Friday, May 6th, 2022
Mercer County Knights of Columbus Track and Field Meet
Rain dampens County meet
Three events scratched; Marion boys win, Celina and Coldwater girls split
By Tom Haines
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
From left, Coldwater's Ethan Elander, Parkway's Caden Slusher, St. Henry's Chase Litmer, Celina's Layndin Alidou, Coldwater's Jack Riethman, Marion Local's Peyton Otte and Peyton Moeller and St. Henry's Hayden Harrod cross the finish line in the 100-meter dash in the Knights of Columbus Mercer County Track Invitational at Cavalier Stadium on Thursday. Otte beat out Moeller and Litmer for first place with a time of 11.41.
COLDWATER - The Marion Local boys team swept to an anticipated win in the Knights of Columbus Mercer County Track Invitational, while the cancellation of two field events helped bring Celina's girls back to the pack.
Coldwater and Celina split the girls' title with 125 points apiece as steady rain washed out the girls high jump and pole vault and the boys long jump while bringing times down across the board.
"I don't know how mentally prepared we were for the rain," Celina coach Eric Wagner said. "I noticed there was a little bit of defeat before we even started, so we'll have to address that with the kids …some people strive when its bad weather, in the rain. Other people, they fold. The majority of our people tonight, they embraced it, and it's one of those learning things."
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Tate Hess (left) prepares for the handoff from Nate Buschur in the 4x200 relay in the Knights of Columbus Mercer County Track Invitational at Cavalier Stadium on Thursday.
Marion, which came into the day with three wins under its belt, got a challenge to open the day as Nate Buschur and Tate Hess opened up a lead on St. Henry before Harrison Wendel blazed down the homestretch of the 4x200 relay to close the gap with the Flyers' Peyton Otte. Otte held on by a hair and Marion took first by 1/100th of a second.
"Nate Buschur, he won the pole vault on Tuesday, then was third in the 200 today, and his leg of the 4x200 was why we were able to fend off St. Henry," Marion coach Kyle Grabowski said. "He really did a great job for us."
Otte added a win of his own in the 100 dash, while Aaron Broering led Noah Budde and Wesley Schoen in a 1-2-4 finish in the 800.
St. Henry continued to push Marion's relays, with a slight awkwardness in the Redskins' final handoff of the 4x100 enough to protect the Flyers' win before Schoen overcame St. Henry's Ryan Wehrley in the final leg of the 4x400 to complete the sweep.
"St. Henry's been developing all year," Grabowski said. "They've always been there, kind of in our periphery, and today they decided to really dial it up and push us."
Coldwater got a pair of wins from defending state champ Tyler Schwieterman, who left the field in the dust in the hurdles events. Schwieterman beat Celina's Jon Lutz in the 110 hurdles before ripping off a 3 1/2-second win in the 300 hurdles, beating second-place Landon Arling of Marion Local 41.20-44.77.
"He actually ran a way better time than we were expecting, and in the 110s, he ran better there," Coldwater coach Mark Bruns said. "He's really starting to peak at the right time. We've really been working at his technique for the hurdles, and that's really taking off. He's looking at records, that's what he's looking at now."
Layndin Alidou gave the Celina boys their one win of the day in the 400. St. Henry got wins from Wendel in the 200 and Brandon Keller in the discus.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Ava Giere crosses the finish line to win the 4x200 relay for the Cavaliers in the Knights of Columbus Mercer County Track Invitational at Cavalier Stadium on Thursday.
On the girls side, Coldwater took first in the sprint relays and picked up wins from Izzy Zahn in the 200 and Ava Giere in the 400. Haley Alig ran neck-and-neck with Celina ace Kaylie Dameron for the first three laps of the 1,600 before pulling away, then turned in another win in the 800.
"She's really dropping time," Bruns said of Alig. "It is a packed 1,600 at state, and she's getting the times she needs to. There's still room to grow, but she's training and actually resting a little bit more."
Kaylie Dameron held off her sister Joscelyn amid heavy rain in the 3,200 to give the Celina girls their only win of the day, while the two Damerons placed second and third in the 1,600 to pick up more points. Emily Schwieterman added a second-place finish in the 300 hurdles.
"A couple of the girls said they couldn't even see the hurdles coming up," Wagner said. "But whatever they give you, you just got to embrace it. It shows Kaylie's character too. She fought, she battled. She's a tough competitor."
Marion Local picked up three wins on the girls side as Sammy Hoelscher swept the hurdles and Molly Winner took first in shot put.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Molly Winner competes in the shot put in the Knights of Columbus Mercer County Track Invitational at Cavalier Stadium on Thursday.
The two cancelled field events cost the Celina girls chances to add points, and all the Cavaliers needed in the 4x400 to force a tie was a first-place finish and a fourth-place finish for the Bulldogs. Celina came in fourth, but Coldwater stole the show, breaking a 33-year-old meet record with a blistering time of 4:09.59 and a nine-second win.
"They're just tough-nosed girls," Bruns said. "They're clicking at the right time. They just have a really special bond: they all went to state last year together, they're all really good friends, and they don't want to let each other down. That goes a long way in an event like that."
Fort Recovery, behind 100 dash winner Abbie Francis, made its own run in the 4x400, with Francis overtaking Marion Local's Maddie Keller in the final leg to secure second. Francis was also part of the Indians' first-place 4x100 relay.
The Indians' undermanned boys team also got wins from Trevor Heitkamp in the 1,600 and 3,200. In the 3,200, Heitkamp entered the second mile with a five-second lead over Marion's Troy Stucke and stretched it to 18 seconds by the start of the final lap, finishing with a time of 10:14.01.
"His goal is to get under 10, and he absolutely should do that this year," Fort Recovery coach Christy Diller said. "He soloed that, which is really hard to do, and he works really hard on the second half of that race. He looked amazing tonight, and I'm really proud of his effort. Obviously, he's carrying us this year."
Parkway got three second-place finishes, with Morgan Hunter placing second in the girls 100 dash, Trevor Stearns second in the boys 400 and Blake Strickler the runner-up in the boys 1,600.
Marion Local swept the middle school meet, beating Coldwater 179-102 on the boys side and 118-108 on the girls side. Celina got three wins from Parker Bertke (100, 200 and shot put) and two from Brinley Korte (800 and 1,600), while Marion Local's Alea Pohlman won the girls 100 and 200, Coldwater's Caleb Schroer won the 400 and 800 and St. Henry's Kenseth Hoying swept the boys hurdles events.
At the varsity level, Celina looks ahead to the Western Buckeye League championships starting Wednesday at Van Wert, while the Midwest Athletic Conference schools begin their conference meet on Tuesday at Memorial Field in Minster.
