Audrey Spooner (top photo) clears the high jump bar Wednesday evening. In the bottom photo, Mason Lamb (center) races toward the finish line of the kids fun dash. The events were held during the inaugural Community Track and Field meet at Marysville High School. (Journal-Tribune photos by Tim Miller)
The weather was hot and sticky.
That, however, didn’t keep a number of track and field enthusiasts away from the Marysville High School facility on Wednesday.
The temperature hovered slightly above 90 and the humidity was thick as athletes of various ages participated during the inaugural Community Track Meet.
Competition began at approximately 5:30 p.m. with field events (high jump, long jump, pole vault, discus and shot put).
Running events began shortly after 6 p.m.
There was a kids (eight and under) 100-meter fun dash, followed by the 100 and 200 meter dashes, the 800 and 1600 meter runs and the 4 x 100 meter relay.
“We had 75 people pre-register and we allowed registration up until the start of the meet,” said Marysville High School head track and field coach Luke Sundermeier.
A total of 140 participated in various events
The field included far more participants than the coach had anticipated.
“I really thought we’d get maybe 40-to-50 people,” said Sundermeier. “140 is a fantastic turnout.”
The meet was an offshoot of the recent youth camp Sundermeier and his coaching staff conducted in June.
“This meet was a good way to keep interest going in our track and field program at the high school,” he said. “Along with some of our own athletes, we wanted to give younger children and members of the community an opportunity to compete on our track and field facility.”
Top athletes in each event were as follows (age group and gender included):
100 meter dash
-Francisco Ocheltree (8M), 17.96; Adam Maurer (9M), 17.69; Owen Soraghan (10M), 15.64; Drew Hughes (11M), 15.67; Braxton Smith (12M), 16.72;
-Rachel Bates ((9F), 19.31; Peyton Hensinger (10F), 18.67; Chloe Cordle (11F), 16.35; Elizabeth Bates (12F), 16.29.
200 meter dash
-Ocheltree (8M), 39.8; Bates (9F), 42.34; Maurer (9M), 39.36; Sullivan Stackhouse (10M), 38.25; Soraghan (10M), 36.67; Jayden Foust (11M), 37.5.
800 meter run
-Jack Flanagan (17M), 2:18.37; Levi Weithman (14M), 2:35.29; Tyler Heap (15M), 2:36.69; Georgia Bates (15F), 2:38.51; Evan Donahue (14M), 2:41.17; Weithman (13M), 2:42.47; Bailey Gross (14F), 2:42.72.
1600 meter run
-Flanagan (17M), 4:53.41; Donahue (14M), 4:59.85; T. Heap (15M), 5:14.64; Mack Weithman (13M), 5:31.82; Gross (14F), 5:33.71; Maggie Foust (13M), 5:46.80.
4×100 relay
-TJ Sahor, Drew Montgomery, Cameron Jones, Paolo Pena, first, 45.64; Mya Burrey, Brady Burrey, Shannon Cordle, Bates, second, 53.17; Kelsey Murphy, Malia Burkhardt, Aelyn Baumbarger, Monica Lamb, third, 53.82; Travis Lamb, Allen Lamb, Austin Lamb, Logan Shaw, third, 59.62.
High jump
-Joseph Bates, (15M), first, 5-6; Caleb Newland, (18M), second, 4-10; Audrey Spooner, (14F), third, 4-6; S. Cordle (15F), fourth, 4-4.
Pole vault
-Grayson Niemi and Elijah Newland (17-19M), tied for first, 10-6; Jackson Robbins, (16M), third, 9-0; Kaylor Niemi, (12M), fourth, 6-6.
Long jump
-Newland (19F), first, 16-6.5; S. Cordle (15F), second, 15-0.5; Justin Williams (37M), third, 14-1; Burrey (16F), 14-0.5; Gavin Hardy (13M), 13-3.5; Neil Niemi (46M), 13-11; Austin Lamb (12M), 13-3.
Shot put
-Lindy Howard (27F), 22-6; Laiyton Sanford (11F), 21-8; Terzis (8M), 21-3.5; Foust (11M), 17-3; Gabe Galvis (12M), 17-2.5.
Discus
-Gage Cromwell (14M), 69-10; Sanford (11F), 38-6; Galvis (12M), 36-6.
Those who participated in the kids dash were as follows:
Savannah Cook, William Davis, Emmett Martin, Henry Sundermeier, Addison Morton, AJ Field, Anna Bates, Abigail Mauer, Ephraim Bates; Maizy Sundermeier; Coby Dillahunt, Mason Lamb; Brody Ritchie;
Kathryn Morton, Nicholas Soraghan, Ethan Martin, Elena Price; Ava Maurer, Will Stiffler, John Bates, Benson Dillahunt, Jackson Morton, Rayne Morris, Kalla Niemi, Harmen Niemi, Roman Olchovy, Ocheltree and Stella Williams.