Jumping for joy

TROY - New Bremen's Macy Puthoff, Minster's Paige Thobe and Marion Local's Aubrey Thobe will represent the Midwest Athletic Conference in the long jump at next week's Division III state track and field meet.

The trio welcomes another chance to compete against each other and they hope for another strong showing by the MAC, too.

"We're hoping the MAC will take one, two and three," Puthoff said.

Puthoff won the title with a leap of 17-3. Tri-County North's Halley Thies prevented a top-three MAC finish on this day with a second-place finish (17-1 1/4). Paige Thobe was third (16-10 3/4) and Aubrey Thobe was one spot behind her second cousin in fourth (16-10 1/2).

"They're really good jumpers and they push me to be the best that I can," Puthoff said. "It obviously feels really good to win."

"Everyone has their days and I think all of us are very good jumpers who can have their best day whenever," said Paige Thobe, an All-Ohioan in the event last year.

"It's cool to just push each other, knowing we're all from the MAC," Aubrey Thobe said. "We are all capable of having our days, just like Paige said."

The MAC will see plenty of athletes competing next week at Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus as they punched their tickets on Friday at the regional meet in Troy.

The Minster girls repeated as team champions, the Fort Recovery boys had a record-setting day and many more came through with big performances.

The Wildcat women won their fifth straight regional title with a total of 85 points. Columbus Grove placed second (60 points) and Covington was third (54 points).

The Wildcats will now turn their eyes to winning a state title after having finished runner-up for the past three seasons.

"You want numbers that have the potential to do well," Minster coach Jessie Magoto said. "That's what we have. No matter what happens next week, they're going to lay it all out there like they always have."

Minster's Emma Watcke - the defending state champ in the 1,600-meter run - ran to victory in the 1,600 (5:01.59) and later returned to win the 3,200 (11:13.08).

"She's very strong physically and mentally," coach Magoto said. "She knew it was warm and that it was going to be tough. She was very smart about how she ran her races. When she knew she had to go, she went."

Kaitlynn Albers will join Watcke in the 1,600 after finishing fourth (5:08.76). Gwen Meiring was awaiting her postseason fate in the 3,200 after taking fifth (11:16.52).

Madeline Magoto (2:16.73) defeated teammate Cassie Francis (2:17.11) for the 800 title a week after the results had been the other way around at district.

Both have been top-three finishers at state before and they hope that trend continues next week.

"It's extremely competitive," Madeline Magoto said. "We don't really have a set game plan going in. We just go out and run."

"We're both very competitive," Francis said. "That's a good thing because we feed off each other. When we go into a race, neither of us are thinking we're going to pace. It's just go out, get each other as best as you can for that race."

Both runners declined to say who they thought would win between them next week.

"We don't really do that," said Madeline Magoto with a laugh. "We're really good friends. We're not out to get each other."

In the final event of the night, Francis and Magoto teamed with Lillian Hirschfeld and Courtney Prenger to place runner-up in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:02.82.

"We've been working hard all season and putting in a lot of time and we've got great bonds with each other and have fun," Hirschfeld said. "Getting to races like this, all that hard work just pays off."

Minster's Grace Butler will return to state after placing second in the pole vault with a best of 11-4.

The Fort Recovery boys may have had the best day in program history.   

Robby LeFevre won the 200 in a time of 22.11 seconds and was second in the 100 with a mark of 11.05. His 100 time would have easily bested last year's winner (Spencerville's Calvin Wilson, 11.21), but Waynesfield-Goshen's Tyler Eller ran a 10.99 to win on Friday.

The Indians set school records in the 4x200 and 4x100 relays. Riley Pearson, Jared Timmerman, Brayden Schoen and LeFevre were runners-up to Gamble Montessori in the 4x200 relay. Fort Recovery ran a time of 1:30.77 and Gamble finished in 1:30.73.

The group of Pearson, Jacob Acheson, Schoen and LeFevre came back to defeat Gamble Montessori in the 4x100 by a margin of 43.24 to 43.26.

"I'm almost certain this is the first time that Fort Recovery has won a relay at regionals, and I think it's incredible





to be a part of that," LeFevre said. "I think these guys definitely have a bright future ahead. We've got a lot of young guys on these relays."

"It's just incredible how much we PR'd today," Schoen said. "Being up there with Gamble Montessori, I mean, it's amazing. We came in second and then came back to get first."

