Schwieterman wins title in 300 hurdles

WESTERVILLE - Coldwater's Tyler Schwieterman led Midwest Athletic Conference athletes with a state championship in the 300-meter hurdles, as no one else outside of the Minster boys came in higher than third.

Schwieterman started fast and never let up, with only Shenandoah's Max McVicker trailing close enough behind to hope for a comeback. But Schwieterman had more than enough of a lead and ran a clean homestretch to secure the win.

"I started in (the 6th lane), so everyone was behind me," Schwieterman said. "I knew I had to lead the pack the whole way, and that's what I did."

Schwieterman's win marked the first state championship in any event for the Coldwater boys.

Coldwater's girls also turned in two trips to the podium, placing third in the 4x400 relay and fourth in the 4x200. Anchoring both races, Ava Giere overcame Toledo Christian's Grace Porter and held off runners from Archbold and Dayton Christian to take third in the 4x400.

In the 4x200, Giere battled Lehman Catholic's Kiersten Franklin in the final leg, overtaking Franklin in the final 50 feet for a fourth-place finish.

"I think I was fifth or sixth (coming in)," Giere said. "I just saw two girls in the corner of my eye and I knew I had to go."

Minster had two girls make the podium in the 800, as Taylor Roth and Maggie Hemmelgarn followed up their 1-2 finish in districts and regionals with third- and seventh-place finishes. Roth was stuck behind several other runners heading into the second lap before making her move.

"Right towards the end, we were obviously all getting tired at the same time," Roth said. "I think it was just trying to find where others weren't pushing and I could. So that happened around the last 300-200."

Minster also picked up a point in the girls' 4x400 relay, which came in eighth. Marion Local came in seventh.

The Flyers also scored four points on the boys side, coming in sixth in the 4x200 and eighth in the 4x400. Owen Rindler placed eighth in the 300 hurdles after posting the top time in preliminaries.

In the shot put, the Flyers' Molly Winner placed fourth and Fort Recovery's Whitley Rammel came in sixth. Both improved on their preliminary throws in the finals, with Winner's mark of 38-11 setting a new PR by an inch.

Winner beat out fifth-place finisher Makayla Sitzlar of Garaway by 1/2 inch, hitting her top mark in the first throw of the final set.

"That was pretty cool, because it started a good groove into the rest of the throws," Winner said.

With temperatures rising as the morning went on, Rammel felt she struggled even though she made the podium. After qualifying at 37-33/4, she threw 38-51/2 to open the finals and finished at that mark.

"Didn't have a great week of practice," she said. "Either way, I came in and it was state."

In the other field events, Fort Recovery freshman Mara Pearson snuck into the finals in ninth on her first jump of the day, which came in at 16-41/4. In the final set, she couldn't overtake anyone above her and fell outside the top eight.

Coldwater's Jenna Leugers also just missed the podium, finishing ninth in the pole vault with a jump of 10 feet. She couldn't clear the bar at 10-6, which the fifth- through eighth-place finishers reached. Margaretta's Kenna Stimmel defended her title from two years ago, breaking her own state meet record and finishing with a jump of 13-6.

At the Division II state meet in Pickerington, Celina's Amelia Lutz finished 12th in the shot put. Her top effort of 37-53/4 was short of the top nine to advance to the finals.

Versailles' Lexi Magoto finished second in the 400 with Ottawa-Glandorf's Alexa Fortman taking third. Tiger thrower Taran Tyo added another podium finish to his fifth-place showing in the shot put on Friday by taking fourth in the discus.