State track and field report Day 1: IV's David Adams claims D2 boys pole vault crown
COLUMBUS — Indian Valley senior David Adams is coming back to Tuscarawas County as a pole vault champion.
Adams vaulted 16 feet, 2 inches to eclipse his regional title effort as he claimed the Division II boys state pole vault title at the OHSAA track & field state championships held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University on Friday.
It was his second state title this season after winning the indoor crown earlier.
Javin Richards was the state runner-up Friday with a height of 15-10.
Adams, who finished fifth at the state meet a year ago, won last week's regional title with a 16-1 as he went undefeated on the season.
The Dartmouth College signee also holds the Indian Valley and Tuscarawas County records at 16-4.50.
Adams recapped his whirlwind season and the state meet.
"At the beginning of the season it was a rough start trying to beat weather and try to get some sort of practice in, but at the Lidderdale invitational is when things started to connect with me jumping 16-3.70 and breaking the meet record and my school record," recalled Adams. "I really brought it at the County Meet as well jumping a new personal record and County meet and County record of 16-4.50. I cleared the bar in front of the former record holder Jamie Lewis and we had a great time talking.
"After that meet I was consistently jumping 16 feet and then trying to break the Division II state record of 16-7 set by a friend of mine last year," said Adams. "Each attempt was very close. Coming into the state meet I had high hopes of getting that record and winning state. My main objective was to remain calm and have little to no misses. I was jumping very strong and at 16-2 I was on my last attempt and I knew if I made it I would be able to secure the win. When I saw the bar stayed up that was the most relieving moment of the day.
"After that I went for the state meet record and had two bad attempts," said Adams. "On my last attempt I was up and over the bar and the left side bounced off and I missed it.
"Overall I am very thankful to my Coach Dave Bell for all the time he has put into the last four years, my family and girlfriend for being there supporting me to the fullest," noted Adams. "Definitely was a great end to the season and I couldn't have wished for a better outcome. Now it's on to the next chapter and competing for Dartmouth College."
Fairless senior Brant Marchand joined Adams on the podium from the area as he finished fifth with a personal best and a new school record of 15-2.
Also in Division II, Claymont's Graydon Mooneyham and Ridgewood's Xavier Lamneck qualified for the boys 300-meter hurdles final on Saturday.
Mooneyham was sixth in 39.69 seconds and Lamneck was seventh with a 39.85 in the preliminaries.
The top two from each heat and the next five fastest times qualified to the finals Saturday.
Fairless Luke Yoder finished seventh in the boys 200 prelims with a personal best time and school-record time of 22.03, set by Tyler Neff in 2014.
Sandy Valley's Mason Tucci finished ninth in the boys long jump with a 21-2.25 showing.
The Ridgewood boys 4x400 relay prelims of Lamneck, Kaleb Schrock, Kigenn Millender and Dalton Patterson placed 10th with a 3:27.20 and the Tusky Valley girls 4x400 relay of Ella McElwee, Cara Pipitone, Leah Bourquin and Hannah Wyler ended up 11th with a 4:04.32, their fastes time of the season, in the prelims.
Claymont's Alec Terakedis was 15th in the boys 100 prelims with a 10.98 and Tusky Valley's Brook Stookey finished 16th in the girls discus with a 106-6.
West Holmes Jasmine Giauque finished with a new personal record of 12.83 as she was 17th in the girls 100 prelims and the Carrollton girls 4x800 relay of Josie Burgett, Elizabeth Funkhouser, Maddie Burgett and Erin King ended up 18th with a 10:38.37.
Division III
Newcomerstown's Braxton Wilson tied for third place in the Division III boys high jump with a 6-4 showing and Inter-Valley Conference and Tusky Valley foe Silas Miller was sixth, also with a 6-4 effort.
Wilson's teammate, Caitlin Green, finished 10th in the girls pole vault with a 10-6 showing.
Garaway's Makayla Sitzlar was 12th in the girls discus at 112-2 and her teammate Kenadi Yoder was 14th in the girls 300 hurdles prelims with a 48.43, while Pirate Brendan Chapman was 14th in the boys 400 prelims with a 51.40.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Indian Valley's David Adams captured D2 boys pole vault championship
