Bethel-Tate's Brooke Stiles competes in the shot put at the district track and field meet, held at New Richmond High School.

Bethel-Tate's Brooke Stiles competes in the shot put at the district track and field meet, held at New Richmond High School.

By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor

The New Richmond Lions boys’ track team continued a solid season at the district meet in New Richmond last week, tallying 102 points to win the district championship.
Two Lions, Grant Anderson and Jessup Durbin, placed sixth and eighth, respectively, in the 100 meter dash. Herwens Horgan placed second for New Richmond in the 200 meter event, qualifying for the regionals with a 23.53 second mark.

Felicity's Madison Winter placed second in the high jump at the Division III track and field district championships, held at New Richmond High School.

Teammate Corey Bozic placed second in the 400 meter dash, finishing in 52.31 seconds. Goshen’s Alex Koopmans placed fourth, roughly 2.5 seconds behind Bozic. Both runners advanced to the regional meet.
Ryan Wolf advanced to regionals in the 800 meter run by placing third, finishing in 2:01.76. Teammate Luke Glenn just missed qualifying in the 1600 meter run, finishing fifth in 4:46.37. Batavia’s Dylan Young did advance to regionals in the 1600, placing second.
Glenn placed third in the 3200 meter run, finishing in 10:27.02.
Goshen’s Matthew Hodge placed second in the 300 meter hurdles to advance to the regional tournament, crossing the line in 41.24 seconds.
Three Lion relay teams qualified for regionals. Horgan, Anderson, Bozic and Chandler Kinhalt won the 4×200 meter relay by .33 seconds. That same quartet placed second by .32 seconds in the 4×400 meter event. Mason Hance, Austin Ruhstaller, Glenn and Wolf placed fourth in the 4×800 meter run.
In the field events, Josh Dixion qualified for Regionals with a 5 foot, 10 inch effort in the high jump.
Josh Anderson cleared 12 feet in the pole vault to place third, with Bozic leaping 20 feet, 4.75 inches to place third in the long jump.
The Lions’ 102 team points won the district title, besting 11 other Division II teams. The Lions finished four points ahead of Taylor. Goshen tallied 61 points to place fourth.
In the girls’ events, New Richmond’s Aubree Story placed third in the 200 meter dash, finishing in 27.07 seconds. Teammate Caitie Beihle placed second in the 800 meter run, finishing in 2:27.08. Jenna Burns placed second in the 1600 meter run, crossing the line in 5:14.27, .13 seconds behind Mariemont’s Corinne Fanta for first place. Burns won the 3200 meter run, finishing roughly 45 seconds faster than the runner-up.
In the field events, Bethel-Tate’s Reagan Leonard placed fourth in the high jump, clearing 4 feet, 10 inches. New Richmond’s Ryan Allen cleared 9 feet in the pole vault to place second, and teammate Jocelyn Nehls won the long jump with a 15 foot, 8 inch leap.
The Lady Lions placed second overall in the district meet, totaling 67 points. Indian Hill won the title with 84.
Division II was split into two sections for the boys’ events. New Richmond, Goshen and Batavia were in section two, with Bethel-Tate and Clermont Northeastern in section one.
The Tigers finished in ninth place, one point ahead of the Rockets.
Jackson Coates paced Bethel-Tate in the 800 meter run, placing second to Badin’s Nick Rand. Coates placed third in the 1600 meter run, finishing in 4:29.85 seconds.
Noah Rees qualified for the regional meet with his third-place finish in the pole vault. Rees cleared 10 feet, while the two finishers ahead of him both cleared the 11 foot mark.
CNE’s Layne Todd placed third in the shot put to advance to regionals. Todd’s toss went 45 feet, 2.5 inches, roughly three feet less than Aiken’s Kesean Gamble.
