MOUNT VERNON — Ten local high school athletes, including nine boys, will be traveling to Columbus this weekend to compete in the OHSAA Track & Field State Championships.
The meet will be held on Friday and Saturday at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Division I
Mount Vernon junior Sam Bethea will compete in the high jump on Saturday at 3 p.m. His qualifying mark of 6’6 places him in a four-way tie for third place out of the 16 qualifiers. The highest qualifying mark was 6’8.
Division III
Centerburg senior Tyler Boales will race in the 100- and 200-meter preliminaries on Friday at 10:25 a.m. and 11:50 a.m., respectively. Nine of the 18 qualifying runners advance to the final race on Saturday, which includes the top two in each heat and then the five fastest times after that.
Centerburg junior Sarah Thatcher will run in the 3,200-meter final on Saturday at 11:25 a.m.
Last year, the Centerburg boys 4×200-meter relay team (which included Boales) finished eighth at state. The boys 4×100-meter relay team qualified but didn’t make it past prelims.
East Knox senior Jake Gibson will compete in the shot put and discus throw finals on Friday at 1 and 4 p.m., respectively. Gibson finished 16th in the shot put last year.
Three of Fredericktown’s boys relay teams will compete in state prelim races on Friday. The 4×200-meter relay team, composed of junior Chance Campbell, senior Alex Hamilton, senior Zayde Zolman and senior Cole Davis, will race on Friday at 10:40 a.m. The 4×100-meter relay team, which includes Zolman, Hamilton, Davis and sophomore Colton Riel, will then turn around and race in the 4×100-meter dash at 10:55 a.m.
The Fredericktown boys 4×400-meter relay team of Hamilton, Zolman, Davis and junior Paden Spencer will compete in prelims on Friday at 12:10 p.m. Spencer will also race in the 800-meter final on Saturday at 10:55 a.m. Last year, the Fredericktown boys 4×100 and 4×200-meter relay teams qualified for the state meet but didn’t make it past prelims.
To see the full schedule of events for this weekend’s state meet, click here.
