Regional Track: RV pole vaulters, Laracuente advance to state
LEXINGTON — The next generation of elite pole vaulters from Marion County proved their merit at the Division II regional track and field championships hosted by Lexington High School.
River Valley freshman Eva Moran and sophomore teammate Cooper Miller qualified for state in the girls and boys pole vault.
Moran was the girls regional runner-up at 11-feet, while Miller took third in the boys competition at 13-10.
"I think it’s pretty cool," Moran said. "We practice together and help each other work on stuff. It’s very exciting."
Moran finished behind Beaumont senior Madyson Treharne's 11-4. Kate Archer of Tallmadge, Julia Sabo of Eastwood and Allie Dunlap of Heath also went 11-feet, but Moran had fewer misses to earn her spot in the state field.
"I owe a lot to my parents and Coach (Kevin) Keller and God for giving me the ability and talent to do it. That is the big thing," Moran said.
Her regional mark is a personal record.
"I just hope to PR at state, too, and keep progressing and getting better," she said. "I’m just anticipating doing my best. I think it’s pretty exciting. I’m going to do my best and let God take care of the rest."
Miller competed on Thursday when heavy rains postponed the finish to pole vault. He experienced an eventful regional.
"We started off at 11-6 and I was running really fast and was pumped up," he said. "I ran through the first two attempts. The second one I actually got in the air but came down on the bar. The last attempt I made it over so that was a relief."
He then cleared 12-0, 12-6 and 13-0 on first attempts as he found his rhythm and mojo.
"I came to 13-6, and I’m pretty sure I made that one on the second or third one so that was a little risky there," Miller said. "I came to 13-10 and that was the bar I knew I had to make. On the second attempt at 13-10, I squeezed over it. It was a PR and made it to state in third place."
But his evening wasn't quite over. While he knew he was safely in the state field, he was still competing with Mid Ohio Athletic Conference rivals Garrett Baker of Shelby and Ethan Staley of Clear Fork.
"We tried 14-2," Miller said. "My run was slowing down a little bit by then. I ran through the first two attempts on that one, and then on the third attempt at 14-2 I could feel the sprinkles coming in and people were saying, ‘Go, go!’ The rain was right behind me, I guess. I got up in the air, but it was a little risky. I was slipping on my pole a little bit. It started raining really hard and so we shut it down there."
Baker and Staley returned Saturday morning to finish the event.
Like Moran, this will be Miller's first time competing at state, although he once watched his older cousin and Pleasant grad Lydia DePrey compete in Ohio State's Jesse Owens Stadium in the girls pole vault.
"It was almost unbelievable," he said. "It was my goal for this year and so I was so happy that I made my goal. Not only did I make my goal, but I placed third."
Miller is the 35th male athlete from Marion County to make state in the pole vault as his trip will be the 64th appearance overall by a county athlete in the event. For Moran, she is the 13th girl to make state, running the appearances to 19, joining Elgin's Tiffany Hix who made it in Division III this season.
"I’m happy to be there and happy to have another meet I get to go to," Miller added. "I can PR. I’m going to go there and have some fun. You never know what’s going to happen. You made it here, so be thankful for all that."
Highland's Juliette Laracuente, who finished third in the girls high jump to earn her state berth on Thursday, added two more events for state. The junior won the the long jump at 18-0.25 and took the 100-meter hurdles in a personal best and winning time of 14.86.
She attempted to make state in a fourth event, but finished ninth in the 200 in 26.35. She is the defending state champ in the long jump.
The top four in each event received automatic state berths, while the top eight scored points for their teams. There are two at-large berths remaining for the two best in each event that did not get automatic bids.
No one else from the area gained an automatic D-II state spot.
River Valley's Ethan Lyon was fifth in the boys shot put at 50-9.5, while teammate Grant Butler was sixth in the boys high jump at 6-3, and RV's Annabelle Gandert was fifth in the girls long jump at 16-4.
Caden Holtrey of Highland was seventh in the boys shot put at 50-3.5, while teammate Joel Roberts was 11th in the boys high jump at 6-feet.
In the individual running events, North Union's Lincoln Harrah was seventh in the boys 100 at 11.27 and ninth in the 200 at 22.77, NU's Hannah Carney was sixth in the girls 400 at 59.39, Highland's Jay Melchiori was eighth in the boys 300 hurdles at 41.05, RV's Ryan Blanton was 16th in the 300 hurdles at 47.38 and RV's Gabe Douce was unable to finish the boys 800 due to injury.
River Valley's girls 4x200 relay with Madeline McFarland, Moran, Jaxon Gilliam and Gandert was seventh in 1:49.55, while the RV boys 4x100 relay with Xavier Hensel, Butler, Douce and Ky Emmerson was ninth in 44.43, and the Highland boys 4x100 relay with Gavin Hankins, Gavin Debord, Owen Stillwell and Dane Nauman was 15th in 45.59.
In the boys 4x400 relay, Highland's Hankins, Mason Duncan, Melchiori and Nauman were 10th in 3:32.48, while RV's Bright, Emmerson, Butler and Blanton were 15th in 3:49.98.
The state meet for all three divisions will be Friday and Saturday.
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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Regional Track: RV pole vaulters, Laracuente advance to state