In Division I, Milford’s Andrea Armstrong placed second in the 100 meter dash, finishing in 12.58 seconds. Amelia’s Maddie Walker placed fourth in the 1600 meter run, crossing the line in 4:58.12. Walker also advanced to regionals in the 3200 meter run with a third-place finish. Teammate Morgan Walsh placed second in the 800 meter run, finishing less than a second behind Mason’s Lily Hallum.
Milford’s 4×100 meter relay team placed fourth to qualify for the regional meet. Lauryn Knarr, Madison Chittwood, Emma Netzel and Armstrong combined to cross the line in 51.36 seconds.
Finally, in Division III, Williamsburg’s Camille McManis became the first local to punch their regional tournament ticket by placing fourth in the 400 meter run. Teammate Hope Schaljo won the 800 meter run, finishing in 2:31.91, less than a second ahead of Summit Country Day’s Caroline Schmerge.
Felicity’s Kaitlyn Sharp placed third in the 3200 meter run to advance to regionals, finishing in 13:17.30.
Two Lady Wildcats, Lauren Ellis and Hailey Beesten, advanced to regionals by placing first and third, respectively, in the 100 meter hurdles. Ellis won the event by finishing in 17.70 seconds, .7 seconds ahead of Reading’s Hope Nelson.
Beesten was one of the four Lady Wildcats who advanced to regionals in the 4×200 meter relay. Emily Brown, Schaljo and McManis rounded out the quartet, who placed fourth with a time of 1:55.44.
Felicity’s 4×800 meter relay team advanced to regionals with a third place finish in 11:37.27. Madison Baird, Madison Winter, Ellie Hoog and Sharp made up the four runners on that team.
In the field events, Emery Kellerman and McManis both earned trips to regionals in the high jump for Williamsburg. Both cleared 4 feet, 10 inches to place third and fourth, respectively.
Christen Abrams won the pole vault, clearing 8 feet for the Lady Wildcats. Teammate Lily Williford placed fourth.
Locals dominated the long jump, with Beesten’s 15 foot, 5.25 inch leap taking first place. Winter’s 15 foot, 4 inch jump was good for second place, nearly one foot longer than Baird’s 14 foot, 4.75 inch mark.
Two Lady Wildcats advanced in the shot put and the discus.. Aubrey Siekbert won the shot put with a 34 foot, 4.75 inch throw. Willow Kenneda placed second with a 31 foot, 2.25 inch toss.
In the discus, Siekbert’s 109 foot ,3 inch throw was good for first place. Kenneda’s 101 feet, 4 inch toss placed her second.
On the boys’s side, Felicity’s Austin Perry placed second in the 400 meter dash, finishing in 52.53 seconds. Williamsburg’s K.C. Jones won the 800 meter run, finishing in 2:02.28. Felicity’s Nathan Stumpf placed first in the 110 meter hurdles, finishing in 16.82 seconds to advance to regionals. Williamsburg’s Wyatt Lefker finished fourth, 1.5 seconds behind Stumpf.
Lefker bested Stumpf in the 300 meter hurdles, placing second with a 43.34 second time. Stumpf placed third, .5 seconds behind Lefker. Williamsburg’s Brenden Madigan placed fourth, finishing in 45.40 seconds.
Lefker dominated the pole vault, clearing 14 feet, 8 inches. No other competitor cleared the 10 foot mark.
Teammate Blake Miller posted a 20 foot, 2 inch leap in the long jump, good for third place. Jake Patterson’s 36 foot, .5 inch throw in the shot put placed him third, and his 97 foot, 10 inch throw in the discus was good for a fourth-place finish.
The athletes that qualified for the regional tournaments now set their sights on the state meet. The Division I regionals are hosted in Dayton at Welcome Stadium beginning on Wednesday, May 24 at 5 p.m. The meet continues at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 26.
Division II is hosted by Piqua High School beginning Thursday, May 25 at 5 p.m. and continuing on Saturday, May 27 at 11 a.m. Troy High School hosts the Division III meet beginning at 4 p.m. on May 24. The meet continues at 5 p.m. May 26.