Junior high track & field: Ridgeview boys, Weaver girls earn state runner-up finishes
While prep teams throughout central Ohio were competing in league meets May 14, the top junior high track and field athletes in Ohio were competing in the state meet at Hilliard Darby.
The top area teams were the Pickerington Ridgeview boys, who scored 34 points to place second behind Huber Heights Wayne (43), and the Hilliard Weaver girls, who scored 32 points to finish second behind Loveland (44).
There were 77 boys programs that scored at least one point, with Watkins Memorial finishing third (30) and Olentangy Berkshire placing fourth (28). There were 83 girls programs with at least one point, with Ridgeview tying Centerville for third (30) and Dublin Grizzell tying Perrysburg and Cincinnati Deer Park for seventh (16).
In the boys competition, one of the stars was Watkins Memorial’s Jaeden Ricketts, who captured the 100 meters (11.05 seconds) and 200 (22.91) and ran on the winning 400 relay (45.29) with Rojan Poudel, Carter Armitage and Troy Blankenship.
Berkshire swept the hurdles events, with Levi Davis winning the 110 hurdles in a state-meet record 15.03 and Miles King capturing the 200 hurdles in a state-meet record 25.26. King also added a runner-up finish in the 110 hurdles (15.05).
The other boys title was captured by Ridgeview’s 800 relay of Jaylon Kincannon, Jayden Nelson, Kyseam Robinson and Arreyon Washington (1:37.37).
Also earning a runner-up finish was Ridgeview’s 1,600 relay (3:41.07), while the Tigers’ Connor Retherford was fourth in the shot put (47 feet, 5 1/2 inches) and Isaac Dukes placed fourth in the 200 hurdles (26.28).
Dublin Sells’ Jordan Sanders finished third in the 200 hurdles (26.02) and fourth in the 110 hurdles (15.18), and Dublin Davis’ Eden Williams was third in the 200 (23.84).
Westerville Genoa’s Elijah Harris finished third in the long jump (19-9 1/4).
Placing fifth were Gahanna East’s Ethan LaCross in the 800 (2:06.32), Olentangy Shanahan’s Christopher Sanna in the discus (151-3) and New Albany’s 3,200 relay (9:07.42).
In the girls meet, Weaver was led by Lilly LaRosa’s championship in the 200 (26.79), and she also was fifth in the 100 (12.93).
The other girls champions were Grizzell’s 3,200 relay of Meadow Ahijevych, Juhi Athavale, Anna Chen and Abbie McBrearty (10:04.89) and Ridgeview’s 1,600 relay of Kylee Hicks, Gabrielle Mattox, Riley Mitchell and Blossom Wallace (4:13.21).
Also for Weaver, Celia Schulte was runner-up in the 1,600 (5:07.87) and third in the 800 (2:19.98), Kat Drovdlic was fifth in the 400 (1:00.47) and the 1,600 relay also was fifth (4:19.42).
The other state runners-up were Buckeye Valley’s Avelina Wagner in the long jump (17-3/4), Ridgeview’s 400 relay (50.35) and Pickerington Lakeview’s 800 relay (1:47.96).
Also for Ridgeview, Wallace added a third-place finish in the 400 (59.64) and the 800 relay was third (1:49.63).
The other area third-place finishers were Gahanna South’s Aliyah Bennett in the 200 (26.87), Grizzell’s Sophia Hoecherl in the high jump (5-0) and Grove City Jackson’s Aubrey Smith in the 1,600 (5:10.13).
New Albany’s Reese Holman tied for fourth in the high jump (5-0), Granville had fourth-place finishes in the 400 relay (51.45) and 1,600 relay (4:18.3), Lakeview was fifth in the 400 relay (51.5) and Berkshire’s Brooke Chapman was sixth in the 100 hurdles (15.55).
julrey@thisweeknews.com
@UlreyThisWeek
This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Junior high track: Ridgeview boys, Weaver girls place second at state
