Sports Briefs: Highland's Laracuente wins national championship
Highland's Juliette Laracuente wins national championship
SPARTA — Highland track and field standout Juliette Laracuente continued to add to her resume.
A two-time Division II girls long jump outdoor champion in Ohio, the senior-to-be competed at the Adidas National Championships at North Carolina A&T at Greensboro, N.C. over the weekend.
Laracuente won the girls triple jump with a personal record of 39-feet, 11.5 inches, winning by three-quarters of an inch over second place. She was a national runner-up in the long jump with an effort of 18-6.5 behind the winning jump of 19-1.5. She also finished fourth in the high jump at 5-5.
Mount Gilead holds boys basketball camp
MOUNT GILEAD — The Mount Gilead boys basketball team recently held a youth basketball camp for fourth through sixth graders. The camp focused on offensive and defensive fundamentals, while teaching the campers about teamwork, leadership, competitiveness and good sportsmanship.
Players also participated in a number of competitions, including 1-on-1, 3-on 3, hot shot, free throw, and dribbling competitions.
Those who participated were Brody Leffler, Murphy Schaad ,Jackson Keever, Kirk Sayers, Alex Pauley, Xaiden Shaw , Cooper Swint, Braxtien Strubhar, Aden Bowersmith, Owen Pangborn, Dawson Davis, Benjamin Griffith, Parker Grimm, Benley Allen, Garrett Hendickson, Ricky Edwards, Alix Wehr, Andrew Gannon, Brock Zerman, Dawson Pierce, Heath Barnum and Aiden McLain. High school player volunteers were Quade Harris, Matthew Bland, Aaron Gannon, Jacob Wilt, Ryan Swalley and Rowen Fitzpatrick Coaches were Dan Strasser and Gary Bartlett.
Ohio USA Track & Field Championships this weekend
CEDARVILLE — The Ohio USA Track and Field Championships will be Saturday and Sunday at Cedarville University. Entries can be found at Ohio.USATF.org and registration is available through Athletic.net. If more information is needed, call Jim Fisher at 740-602-0050 or Garry Williams at 740-383-4494.
Marion Merchants 16U baseball team wins tourney
FINDLAY — The Marion Merchants 16U baseball team won the Midwest Tournament Factory Findlay Tournament held last weekend.
In pool play, the Merchants defeated the Buckeye Bombers 8-3 and the LA Dodgers (formerly the Detroit Bee's) 6-5. In bracket play, the Merchants earned a first round bye and then defeated Premier, OH 6-5 and beat the Ohio Starz 1-0 in the championship game. It was one of the hardest fought tournament series of victories the the five years the team has been together.
Members of the squad are Maddox Mcguire, Jake Chapman, Elijah Sayre, Cooper Dreibelbus, Stephan Castillo, Caden Fritz, Bradley Pennington, Aiden Hines, Tracey Watson, Austin Allen, Luke Blum, Wyatt Frazier, Derek Prosse, head coach CJ Allen and assistants Luke McGuire, Jim Blum and Brian Dreibelbus,
The 2022 Marion Merchants 16U team is comprised of players from Norwalk St. Paul, Marion Harding, Elgin, Lexington, Seneca East, Galion, Ontario and Westerville South.
Two Vikings to compete in college
CALEDONIA — Two recent River Valley graduates will compete in college. Riley Gerfen will play baseball at Bethany College in West Virginia, while Annabelle Gandert will compete in women's soccer, equestrian and track and field at St. Andrew's University in North Carolina.
This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Sports Briefs: Laracuente wins title