"It was just a really cool experience to be here," Pearson said. "We were here last year just in the 4x100. We barely made it in. This year, we were here in two events and we did really well."

Fort Recovery's 4x400 team of Owen Moorman, Acheson, Jared Timmerman and Drew Muhlenkamp are also headed to state after winning in a time of 3:26.16. They improved upon their prelims time by nearly six seconds.

The Indians proudly wore their medals after receiving them and they hope to add another gold to their collection in Columbus.

"I'd like to see a win," LeFevre said.

"I think that's what we're all hoping for," Acheson added.
State-bound

Parkway's Sydney Crouch had to ice her knee after having aggravated it during the long jump.

That, however, didn't stop the senior from qualifying in the 400.

Crouch claimed the fourth spot in the race with a time of 58.02 seconds.

"I iced and drained and took some Ibuprofen, everything to numb the pain," Crouch said. "I just tried not to think about it. I just kept telling myself 'You have two more events, just don't worry about it.'

"It was crazy how I got here," said Crouch. "I was a little worn out just from the heat. I'm thankful that I got this far and that I will be moving on in one event."

Crouch had been sitting in seventh entering the final straightaway in the 400 before kicking it into high gear to win the last spot.

"Normally I kick it in the last 100," Crouch said. "I just told myself that I had nothing to lose, so I needed to go out strong. It paid off well."

Crouch also took fifth in the 200 later in the meet.

Fort Recovery's Cassidy Martin will join Crouch in the 400 at state after earning a wild card spot. She finished in a time of 59.14.

New Bremen's Julia Goettemoeller just missed out on a state trip in the 300 hurdles last year.

She used it as motivation.

Goettemoeller clinched her first state berth on Friday by finishing runner-up in a time of 46.23 seconds.

"Last year, I got fifth in the regional finals, so I was one place away from going to state," said Goettemoeller, who has dropped her time by more than three seconds since last year. "This is pretty huge for me. Going to state in volleyball, that pushes you even more. You want to go again."

The 4x400 team of Goettemoeller, Rachel Kremer, Puthoff and Paige Jones also advanced by finishing third (4:04.37).

Two other Cardinals are state bound as Celeste Kuck earned a second trip with a fourth-place finish in the pole vault (11-0) and Tess Lane took fourth in the 100 hurdles (16.34).

Marion Local's John Dirksen, who qualified for state in the discus on Wednesday, also advanced to state in the shot put on Friday. He finished third with a top toss of 49-11. Fellow Flyer John Tangeman qualified for state in the 400 by placing third place in a time of 50.40. The 4x400 team of Luke Schwieterman, Austin Kremer, Caleb Bruns and Tangeman also earned a trip to state with a runner-up result (3:26.19).
Just missing the cut …

Minster and New Bremen both missed qualifying in the 4x200 relay. Minster's team of Paige Thobe, Jessica Falk, Hirschfeld and Ivy Wolf placed sixth and New Bremen's group of Goettemoeller, Kremer, Puthoff and Jones took seventh.

The same group for Minster also placed sixth in the 4x100 relay.

Marion Local's Aubrey Thobe placed fifth in the 100 hurdles. New Bremen's Andrea Heitkamp placed 10th in the 1,600.

St. Henry's Alexis Heath placed 15th in the 800. St. Henry's Jessica Langenkamp placed ninth in the pole vault.

Minster's Max Prenger, a qualifier in the discus, missed out on an automatic qualification by one spot in the shot put with a best of 48-5 3/4.

Parkway's team of Reid Etzcorn, Brendan Etzcorn, Ryan Hesse and Liam Ferroggiaro placed seventh in the 4x100.

Three boys just missed out in the 1,600. Parkway's Matt Gaerke has a wild card chance in the 1,600 after placing fifth (4:35.32). Marion Local's Matt Tangeman placed ninth in the event and Minster's Luke Barga was 11th.

St. Henry's group of K.J. Jacobs, Blake Ontrop, Kevin Meier and Devin Huelskamp placed sixth in the 4x200 relay.

St. Henry's Huelskamp took ninth in the 800, Fort Recovery's Drew Muhlenkamp placed 12th and New Bremen's Kenny Simidinger was 15th.

St. Henry's Ontrop took ninth in the high jump, Minster's Ethan Smith was 12th and Marion's Ben Mescher tied for 13th.