It was a good day to be a distance runner or high jumper from the Olentangy area as not one, not two, not three, but four area standouts nabbed individual state titles on the second day of the Division I state track and field championship meet Saturday at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium.
In the field, Olentangy’s Chayla Rankin took top honors in the girls high jump while Olentangy Liberty’s Nate Hollingsworth won on the boys’ side.
After successfully clearing the first three heights on her first attempt, Rankin passed at 5-5 before soaring over 5-6 and 5-7 without a problem — becoming the only jumper to do so. She then cleared 5-8 to put the finishing touches on the first-place finish.
Hollingsworth, meanwhile, was one of two jumpers left at 6-11. He cleared the hight on his first attempt while Akron Garfield’s Markeise Smith missed on all three of his. Olentangy Orange’s Levi Davis also earned a top-three showing in the event, finishing third with an effort of 6-7.
On the track, Orange’s Brooke Chapman won a state title in the girls 1,600 while Liberty’s Elena Aldrink won the 3,200. Chapman, just a sophomore, edged Westlake senior Sarah Peer by a fraction of a second, crossing the finish line in 4:55.08. Aldrink, also a sophomore, held off Chardon senior Rae Kawalec by a couple seconds to win in 10:35.34.
Olentangy’s CJ Sanna and Hugh Jacobsmeyer and Orange’s Matthew Schroff and Nick Robinson also earned top-three finishes. Sanna finished second in the boys discus (174-9), Jacobsmeyer was second in the boys 800 (1:52.39), Schroff was third in the boys 1,600 (4:10.53) and Robinson closed third in the boys 200 (21.96 seconds).
Other standouts included Orange’s Mairin O’Brien, who was sixth in the girls 1,600 (5:05.04); the Pioneers’ Saketh Rudraraju, who was sixth in the boys 3,200 (9:09.96); Liberty’s Lila Bendick, who was sixth in the girls long jump (17-8); Olentangy Berlin’s Miles King, who was sixth in the boys 300 hurdles (38.06 seconds); Delaware Hayes’ Kara Glesenkamp, who finished seventh in the girls high jump (5-5); and the Pacers’ Chaz Sakala, who was sixth in the boys 200 (22.34 seconds) and seventh in the 100-meter dash (11.08 seconds).
Orange’s boys 4×100 relay team of Kaiden Kraus, Kobe Sharpe, Tom Leskovich and Robinson also earned a spot on the podium, finishing sixth in 42.31 seconds. So did Olentangy’s boys 4×400 quartet of Jason Rettinger, Parker Reed, Jacobsmeyer and Zach Griffith, which finished eighth in 3:24.43.
On Friday’s opening day, Orang’s girls 4×800 relay team and Olentangy’s boys 4×800 relay team both earned fourth-place finishes.
O’Brien, Maddie Sharp, Clea Case and Chapman helped the Pioneers finish in 9:13.69 while Rettinger, Roman Corbett, Ty Munroe and Jacobsmeyer combined to finish in 7:42.46.
In Division II action, Buckeye Valley’s girls 4×100 relay team finished fourth in the state as Avelina Wagner, Elly Olney, Carlie Osborne and Grace Daily teamed up to finish in 48.70 seconds.
