Minster girls claim runner-up trophy again

COLUMBUS - The Minster girls track and field team left everything they had on the track at Jesse Owens Stadium.

They returned with silver medals around their necks for a second straight season.

The Wildcats finished as team runner-up in Division III state track and field meet, totaling 35 points over two days.

On Saturday, Minster's 4x100-, 4x200- and 4x400-meter relay teams all earned podium finishes, as did freshman Madeline Magoto, who placed third in the 800.

"Our girls can walk away with their heads up," Minster girls coach Jessie Magoto said. "They ran awesome. They ran great PRs, fought and competed higher than they ever have. How in the world can we ever be disappointed with that?"

St. Thomas Aquinas defended its state title by totaling 60 points. The Knights won four events on the final day and five overall. Athena Welsh won the 3,200 and claimed the 1,600 title for the third straight season to lead the way for the Knights, who also claimed the boys title by a 36-35 margin over Columbus Academy.

"They're beasts," coach Magoto said. "They're amazing - they really are. We do well and they're just one step ahead. We'll just keep building and building and hopefully we bridge that gap. We'll try again next year."

"It helps to have someone like that to push us," said Jordyn Heitbrink, who competed in two events at state. "When you get here, everyone's good. Just having all that great competition to run against, especially them, it pushes us really hard."

Twice Minster relay teams had victory snatched away from them in the final 50 meters of the race.

Aquinas made a late push to defeat the Wildcats for the 4x200 relay title by a margin of 1:44.88-1:45.05. The time run by the Wildcat quartet of Jenna Collins, Katie Wuebker, Jordyn Heitbrink and Paige Thobe was a season-best.

"Running that last leg was hard, you know, having her catch me at the end," Thobe said. "But she's a fast runner, and I have total respect for her."

"Honestly, I'm so happy with where we finished," Wuebker said. "We got a PR, so that was something to end on. Yeah, we wanted to get first, but I think what we did is something to be proud of."

Madeline Magoto, Cassie Francis, Julia Slonkosky and Maggie Meiring held the lead for most of the way in the 4x400 relay before McDonald and Archbold passed them up in the homestretch. McDonald won with a 3:57.58, Archbold was second (3:57.99) and Minster third (3:58.12). The third-place finish in the event vaulted the Wildcats past Buckeye Trail in the team standings by one point, 35-34.

"Very, very dramatic," coach Magoto said. "I go back to always saying the exact same thing, that you do everything right in practice, you bust your butt, you put it out there, and no matter what happens, you hold your head up high. We had some crazy-fast people sometimes running us down."

Madeline Magoto took home a bronze medal after having finished third in the 800. The freshman ran a time of 2:15.33. Finishing in front of her were Aquinas' Kalee Soehnlen (2:10.67) and Steubenville Catholic Central's Kara Kakascik (2:15.13).

"There was a lot of great competition," Madeline Magoto said. "I was hoping I could have another teammate here with me, but it all worked out. I was just trying to get as many points as I could for my team."

"She was smart. She ran on an outside lane and she was a little nervous about it, but she did exactly what she was supposed to do," coach Magoto said. "She stayed on the outside, got out, stayed on the outside again, and she just fought through the end. I was just so proud of her."

Minster's 4x100 relay team of Collins, Mya Francis, Thobe and Wuebker were awarded All-Ohio honors with a seventh-place finish in a time of 51.24 seconds. Norwayne won the title in 49.64.

Wildcat freshman Kaitlynn Albers was 13th in the 1,600 and senior Kaci Bornhorst took 10th in the 3,200. Former Coldwater runner Jenny Seas, now competing at Peebles, was state runner-up

Fort Recovery's Robby LeFevre was disappointed with his seventh-place finish in the 200-meter dash on Saturday. LeFevre, seeded fourth entering the day, finished in a time of 22.589 seconds, tying with Xavier Bailey of Brookfield. Cory-Rawson's Mason Warnimont won the title in a time of 22.05.

"I'm a little disappointed," LeFevre said. "I came in seeded fourth and I got seventh. I ran a lot slower than I did yesterday. I had a good day yesterday and I ran three events. Today I only ran one event and I did worse."

That doesn't change the fact that a lot of freshman track runners would trade places with LeFevre in a heartbeat. His goal is to keep coming back and improving over the next three years.

"I didn't expect to make it to state in the 200," he said. "That was a surprise. Im happy to be here and happy to get a medal.

"In the next three years, I really need to focus on consistency, working on my starting and running through everything and not getting passed. Everything builds into being a better runner. I hope to be here again next year."

Coldwater sophomore Savannah Seibert just missed out on an All-Ohio finish in the 300 hurdles, despite running a faster time than she did in the prelims. Seibert, a first-time state qualifier, took ninth place in a time of 46.46 seconds.