Area girls’ track and field athletes turned in outstanding performances Saturday at multiple OHSAA district meets, highlighted by district championships from Bellefontaine, Benjamin Logan, Indian Lake, Mechanicsburg, and Triad athletes across a variety of events. Bellefontaine paced the local programs with a third-place team finish in Division III at St. Paris, while Mechanicsburg finished fifth in Division V at Granville. Athletes from Urbana, Graham Local, Riverside, Calvary Christian, and other area schools also delivered strong performances as the top four finishers in each event advanced to regional competition.
OHSAA Division III District – St. Paris
Bellefontaine – 3rd Place (122 points)
Bellefontaine finished third overall behind dominant performances in the distance races, hurdles, relays, and throwing events.
Junior Grace Brown led the Chiefs with district championships in both the 1600 meters and 3200 meters, winning in 5:15.24 and 11:35.94 respectively. Brown also helped Bellefontaine qualify for regionals in two relay events.
Freshman Callie Shumaker had another outstanding postseason performance, sweeping the hurdle events with district titles in the 100 hurdles in 15.44 and the 300 hurdles in 46.51. She later anchored Bellefontaine’s district championship 4×400 relay team alongside Jillian Ullom, Grace Brown, and Layla Davis in 4:15.04.
Layla Davis also captured a district championship in the 400 meters in 1:02.42, while Jillian Ullom added a fourth-place regional-qualifying finish in the 400 and sixth-place finish in the 200 meters.
Bellefontaine qualified for regionals in two additional relay events. The 4×200 relay team of Jillian Ullom, Layla Davis, Sloan Stolly, and Callie Shumaker placed runner-up in 1:49.79, while the 4×800 relay team of Kaeleigh Flora, Hannah Wilson, Grace Brown, and Layla Davis also finished second in 10:29.32.
In the field events, Kelsie Snapp swept the throwing events with district championships in shot put at 42-6 and discus at 129-2. Ella Fultz also added scoring performances in both throws.
Additional contributions came from Sloan Stolly in both hurdle events, Kaeleigh Flora in the 800 meters and pole vault, Cece Reier in the distance races, and Cameo Greene, Gia Kuba, Ava Layman, and Brooklyne Kuntz in sprint and relay competition.
Benjamin Logan – 5th Place (92 points)
Benjamin Logan placed fifth overall behind strong sprinting, field-event scoring, and relay performances.
Abby Vance led the Raiders with a district championship in long jump at 16-4.75 while also qualifying for regionals with third-place finishes in the 100 meters and 200 meters.
The Raiders qualified for regionals in the 4×100 relay as Daylin Varner, Storm LeVan, Scarlett Elliott, and Abby Vance placed runner-up in 51.99.
Storm LeVan added another regional-qualifying finish by placing third in the 300 hurdles with a personal-best 50.42. Autumn Cline qualified for regionals with a runner-up finish in shot put, while Kaylee Hays and Kyla Godwin both advanced in discus by placing second and third, respectively.
Benjamin Logan also received regional-qualifying performances from Madi Oakes in the high jump and Scarlett Elliott in the pole vault.
Additional scoring contributions came from Lauren Kennedy in the 400 meters, Peyton Smith and Lucy Wenger in distance races and relays, Aleah France in relay competition, and Joplin Schneider in high jump.
Indian Lake – 10th Place (47 points)
Indian Lake finished 10th overall and was led by Addison Beck’s all-around performance in the sprints and field events.
Beck qualified for regionals in three events, placing runner-up in both the 100 meters and long jump while adding a fourth-place finish in the 200 meters. She also captured a district championship in high jump by clearing 5-0.
In the field events, Terra Beltz qualified for regionals in both throwing events by placing third in shot put and fourth in discus.
Indian Lake also received contributions from Mary Archer in the 400 meters and relay competition, Laura Metzger in the 3200 meters and 4×800 relay, and Piper Warnecke in the sprint events.
Additional performances came from Haley Metzger, Alicia Brielmaier, Allison Overmyer, Adriana Andrus, Diem Martin, Maddie Leiss-Breakey, Karsyn Newkirk, Cambrie Warnecke, Claire Tidwell, and Hailey Prater as the Lakers scored points across multiple events.
