Olentangy Liberty’s Camryn Thompson competes in the girls high jump on the second and final day of the OHSAA state track and field championships Saturday at OSU.
Ben Stroup | The Gazette
Jaxson Eckert won a state title in the boys 800-meter run and Camryn Thompson finished third in the girls high jump to lead area standouts on the second and final day of the OHSAA Division I state track and field championships Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
On the track, Eckert edged Lancaster’s Colton Thress for the top spot in a race that couldn’t have been much closer. Eckert, who finished runner-up to Thress in the regional round, led by half a second midway through before beating the Gales’ standout by the slimmest of margins, 1:50.973-1:50.975, in a photo finish.
In the field, Thompson cleared each of her first four heights before missing three straight with the bar at 5-05 to nab her top-three showing in the high jump. Midview’s Alexis Weber (5-07) and Kings’ Zoe Lenney (5-06) were the only jumpers who went higher on the state’s biggest stage.
Olentangy Orange’s Teresa Christian finished tied with Thompson with a height of 5-04 while Delaware Hayes’ Kara Glesenkamp and Big Walnut’s Megan Stevens closed seventh and eighth with respective efforts of 5-04 and 5-03.
Others who saw stellar seasons come to an end Saturday in the field included Olentangy’s Amelia Smith, who finished sixth in the girls long jump (18-06) to earn a spot on the podium; Orange’s Cam Shively, who finished tied for 15th in the boys pole vault with a mark of 14-0; and Olentangy’s Berlin’s Stephanie Balthaser and Big Walnut’s Maci Ames, who finished 10th and 12th, respectively, in the girls pole vault (11-06).
Back on the track, meanwhile, Orange’s Brooke Chapman finished sixth in the girls 800 (2:13.13); Orange’s Nick Robinson was seventh in the boys 200 (21.61 seconds), the Pioneers’ Cassidy Shimp finished ninth in the girls 100-meter dash (12.31 seconds), Berlin’s Cooper Citro and Olentangy’s Hugh Jacobsmeyer finished 10th and 17th in the boys 800 (respective efforts of 1:54.23 and 1:58.12), and the Patriots’ Julia Bockenstette was ninth in the girls 1,600 (5:00.17).
Also, the Pioneers’ girls 4×200 relay quartet of Taylor Levy, Shimp, Josephine Davis and Christian combined to finish eighth (1:40.84) while the 4×100 team of Davis, Shimp, Ava Otey and Christian finished sixth (48.33 seconds).
Olentangy also picked up an all-state showing in a relay as Camden Spitzer, Olivia Heskett, Sydney Burrs and Smith joined forces to finish sixth in the girls 4×400 in 3:53.87.
