By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor
Ten total athletes representing eight different Clermont County schools qualified for the state track and field tournament later this week by posting solid performances at their respective regional meets.
In Division I, athletes traveled to Dayton’s Welcome Stadium for their competition.
Milford freshman Andrea Armstrong was the first local to compete at the meet. Armstrong placed 11th the preliminary round of the girls’ 100-meter dash, missing the cutoff for the finals by .07 seconds.
Amelia freshman Maddie Walker became the first Clermont County athlete this season to qualify for state, posting a time of 5:03.36 to advance in the girls’ 1600-meter run. Teammate Maria Cardarelli narrowly missed a top-eight finish in the girls’ 800-meter run, finishing in 2:22.50. St. Ursula’s Maggie Breitenstein placed eighth, edging Cardarelli by 1.42 seconds.
A quartet of Lady Eagles placed eighth in the preliminary round of the 4×100 meter relay, earning a trip to the finals. Armstrong was joined by sophomore Emma Netzel and juniors Lauryn Knarr and Lindsey Lawsen to finish the event in 49.99 seconds, good for seventh place. Withrow won the event, setting a new record with a time of 46.95 seconds.
In the field events, Milford’s Clare Carthueser will be making a return trip to state after tossing the discus 128 feet, 9 inches, good for a second-place finish.
Glen Este’s Austin Snyder will advance to state in two meets. Snyder placed fourth in the discus with a throw of 156 feet, 10 inches and second in the shot put with a 52-foot-10-inch heave. Teammate Jacob Hamilton narrowly missed qualifying in the pole vault, placing fifth after clearing 14 feet, 8 inches.
In Division II action, New Richmond saw both the girls and boys 4×800-meter relay teams come up just short. The girls’ team placed 12th, posting a time of 10:19.52 which was roughly 45 seconds slower than the pace set by Alter. On the boys’ side, the Lions finished with a time of 9:17.53, good for 16th.
Goshen’s Aaron Koch advanced to the finals of the boys’ 100-meter hurdles, finishing in eighth place, 1.4 seconds behind the race winner and .44 seconds away from qualifying for the state meet.
Koch also ran in the finals of the 300-meter hurdles, finishing sixth with a time of 41.38 seconds, four-tenths of a second behind the fourth-place finisher.
Batavia’s Leona Burton Rojas competed in three events at the regional meet. She placed eighth in the preliminary round of the girls’ 100-meter dash, then placed seventh in the finals. Her time of 13.36 seconds was .88 seconds behind Kenton Ridge junior Jamari McDavid, who won the event.
In her second event, Burton Rojas placed eighth in both the preliminary and final round of the girls’ 200-meter dash.
Another Bulldog, Dylan Young, placed 12th in the boys’ 1600-meter run, posting a time of 4:40.64.He missed qualifying for the state meet by roughly eight seconds.
Bethel-Tate senior Evan Idling just missed advancing to the finals of the 400-meter dash, posting a time of 51.83 seconds that left him one-tenth of a second away from an eighth-place finish in the preliminary round.
New Richmond freshman Caitie Beihle finished 11th in the girls’ 3200 meter run, while Bethel-Tate sophomore Jackson Coates placed 11th in the boys’ event.
In the field events, Goshen’s Andrew Arnold led all locals with a sixth-place finish in the discus. Arnold posted a mark of 138 feet, 8 inches, besting Clermont Northeastern’s Logan Fischback by just under four feet. New Richmond junior P.J. Simmons placed 13th with a throw of 120 feet, 3 inches.
A pair of Clermont County athletes qualified for state in the girls’ high jump. Jenna Mummert will represent CNE in Columbus after winning the event by clearing 5 feet, 3 inches. New Richmond’s Aubree Story placed fourth, clearing the 5-foot-1-inch mark.
Goshen’s Jacob Meader advanced to state in the boys’ high jump with a second-place effort.
Burton Rojas placed second in the girls’ long jump, punching her ticket to Columbus. New Richmond senior Erik Anderson qualified for the state pole vault competition by placing third, clearing 13 feet, 4 inches.
The Division III meet was held at Troy High School. Williamsburg’s Hope Schaljo placed 12th in the girls’ 800-meter run, just over 12 seconds away from a state berth. Teammate Laura Cadwallader qualified for the finals in the girls’ 100-meter hurdles after placing eighth in the preliminary round.
Cadwallader improved on her performance in the finals, finishing seventh. She also competed in the girls 300-meter hurdles, finishing in 53.05 seconds, good for 13th place.
Williamsburg’s KC Jones will be one of two Clermont County athletes competing at state in Division III. Jones placed third in the boys’ 3200-meter run, finishing in 9:46.67, or nine seconds behind Ottoville sophomore Brendan Siefker.
The other competitor in Columbus will be Jones’ teammate, Williamsburg sophomore Wyatt Lefker. Lefker placed third in the pole vault, earning him a trip to the state tournament.
The state competition will be held on June 3 and June 4 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of the Ohio State University in Columbus. Events begin at 9:30 a.m.