Urbana – 13th Place (40 points)
Urbana finished 13th overall behind strong relay performances and distance-event scoring.
Avari Jenkins led the Hillclimbers with a regional-qualifying third-place finish in the 400 meters in 1:02.70. Olivia MacKendrick also advanced individually with a runner-up finish in the 800 meters in 2:24.38.
Urbana qualified for regionals in the 4×400 relay as Bella Moxley, Brylee Spriggs, Avari Jenkins, and Olivia MacKendrick placed fourth in 4:22.77.
Crew performances also came in the distance races from Avery Smith, who placed sixth in the 1600 and eighth in the 3200, while Hannah Jacobs competed in both distance events.
In the field events, Chloe Coy placed eighth in shot put and ninth in discus. Avari Jenkins and Bella Moxley also added scoring finishes in long jump.
Additional contributions came from Brylee Spriggs in the 300 hurdles, Bella Moxley in the 400 meters, and multiple relay contributors throughout the meet.
Graham Local – 18th Place (27 points)
Graham Local finished 18th overall and was led by freshman Avonle Niece and distance runner Harriet Uhl.
Niece qualified for regionals with a fourth-place finish in the 100 hurdles in a personal-best 16.78 and later placed fifth in the 300 hurdles.
Harriet Uhl also advanced to regionals with a fourth-place finish in the 1600 meters and later added a sixth-place finish in the 3200.
Leila Konicki narrowly missed regional qualification in high jump, placing fifth, while Kaylin Hedrick added a sixth-place finish in pole vault.
Additional performances came from Maleah Erter and Riley McAlexander in relay events, Zackary Estep in field competition, and Adelaide Shearer, Ashley Ekey, Sabrina Konicki, Kendall Nichols, Lexus Suttles, and Kendalyn Zerkle across distance and field events.
OHSAA Division V District – Granville
Mechanicsburg – 5th Place (57 points)
Mechanicsburg finished fifth overall behind dominant distance performances and strong relay finishes.
Clair Rodgers led the Indians with district championships in both the 800 meters and 1600 meters, winning in 2:20.05 and 5:23.74 respectively. Isabelle Rodgers added runner-up finishes in both races, placing second in the 800 in 2:21.49 and second again in the 1600 in 5:24.20 as both sisters advanced to regionals.
Mechanicsburg also qualified for regionals in two relay events. The 4×400 relay team of Clair Rodgers, Isabelle Rodgers, Evelyn Shultz, and Ayla Picklesimon captured a district championship in 4:09.91. The same group later placed runner-up in the 4×800 relay in 9:59.07.
Additional contributions came from Ally Dingey with an eighth-place finish in the 3200 meters, Eleanor Rutan in the 100 hurdles, and Grace Shultz in the 300 hurdles.
In the field events, Lilly Mason competed in both shot put and discus, while Ava Sexton added a performance in discus and Adele Jean Matthaei represented the Indians in shot put.
OHSAA Division V District – Piqua
Triad – 12th Place (25 points)
Triad finished 12th overall and was led by standout hurdling performances from freshman Avery Eaton and junior Kimber Instine.
Eaton captured a district championship in the 100 hurdles with a personal-best time of 16.27 to advance to regionals. She also added a seventh-place finish in the 200 meters. Instine earned a regional berth with a fourth-place finish in the 100 hurdles and later added a fifth-place finish in high jump by clearing 4-10.
Aubrey Johnson contributed in the distance races, placing fifth in the 3200 meters with a personal-best time of 12:49.15 and ninth in the 1600 meters.
In the field events, Brooklynn Melidor placed ninth in long jump, while Melissa Graham added an 11th-place finish. Sarah Gaier and Kylie Vallette competed in shot put, while Gaier and Victoria Kimball also represented the Cardinals in discus.
Riverside – 21st Place (3 points)
Riverside finished 21st overall and was led by Kenna Johnson’s sixth-place finish in long jump with a leap of 15-1.
Valerie Knight competed in both throwing events, placing 14th in discus and 24th in shot put. Lily Zwiebel also contributed in discus, while Aairika Robinson competed in shot put.
Calvary Christian – 22nd Place (1 point)
Calvary Christian scored one team point and was led by Avery McCarty, who placed eighth in the 300 hurdles.
Abriely Krabill also competed in shot put for the Spartans.
