Cardinal girls take runner-up

NEW BREMEN - To the surprise on nobody, Coldwater's Sarah Kanney dominated the distance events.

Paige Jones and Makenna Brackman had big performances for the New Bremen girls.

And St. Henry's Spencer Schulze came within fractions of a second of beating the school record in the 3,200-meter run.

Those were just some of the highlights from the 15th installment of the Cardinal Invite on Friday night, a meet that began under the bright sunshine at 4:30 p.m. and concluded under the lights at 10:30 p.m.

Russia captured the girls' team title with a late surge in the final two events. Two top-four finishes in the 3,200 and a first-place finish in the 4x400 relay allowed Russia to edge New Bremen by a score of 111-107. Coldwater took third (87) and Spencerville fourth (63).

Anna was the team champion in the boys with 89 points. Spencerville was second (64 1/2), Sidney third (61) and St. Marys fourth (60).

Kanney entered the 1,600 with a goal in mind: beat her old meet record.

Goal accomplished.

The North Carolina State-bound senior ran a 5:11.57 to beat her previous record of 5:12.49 which she set in 2014. She also cruised to victory in the 3,200 with a time of 11:11.70 - beating Russia's runner-up state-qualifier Emily Borchers by close to 16 seconds.

"It's a nice day, and I think that's a good comparison to get where you were last year," Kanney said.

In a few short weeks, she will begin another quest for postseason glory. Kanney has won two state titles in the 1,600 and has earned All-Ohio honors in the 800, 3,200 and 4x800 relay.

"I think you've just got to be confident in what you've done in the past," she said. "Sometimes my times aren't where I'd want to be at state, but I'm not a very self-motivated runner. I like competition and I feed off that, so I think I just do my best at these meets and that works you up to the competition."

Cardinal freshman Paige Jones kept the high school 400 record in the family on Friday night.

Paige broke the school record in the 400 with a time of 59.07 seconds in taking runner-up honors behind Russia's Lauren Heaton, a state champion last year.

As a junior in 1983, Paige's mom, Staci (Finke) Jones, set the 400 record with a 59.7. In 2007, Paige's sister, Taylor, established a new record with a time of 59.56 at the MAC Meet.

Paige also placed second in the high jump with a 4-10, finishing behind Lincolnview's Hannah McCleery, who cleared 5-0.

Her teammate Makenna Brackman won the 800 with a time of 2:24.01 - a result that was a three-second time drop from her personal best.

"I tried something completely different today," Brackman said. "I tried to go right out right away to see where it got me, and I tried to hang onto it as long as I could."

Brackman, also a key contributor in the Cardinals' relay success, has came up short of earning a state bid in the event twice but she is hoping the path leads to Columbus this season.

"I'd love to go to state. We'll see what I can do. I'm focusing on MAC right now," she said.

Brackman, Erica Ahlers, Shelby Paul and Steph Brandt also earned runner-up honors in the 4x200 relay (1:50.26). The 4x800 team of Brackman, Bailey Bronkema, Elking and Lilly Hirschfeld placed second (9:59.60). Brackman, Aly Elking, Paul and Jones also took second in the 4x400 with a time of 4:15.69. Russia won that race with a 4:11.52 and officially sealed the deal on the team title.

New Bremen's Celeste Kuck was runner-up in the pole vault, clearing 9-0.

Coldwater's Savannah Seibert won the 300 hurdles with a time of 48.15 seconds. New Bremen's Julia Goettemoeller placed second (51.08).

Marion Local's Allie Thobe had two runner-up finishes - one in the 100 (13.11 seconds) and the other in the long jump (16-8 3/4).
  St. Marys Kelly Wilker took second in the 1,600 with a time of 5:17.88.

Lauren Leugers had a really superb day in the shot and discus. The Coldwater product won the shot with a toss of 37-5, edging Marion Local's Emily Mescher (36-6), and placed second overall in the discus with a hurl of 101.
BOYS

It was a three-horse race for the 3,200 title between Schulze, Sidney's Jared Tangeman and Coldwater's Dan Seas. Schulze, who bounced between second and third place most of the race, out-kicked Tangeman and Seas down the stretch for the win.

"Those three guys, Seas, Tangeman and him were just going back and forth the entire time," St. Henry coach Dan Hemmelgarn said. "None of them were really going to let up until it was break point. Spencer has been in that position before as far as being a top-end runner, and tonight he just came together as far as putting up the time like he did. We'll go from there. Hopefully bigger things will come."

Schulze's time of 9:48.28 was within inches of St. Henry high school record holder Aaren Hemmelgarn, who established the mark in 2013 with a time of 9:48.13.

St. Marys Cam Swanson (11.58) and Eric Spicer (11.60) went 2-3 in the 100. Swanson and Spicer also played a big role on the champion 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams. In the 4x100, the duo teamed with Austin Tester and Julius Fisher to win with a time of 44.61. In the latter, Spicer, Swanson, Zach Lemmerman and Dakota McVety captured the title with a 1:33.23.

Coldwater's 4x800 relay team (Spencer Kuess, Dan Seas, Justin Hess and Jon Wenning) won gold, posting a time of 8:29.83 to edge Anna's team (8:29.85).

Also claiming an individual title was Marion Local's Colin Homan, who was the best pole vaulter with a successful attempt at 14-0.

New Bremen's Brad Rammel finished second in the 800 (2:01.78). St. Henry's Jesse Niekamp was runner-up in the high jump with a top effort of six feet.