Girls Track and Field | Orrville's Ainsley Hamsher breaks regional meet pole vault record

PERRY TWP. — It was mere seconds, but the trip down to the mat, after sailing the bar for the final time Friday night, felt like an eternity to Orrville’s Ainsley Hamsher.

After slightly chipping the bar after clearing her third — and final — try at breaking the school record in the pole vault, the senior thought the worst as she hoped that this attempt would be the one to finally got her the historic mark.

“At first, I hit it and I was like, 'Just stay. Just stay. Please stay,’” Hamsher said. “Then I hit the mat and saw that it stayed, and it was like adrenaline all over again. It was excitement, just crazy, it was hard to describe. It was just awesome.”

The bar, despite shaking for nearly 30 seconds, stayed in place and Hamsher finally got the program record she had been working for all season as she cleared 12-feet-9 to capture the Division III Massillon Regional title.

And to do it on a day where the weather was far from perfect made the wait well worth it.

“We have tried, I think six times this year, to break the school record, and for it to happen here, on a rainy day, that's awesome,” said Hamsher, who broke the regional record and matched the Perry Stadium mark with the win. “I moved up poles again, which is insane in this weather, and now I get my name up on the board. I'm excited about it.”

As the bar started going up and the rest of the competition already out, and with a second straight state berth already locked up, Hamsher was still there. The All-Ohioan calmly went over to grab a towel after each attempt, wiping the pole down, stepping back to the front of the runway to try it once again.

“We warmed up in OK weather, it was just cold and not rainy, but then we got the rain and I was like, 'Well, this is what it is,’” she said. “I loved it though. It’s an amazing feeling.”

Hamsher won’t be alone next weekend in Columbus for the OHSAA State Championships, which will take place June 3-4 at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, as 10 other individual girls and four relay teams all advanced in Div. III.

The Orrville senior will have her teammate, sophomore Catrina Race, joining her on the trip, as she was third overall in the pole vault as well with a mark of 9-8.

“I came in here actually really nervous, which is not a good way to do, but I made it out and I'm happy,” Race said. “I'm usually a really bad weather jumper, but I think the season has helped because we haven't had one good meet.”

Like Hamsher, Dalton sprinter Brianna Chenevey locked up a huge victory, capturing the regional crown in the 200-meter dash.

The finish was so close, with Chenevey using a burst of speed in the final 50 meters to get past Lake Center Christian’s Medgine Wojton and hold on for the win in 0.05 seconds.

“I wasn't sure, it was really close,” said Chenevey when asked if she knew that she won. “I was definitely dying at the end, I could feel it.

I just focused on (Wojton) because I knew she was right in front of me and I just focused on trying to catch-up to her and push through it.”

Teammate Lauren Clos was third in the race, behind Wojton in 26.20. Clos and Chenevey made up one half of the Bulldogs’ 4x100 relay team that also advanced to state in 50.30, along with Courtney Weaver and Macy Seeman.

“We definitely had a lot of confidence,” Chenevey said. “We had to be careful because of the rain, but we just wanted to get top four. That's all that mattered."

The Dalton 4x4 also qualified for Columbus, placing third with Clos, Chenevey, Molly Soehnlen and Addesa Miller combining to run a 4:09.60. Smithville’s team of Maddy Lengacher, Abby Hartzler, Cadence Amstutz and Claire Hass secured the fourth — and final — automatic berth in 4:10.17.

Chenevey and Clos also took part in the 100 final, crossing in fifth and sixth, respectively.

Earlier in the meet, Lengacher punched her second straight ticket to state in the open 400 after coming from nearly last place over the final 150 meters to post a third-place finish of 1:00.42, two spots ahead of freshman teammate Haas (fifth place, 1:01.31).

“I just knew I was really far behind and I had to get ahead somehow,” the sophomore said. “I kept telling myself that this is my last race and I have to get through this if I want to make it back to where I was last year.”

Rittman’s Pyper Gibson is also going back to state after a runner-up finish in the 1,600 (5:03.65) and a third in the 3,200 (11:03.64).

Despite the steady drizzle of rain, Gibson battled back into second in the mile to post a second record time.  Loudonville’s Tess Shultz took fifth in 5:26.89.

“I've been thinking about all my other races and how I haven't been getting out hard because I want to pace myself, so I was like, 'I'm just going to run as hard as I can and see what happens,” Gibson said. “I just kept fighting. Usually when people pass me, I get out of it, but I was able to get to 5:03.”

Right on the heels of Gibson in the 3,200 was Waynedale’s Kylee Gray, who secured her first-ever state berth in the sport with a fourth-place finish of 11:22.47.

“I knew I just needed to hang with them and catch that third or fourth spot,” said Gray, a two-time state qualifier in cross country. “I noticed our pack was sort of slowing down, but I just needed to run my own race and I knew I could keep it consistent.”

Merrick Gibson also qualified, as the Rittman freshman had a lead for most of the 800 run before earning a second-place finish in 2:18.66.

“I just tried to get out really fast to get in a good position and get the cut-in real good,” she said. “I noticed getting out fast helped me get where I was supposed to be. It helped me move it, too.”

It was an impressive day for Loudonville, which saw two individuals and a relay advance to the state meet.

Sydney Polen got things going with a third-place finish in the long jump, recording her mark of 16-5¼ in the preliminary rounds before nervously watching the competition.

She then anchored the Redbirds’ 4x2 relay to the fourth in 1:47.46, with Kenzie Cutlip, Corri Vermilya and Anna Templeman making up the other legs. Smithville, with Sydney Shane, Haas, Hartzler and Lengacher, was fifth in 1:47.59.

“It took away some of the nerves, but the worst part for me was the waiting game,” Polen said of her early mark in the long jump. “I was towards the end both times I had to jump and I just had to wait for each of their jumps.

“I knew I was tied for third or fourth, coming in, but I wasn't feeling the best and my shin was hurting me. I just stayed mentally tough, though, and I was in it the whole time.”

Vermilya also qualified individually, placing fourth in the 300 hurdles in 47.70, ahead of Waynedale’s Skye Morris (fifth, 48.49).

Vermilya also enjoyed watching Polen attacking the final leg on the 4x2 final.

“That's the best race I've ever seen her run,” she said, grinning. “I saw the girls from Lake Center right beside her and she just took it from there. Kudos to her, and everyone else on our team. We've worked so hard for this and it's the most amazing feeling ever.”

Northwestern throwers Emily Thompson and Chase Amlotte also took part in Friday’s finals. Thompson took 12th with a mark of 100-5, while Amlotte was 15th (91-10).

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Track and Field: Orville's Hamsher breaks regional record