Bulldogs cruise to county track titles

COLDWATER - Both the Celina girls' and boys' track squads used their team depth as well as the ability to win the majority of events to sweep to victory in the Mercer County Knights of Columbus track meet. The Bulldog girls scored 202 points to more than double runner-up St. Henry's total of 83, while the Celina boys came in slightly lower, scoring 193 points to better second place Fort Recovery's 102 1/4 points.
   Celina coach Eric Wagner took the results as a good sign for the immediate future.

"Well, with the way things look tonight, if everyone does what they can do, everything will fall into place at the WBL meet," Wagner said. "As long as we compete I think our girls will be just fine, and the guys are definitely going to score more points than we did last year."
   The Celina girls won all four relay races as well as seven other events, leaving only six event wins available for the other county teams.
   Coach Wagner was effusive in praise for his team.

"Paige Sutter (first in the shot put and second in the discus) really came around. She had a very good series of throws in both the shot and disc. Lauren McDonough (wins in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs) is running phenomenally right now. She ran her career best tonight," Wagner said. "Emily Jackson is coming off a mid-season injury and doing very, very well. She and Kendall Gilmore both had a very good day in the pole vault (finishing first and second, respectively). Lauren Jackson was also good (winning the 800 as well as being part of the 4x400 relay)."
   Beside those individual performances, Alayna Webb, Ashtyn Phlipot, Alyssa Cisco, Kelly Moeder and Holli Brackman took victories as part of the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams. The 4x100 relay set the only new high school record at the meet. Brackman also won the 200 dash.

McDonough was the only girl to take two event wins as well as being part of Thursday's winning 4x800 relay team. Both of her wins in the 1,600 and 3,200 were by dominating margins.

"It can be tough to push yourself in those situations," admitted McDonough. "I told myself before the meet to push myself no matter how close the competition was. Now I think I am physically and mentally prepared for the competition at the WBL meet next week."
   The St. Henry girls claimed second place without winning an event. They finished second in the 4x800 and 4x400 relays while Makayla Hoying and Lindsay Schulze finished second in the 800 and 3,200, respectively.

Marion Local earned two field event victories to help with their third-place finish. Jessie Kramer was the only competitor to clear five feet in the high jump to join Aubrey Thobe, who won the long jump on Thursday.
   Parkway also won two events to finish fourth. Clista Hellwarth won the 100 hurdles, to go along with her second place in the high jump and third place in the 100 dash. Sydney Crouch prevailed in the 100 dash, while also finishing second in the 200 and third in the 400.

The other two female event winners were Fort Recovery's Cassidy Martin in the 400 and Coldwater's Savannah Seibert in the 300 hurdles.
   On the boys' side, Celina won two relay races and eight other events, leaving seven other events available to be fought over by the competition.

"Blake Germann dropped a full second and a half off his 400 today and won the 200, which came out of nowhere, beating a really good freshman from Fort Recovery (he was also part of the winning 4x400 relay)," Wagner said. "(Jacob) Rasawehr is still doing what he is supposed to do (winning the discus and finishing second in the shot put). Adrian Hurley was also big (winning the 800 and 1,600, while being part of the 4x400 and Thursday's 4x800 relay)."
   Hurley was pleased with being part of four event wins.

"I was hoping to drop 2-3 seconds in the 1,600, but I feel good about all four events," Hurley said. "That much running wears you down a bit, but it makes you better, too."
   Dussel Vondenhuevel won one event, the 300 hurdles, on his own, and then helped the 4x400 relay to victory. Roman Mitchell easily finished first in the 3,200, while Mason Baker chipped in as part of the 4x400 relay.

Runner-up Fort Recovery got a jump start in the first three running events of the night, as freshman phenom Robby LeFevre was victorious in both the 110 hurdles then the 100 dash. He then teamed with Tanner Koch, Caleb Martin and Wes Wenning to win the 4x200 relay.
   "It got rough," said LeFevre of running three events in a row. "Once I got to the 4x200, I was struggling. Once we finished, I felt much better."
   When time came for the 4x100 relay, LeFevre was given the event off and Brandon Schoen joined the other three members of the 4x200 relay team. The result was the same, another event victory for the Indians. LeFevre would return for the 200 meter dash, finishing second in his final event of the evening.
   St. Henry's Collin Mescher claimed the other event win on the evening, emerging victorious in the long jump to match Jesse Niekamp's win in the high jump on Thursday.
   Celina returns to action Wednesday at the WBL track meet at Elida. The rest of the county teams head to Fort Recovery on Tuesday for the start of the MAC meet.

In the junior high portion of the meet, the Coldwater girls scored 131 points to triumph over Celina (98 1/2 points) and St. Henry (44 1/2 points). Meanwhile, the St. Henry boys won by a wider margin, scoring 146 points to outpace Marion Local (93 points) and Parkway (69 points).