 2014 was 11:48.85. She was also second in the 1600 (5:20.04).

South Central won the girls title with 128 points. Mapleton (95) was second and Crestview (84) was third. New London (80) placed fourth, followed by Western Reserve (69), St. Paul (41), Monroeville (27) and Plymouth (2).

Crestview rolled to the boys title, scoring a whopping 174 points. That was double what second-place Mapleton (82) totaled. South Central (78) was third, followed by St. Paul (69), Western (48), New London (35), Plymouth (35) and Monroeville (6).

Another returning state placer for New London, Tyler Twining, won the 800 run in 1:58.82. He was also fourth in the 1600 (4:46.65).

Alyssa Henry in the 800 (2:29.26) and Madison Smith in the 300 hurdles (50.37) both placed second for the Wildcats, as did Braeden Geist in the 3200 (10:15.68).

Madison Rowland (33-feet-7.5) and Brayden Shupp (45 feet) each placed fourth in the shot put for New London. The 4x400 relay of Emily White, Clara Good, Smith and Henry took third in 4:28.6, while the 4x200 team of Good, Alivia Lunsford, Smith and Henry finished fourth in 1:58.29.

For Western, Jarrett also teamed with Connor Dawson, Aiden Beck and Aiden Edwards to finish second in the 4x100 relay in 45.69 seconds. The girls 4x100 team of Baylee Ruppert, Summer Thomas, Kennedy Latteman and Libby Weisenberger also finished second (53.41).

Maddy Kolb in the 100 hurdles (17.5) and Katie Woodruff in the shot put (33-feet-9) each placed third for the Roughriders. Ruppert was fourth in the 100 (13.61) and 400 (1:04.82).

Beck was third in the 110 hurdles (17.34) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (44.11). Also placing fourth was Kelsey Lasch in the 1600 (5:59.32) and Weisenberger in the long jump (15-feet-5).

St. Paul was paced by Ian Deeter, who placed second in the 1600 in 4:38.10 and third in the 3200 (10:40.15). The 4x400 relay team of Isabel Gross, Ella Wangler, Sydney Endsley and Sarah Matlack placed second in 4:28.25.

Earning third for the Flyers included Maddy McCall in both the 1600 (5:55.66) and the 3200 (13:19.96). Adele Dowdell in the 800 (2:30.1), Aiden Kusser in the 300 hurdles (44.09) and Chris Kocher in the discus (141-feet-10) also placed third for St. Paul.

The St. Paul 4x400 boys relay of David Forrest, Isaac Thimke, Logan Rogers and Sam Scavuzzo finished third in 3:34. The 4x200 of Kusser, Alex Wynn, Gabe Bond and Scavuzzo was fourth in 1:35.25.

Placing fourth individually for the Flyers was Scavuzzo in the 200 (23.92) and the 400 in 53.17; Sebastian Gomez in the 800 (2:05.19); and Wangler in the 800 (2:32.7).

Monroeville's Stacey Legg finished third in the 100 in 13.45 and fourth in the 200 (28.54).

The 4x100 relay of Maddie Daniel, Graisyn Yoder, Julia White and Legg placed third in 54.44 seconds, and the same quartet was also third in the 4x200 in 1:56.44.

For Plymouth, Caiden Allen won the 100 dash in 11.24 and finished second in the high jump (6-feet-2). The 4x100 relay of Gavin McClary, Allen, Layne Bushey and Colton Sparks finished fourth (46.45), as did Layne Bushey in the high jump (six feet).