Saturday, May 9th, 2009
Celina sweeps county track meet
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Celina's Aaron Snyder grimaces as he throws the discus during the second day of the 2009 Mercer County Knights of Columbus Track and Field Meet at Cavalier Stadium in Coldwater on Friday. Snyder won the discus event for the second straight year with a top throw of 138-0.
COLDWATER - To say the Celina track team's effort at the 2009 Mercer County Knights of Columbus Track and Field Meet was record-shattering was an understatement.
The boys track team, already setting one record on Thursday, were part of two of the five new records set on Friday as the meet closed out.
Both Celina teams dominated. The Bulldog Boys won with 183 points as Coldwater was back in second at 116 while the Runnin' Women scored 161 1/2 points, over 50 better than the runner-up Cavaliers.
"It's a good kind of meet to go for records," said Celina coach Dan Otten. "At the WBL (Western Buckeye League meet), you have to go for wins and points and move things around. Here you can go in for different intentions. The weather (mainly dry until late in the meet) was good for the distance. We had a lot of good stuff."
Records were shattered on the day, but the Celina tandem of Andrew Goodwin and Mitch Williams shined in their efforts.
In the 1,600-meter run, the pair went to the front after a lap and battled each other. The pair were together at the finish line, where Williams got the card for first place. But when the results were announced, both Goodwin and Williams shared the time of 4:23.98, taking nearly seven seconds off the school record set by Dave Bergman in 1989.
"The competitive edge came in at the end of the third lap," said Williams. "I was pushing as hard as I could when the coach said I could get the school record. When (Goodwin) came up beside me, I was like 'okay, a tie.' When we crossed they gave me the 1 card. When they announced we tied, I thought it was amazing."
Williams earned his second win later in the day in the 800 run, winning in 2:01.36.
But then it was Goodwin back up again in the 3,200 run. After a lap where the top runners were fairly close, Goodwin took off and never looked back. When the Celina junior crossed the finish line, the timer was stopped at 9:38.38.
Not only did that shatter the meet mark by nearly 14 seconds set by former Coldwater standout David Wilker in 2006, but it broke one of the oldest marks in Celina history, bettering the school record of 9:42 set by Bob McDougal in 1974 when it was still a standard two-mile. Converting the mark into meters, Goodwin still bettered McDougal's mark.
"I was feeling pretty good today. I knew I had a chance to get the record," said Goodwin, who was also part of the record-setting 3,200 relay team on Thursday. "I wanted it really bad. I just kept grinding it out. ... It's exciting to get that."
"The distance kids in particular, especially Andy and Mitch, were way under the time than what I would have expected they could ever do," said Otten. "In the 1,600 at times, you wondered if it was too much too soon, but they felt good."
Also helping the Bulldog Boys to the title were Blake Moran, Aaron Snyder and Caleb Fickert.
Moran won the long jump with a top effort of 21-10 and took the 110 hurdles in 15.09 seconds. Snyder defended his discus title from a year ago, topping out at 138 feet to win by nearly nine feet over Aaron Gilliland. Fickert brought home the 400 dash title.
The Celina boys weren't the only team breaking records. St. Henry's Michael Goettemoeller broke the 300 hurdles mark set by Celina's Kelby Rosengarten last season, breaking the 40-second mark with a time of 39.79. The Coldwater boys 800 relay team came away with a record after running in 1:33.15
The Cavalier boys dominated in the sprint events. The Cavs won the 400 relay, while Nick Eilerman, who ran legs in both winning relays, swept the 100 and 200 dashes in dueling with teammate Andy Moorman.
In the girls meet, Celina broke one record, but could not get the title in the event. Both Cayla Hellwarth and Coldwater's Maria Wermert topped out at 9-8 in the pole vault, but Wermert won the tiebreaker on fewer misses to take first place.
Celina's Hannah Fleck swept the 1,600 and 800 runs. The Bulldogs' 1,600 relay also posted a big win while Kayla Fortkamp won the shot put and Lexi Mills won by over a second in the 300 hurdles.
Parkway all-around athlete Marian Bevington capped off a solid Mercer County Meet career with two more wins to get the hat trick for the meet (won long jump on Thursday), taking the 100 hurdles for the second time in three years and out-dueling Lizz Carr of Celina in the high jump, topping out at 5-3.
"Definitely is," said Bevington when asked about this week being a good prep toward the MAC (Midwest Athletic Conference meet). "I felt good in all of them. I'm ready for the MAC."
Marion Local dominated the sprint events. Allison Bruns swept the 100 and 200 dashes and ran legs of the Flyers' wining 400 and 800 relays, with the 800 relay breaking the meet record set by Coldwater in 1996. The only sprint event not won by a Flyer came from St. Henry's Carmen Moorman, who took the 400 dash for the second straight year. Moorman was the runner-up to Bruns in the other two sprints.
In the junior high meet, Celina and Coldwater split the top two in each meet. The Celina girls outpointed the Coldwater girls while the Cavalier boys defended their home track in beating Celina.
All the county teams except Celina will be back next week as the MAC Championships will be at Cavalier Stadium. Celina won't have to go overly far for the WBL meet, traveling to St. Marys.
Scholarship winners: The county K of C councils announced their annual Spirit Scholarship winners, with one senior from each school earning a $100 book scholarship toward college.
This year's recipients are: Peter Starnes (Celina), Dusty Kuess (Coldwater), Tina Roessner (Fort Recovery), John Broering (Marion Local), Ashley Stose (Parkway) and Carmen Moorman (St. Henry).
Finally got his hat: As been the case over the past few years, the Knights of Columbus has presented hats to all athletes who tie or break meet records during the two days.
This year, the Councils decided to commemorate an anniversary of a record.
A special hat was given to St. Henry assistant coach Tim Braun, who set the discus record in 1979 with a heave of 160 feet and later went on to win the state title in the event.
Braun was cheered on by Redskin athletes as he went up to get his hat.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Nick Eilerman, left, and Celina's Caleb Wilson, right, race side-by-side during a relay on the second day of the 2009 Mercer County Knights of Columbus Track and Field Meet at Cavalier Stadium in Coldwater on Friday.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Celina's Hannah Fleck won the 800- and 1,600-meter runs at the 2009 Mercer County Track Meet on Friday.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Celina's Andrew Goodwin set meet records in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the Mercer County Track Meet.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Parkway's Marian Bevington clears a hurdle on her way to a win in the 100-meter hurdles during the second day of competition at the Mercer County Track Meet on Friday in Coldwater.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Maria Wermert clears the bar during the pole vault on the second day of competition at the Mercer County Track Meet on Friday in Coldwater. Wermert tied a meet record and won the pole vault.
