The Olentangy Orange boys track and field team won its second straight district championship over the weekend, piling up 133 points to take top honors at the Division I, District 3 championship Saturday at Hilliard Darby High School.
The Pioneers did it with balance, securing first-place points in all four relays while qualifying at least one runner to regionals in each and every running event.
Brandon Ransom, Kevin Acheampong, Joel Sarpong and Jaeschal Acheampong teamed up to take top honors in the 4×100, winning in 43.23 seconds.
Max Stewart replaced Ransom in the 4×200, but the result was the same: a win, this time in 1:29.85.
Jaeschal Acheampong joined forces with Christian Wright, Alex Kenish and Tyler King to win the 4×400 relay in 3:22.05 and Andrew Schroff, Tommy Wintering, Kenish and King won the 4×800 relay in 7:49.64.
King and Wintering also won individual titles, crossing the finish line first in the 800 and 3,200 in respective times of 1:56.26 and 9:44.45.
Big Walnut and Olentangy Liberty were also in action. Big Walnut, boosted by a pair of multi-event winners, finished second with 86.5 points while Liberty closed fifth with 65.5.
Tim Rumas led Big Walnut on the track, winning individual district titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in respective times of 11.19 and 22.46 seconds. Liberty’s Andrew Bendick was a close second in both races.
Brandon Mosher, meanwhile, powered the Golden Eagles in the field. The senior won the discus with a throw of 168-09 and took top honors in the shot put with a heave of 55-08.
Luke Bendick was the Patriots’ lone district champ, winning the pole vault by clearing 14-04.
In girls’ action, Olentangy Liberty finished second with 103 points while Olentangy Orange closed fourth with 87.
Local winners included the Pioneers’ Brenda Agyekum in the 100 (12.37 seconds) and Grace Frye in the 300 hurdles (45.26 seconds) and discus (134-07); and the Patriots’ Carrie Lawal in the 200 (26.02 seconds), Gracie Sprankle in the 3,200 (10:46.09) and Sydney Englehart in the long jump (17-01.75).
Orange also won the 4×100 relay as Agyekum, Frye, Maya Patterson and Mackenzie Blendick combined to finish in 47.93 seconds.
Division I, District 1 championship
Kaley Rammelsberg won a district title in the high jump and the 4×800 relay team nabbed runner-up honors as the Big Walnut girls track and field team finished sixth with 42.5 points at the Division I, District 1 championship Saturday at Hilliard Darby.
Rammelsberg won the high jump by clearing 5-02 while the 4×800 quartet of Kaitlin Meade, Colbi Borland, Adelee Gartner and Becca Bogantz finished in 9:44.62 to qualify for the upcoming regional showcase and break a 23 year old school record.
Division I, District 2 championship
Olentangy’s girls finished fourth with 67.5 points and Hayes’ closed fifth with 56 at Saturday’s Division I, District 2 championship at Hilliard Darby.
Hayes’ Torie Young finished second in the 200 (26.89 seconds) and 400 (56.97 seconds) to lead the Pacers.
Siobhan Szerencsits boosted the Braves, winning a district title in the pole vault by clearing 12-05. Hayes’ Madeline Hayes finished second in the event with an effort of 10-06.
Holly Nation was also solid for Olentangy. She finished tied for first in the high jump with an effort of 5-05, but settled for second place after losing the tiebreaker.
Olentangy’s boys finished sixth with 47.5 points while Delaware Hayes’ boys finished 11th with 22.
The Pacers’ Todd Toney and Braves’ Zach Shiblaq had the best finishes among area athletes. Toney closed second in the discus with a toss of 157-11 while Shiblaq was second in the pole vault with an effort of 13-04.
Division II, District 1 championship
The Buckeye Valley girls and boys track and field teams nabbed runner-up honors at Saturday’s Division II, District 1 championship at Westerville South.
The girls finished with 114 points while the boys had 101.
Zach Kreft led the BV boys, winning district titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs with respective efforts of 4:21.22 and 9:50.65.
Joey Verdes won a pair of district titles as well, winning the jumping events with efforts of 6-0 (high jump) and 21-02.25 (long jump), while the 4×800 relay quartet of Bill Daily, Charlie Daily, Gavin Shearer and Kreft teamed up to finish first in 8:16.82.
Nina Hilt and Chloe Dawson led the Baron girls. Hilt won the 100- and 300-meter hurdles in respective times of 16.07 and 48.16 seconds while Dawson secured titles in the 1,600 and 3,200 with respective times of 5:23.75 and 11:55.43.
Division III, District 2 championship
The Delaware Christian girls track and field team finished eighth with 28 points in the Division III, District 2 championship Saturday at Watkins Memorial.
Ten of those points came courtesy of sophomore Lyssi Snouffer, who won a district title in the high jump with an effort of 5-04.
