Boys Track & Field: Gahanna Lincoln Lions sprint to second in two state relays

Jarrod Ulrey, ThisWeek
·4 min read
Gahanna Lincoln's Makai Shahid and Stow-Munroe Falls' Xavier Preston cross the finish line in the 800 relay during the Division I state meet June 4 at Ohio State. Stow won in 1:26.1 and the Lions were second in 1:26.5.
Gahanna Lincoln's Makai Shahid and Stow-Munroe Falls' Xavier Preston cross the finish line in the 800 relay during the Division I state meet June 4 at Ohio State. Stow won in 1:26.1 and the Lions were second in 1:26.5.

With slightly different combinations of runners but with much of the same nucleus as a year ago, the Gahanna Lincoln boys track and field team again earned a pair of spots high on the podium at the Division I state meet June 3 and 4 at Ohio State.

The Lions were state runners-up in both of their sprint relays a year ago and duplicated those finishes, with the 400-meter relay earning a runner-up finish in 41.25 seconds — just 0.03 behind Pickerington Central (41.22). The Lions’ time was 0.5 faster than a year ago.

In the 800 relay, Gahanna was second (1:26.5) behind Stow-Munroe Falls (1:26.1).

Senior Tristin Cook-Fisher and juniors Maxwell Cummings and Drew Pizzico were the heart of the sprint corps last season along with 2021 graduates Ron Blackman and Mondra Curry.

Juniors Isaiah Jackson, Thomas Newby, Makai Shahid and Romearo Wells joined the returning trio this spring.

“We accomplished a lot,” Shahid said. “With us being kind of a young team, doing this is big for us, especially with me coming off an injury last year.”

The relays scored 16 points at state to give the Lions a tie for 11th place with Mayfield as Central won the title with 31 points.

After Cummings, Newby, Shahid and Wells ran on the 800 relay in the preliminary June 3, Cook-Fisher replaced Wells in the final.

“We didn’t come out on top (in the 800 relay), but we still fought,” Newby said. “We had two bad handoffs, but we still came through. It’s my first year of track, so it means a lot to me experiencing this.”

Cook-Fisher, Jackson, Pizzico and Shahid ran on the 400 relay in the preliminary, and Wells was substituted for Jackson in the final.

“We just wanted to win and we were expected to win, but not everything works out as you wanted it, so we’ve got to go with what we can,” Shahid said. “Not a lot of people can say they were second in the state.”

Also competing at state June 3 was the 3,200 relay (16th, 8:10.18) of senior Jordon Anderson, juniors Abi Sileshi and Charlie Slates and freshman Owen Towler.

The Lions won OCC-Ohio Division and district 2 championships and tied Hilliard Darby for 11th at the regional.

Others competing at regional were Cummings in the 400, junior Griffin Flusche in the discus, senior Niko Kokales in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles, Shahid in the 200, Slates in the 3,200, Wells in the 300 hurdles and the 1,600 relay of Cummings, Newby, Wells and senior Varun Mirayala.

New Albany's Jack Fischer takes the baton from Eric Dehmer in the 3,200 relay at the Division I state meet June 3 at Ohio State. The Eagles finished ninth in 7:56.97.
New Albany's Jack Fischer takes the baton from Eric Dehmer in the 3,200 relay at the Division I state meet June 3 at Ohio State. The Eagles finished ninth in 7:56.97.

•New Albany was represented in three events at state, and three of the Eagles’ five qualifiers are eligible to return.

The 3,200 relay of seniors Will Benseler and Eric Dehmer, junior Lleyton Axline and sophomore Jack Fischer finished ninth (7:56.97). Benseler, who anchored the relay, also placed 14th in the 800 (1:58.9).

Junior Josh Richardson was 13th in the high jump (6-4).

All were making their first appearance at state.

That capped a season that saw Richardson win the OCC-Ohio title in the high jump (6-4) and Benseler take the district 2 championship in the 800 (1:56.2). Richardson was district runner-up in the high jump (6-6) and third at regional (6-4).

Benseler was sixth in the 800 (1:55.86) at regional to earn an at-large state berth, while the 3,200 relay was fourth (7:55.41).

Also eligible to return is junior Brayden Cooper, who helped the 1,600 relay finish fourth at district (3:27.94) and 12th at regional (3:30.66).

—Dave Purpura

sports@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekSports

GAHANNA LINCOLN 

•OCC-Ohio standings: Gahanna (174), Pickerington North (141), Westerville Central (114.5), New Albany (55), Grove City (21.5), Westland (17) 

•Seniors lost: Sharmarke Ali, Jordon Anderson, Tristin Cook-Fisher, Niko Kokales, Josh Kucker, Jeremy Mateso, Varun Mirayala and Wesley Triplett 

•Key returnees: Maxwell Cummings, Griffin Flusche, Isaiah Jackson, Thomas Newby, Drew Pizzico, Makai Shahid, Abi Sileshi, Charlie Slates, Owen Towler and Romearo Wells 

•Postseason: First (122) at district, tied for 11th (25) at regional behind champion Westerville Central (55), tied for 11th (16) at state behind champion Pickerington Central (31) 

NEW ALBANY

•Seniors lost: Montay Baugh, Will Benseler, Luke Carter, Eric Dehmer, Drew Glenn, Jesse Gordon, Alex Handwork, Derrick Harris, Kameron Kist, Andrew Schell and Jake Walters

•Key returnees: Lleyton Axline, Brayden Cooper, Jack Fischer and Josh Richardson

•Postseason: Fourth (55) at district behind champion Gahanna (122), tied for 20th (14) at regional behind champion Westerville Central (55), did not score at state

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Track & Field: Gahanna sprints to second in two state relays