Fast times at local high schools: The best track and field performances so far this season

After being shut out of individual state titles and winning only three relay state titles in 2023, Southwest Ohio track and field athletes are working hard to bring gold medals back to the region. Northern Kentucky schools will be looking to top the seven relay titles, seven individual titles and two team state titles won in 2023.

With the postseason about a month away, here's a look at some athletes that have out up extraordinary performances, as well as where they rank in comparison to the rest of the state.

All results are updated through April 17.

Record-breaking relays

Cooper: The Jaguars have set three relay school records this season. At the Boone County relays on March 22, Salah Farah, Landon LaCroix, Paul Van Laningham and Preston Winiger ran 10:57.75 in the distance medley relay (where each athlete runs a different distance). In the same meet, Carys Colgan, Reagan Johnson, Charli Moore and Chris Nowak ran a time of 50.88 seconds in the 4x100 meter relay to break a 12-year old school record. The boys 4x100 team of Eli Harrison, Cole Henry, Alex Prevatte and Cole Yancy ran 43.89 to win at Lafayette on April 6.

Kings: The quartet of Brennan Johnson, Paul Kelly, Nate Lyman and Vicent Santiago won the 4x100 meter relay at Lakota West with a school record time of 42.75 seconds.

Mason: Nora Moore, Emilia Capiello, Eden Orr and Abby Love perfected their baton exchanges to cross the 4x100 meter relay finish line in 47.47 seconds at the Coaches Classic at CHCA on April 5. They then bested that mark with a time of 47.36 seconds at Centerville. The Comets currently own the top time in Ohio for the event.

Moeller: Matthew Fogler, Micah Rice, Drew Robinson and Stosh Zielinski won the 4x200 meter relay at Colerain in 1:28.63, the top time in the state this season.

Notre Dame: Addi Frondorf, Julia Grace, Hannah Holocher and Ella Long won the 4x100 meter relay at St. Henry in 50.56 seconds to break the school's oldest track and field record.

Summit Country Day: The quartet of Vanessa Carrington, Mac Kramer, Bree Reder and Ama Karikari broke the school's 4x100 meter record when they crossed the finish line in 50.10 seconds at the Lakota West Invitational.

Taylor: Lindsey Bauer, Audrey Daily, Olivia Jackson and Madi Tedesco ran 52.80 to win the Division II/III 4x100 meter relay at Colerain. That time is also a new school record.

Vaulting into the clouds

On April 15, New Richmond's Grant Harrison not only bested his own school record, but also St. Henry's equipment. His final attempt of 15 feet, nine inches won the event easily but was also as high as the bar would go in Erlanger. It is also the best vault in Ohio this year. Don't be surprised if Harrison clears 16 feet in the near future. His indoor personal best is already at 16 feet, but the outdoor season can present more challenges (weather, equipment, facility conditions).

Campbell County's Abigale Bauer has set the school record twice this season and has won all four meets in which she has vaulted. On March 28 at West Clermont, she cleared a height of 10 feet, 10 inches. At the Campbell County high school championships, with first place in hand, she decided to go for her record again. It paid off as she cleared 11 feet.

Statewide top performers

Here's a list of athletes who have recorded top 10 results in the state this season. If they continue to post similar results, it could lead to state titles.

100 meters: Colerain senior Summer Swartwout is ranked third in Ohio with a 12.06 second result. La Salle's Koy Beasley crossed the finish line at Princeton in 10.55 seconds, a time that is good for second in Ohio.

Conner's Isabella Vonlehman (fifth, 12.22 seconds) and Simon Kenton's Alexis Howard (10th, 12.37 seconds) crack the list for Kentucky. Thanks to a personal best of 10.83 seconds, Covington Catholic senior Ethan Long is ranked third in the state while Beechwood junior Luke Erdman (11.00 seconds) is ranked eighth.

100-meter hurdles: Ross senior Myah Boze, who finished seventh at the 2023 state championships, currently has the fifth-fastest time in Ohio at 14.82 seconds.

Scott's Lacey Klare, who already set the school record of 15.79 last year, has this year's seventh-fastest time in Kentucky (15.93 seconds).

110-meter hurdles: St. Henry's James Noble is the only one to crack the top 10. He cleared the barriers in the Crusaders' home meet in 15.42 seconds to register the eighth-fastest time in the Bluegrass State.

200 meters: La Salle's Donivan Stinson ran a slightly wind-aided time of 21.98 seconds that is the seventh-fastest in Ohio. Swartwout is the fastest 200-meter runner in Ohio so far with a time of 24.52 seconds.

Vonlehman makes another appearance on the list as her time of 25.22 seconds is the sixth-fastest in Kentucky this year. Long (22.28 seconds) and Erdman (22.30 seconds) go to school two miles apart and could sprint to the other's school. They hold the eighth- and ninth-fastest times in Kentucky.

300-meter hurdles: Batavia's Marcus Hughbanks has the fastest time in Ohio this season after running a blistering 38.54 seconds at Batavia's home meet on April 15. Boze (eighth fastest, 45.71 seconds) joins a pair of Greater Miami Conference hurdlers in Lakota East's Katlyn Pham (fourth fastest, 45.51 seconds) and Princeton's Kelise Rabb (10th fastest, 46.63 seconds).

Dixie Heights's Emily Bruns runs under 50 seconds on a consistent basis. She has the fourth-fastest time in Kentucky at 47.89 seconds. St. Henry's Josh Brockman has the eighth-fastest time among Kentucky boys (41.16 seconds)

400 meters: Moeller's Micah Rice is a Division I football prospect and an outstanding sprinter. His time of 49.26 seconds is the sixth-fastest time in the state. Harrison's Natalie Kiefer holds the fourth-fastest time in Ohio at 57.72 seconds, which is also a school record.

Vonlehman makes her third appearance with a lap time of 57.86 seconds, which is currently tops in the Bluegrass. Beechwood's Maryah Counts isn't far behind at 1:00.12, 10th-fastest in Kentucky.

800 meters: Lebanon's Calvin Kilgallon is half second off the state lead as his time of 1:55.56 is third-fastest in Ohio this season.

There are three Ryle Raiders on the list in junior Allison Kopser (eighth fastest, 2:21.41), senior Tiger Bartlett (fourth fastest, 1:58.41) and Evan Smith (eighth fastest, 1:59.12). Bishop Brossart's Nathan Ruth is right behind Bartlett at 1:58.92.

East Central sophomore and distance specialist Callie Bentley has the ninth-fastest time in the Hoosier state, running 2:19.49.

1,600 meters: This is where Southwest Ohio's distance prowess really starts to shine. Mason's Max Liao (second fastest, 4:18.28), Turpin's Lucas Towne (third fastest, 4:18.39) and St. Xavier's Alex Bruns (sixth fastest, 4:22.02) all show up. Keifer entered into the top 10 when she set a school record of 5:08.38 at Princeton on April 6.

Bartlett makes his second appearance as his time of 4:19.39 is the fourth fastest in Kentucky. Conner's Joey Carroll is the seventh fastest in this distance with a time of 4:21.77. Campbell County's Olivia Holbrook owns the fifth-fastest time in Kentucky at 5:00.41 while Scott's Maddie Strong is the 10th-fastest metric miler at 5:05.93.

Bentley is also in the top 10 for her 5:06.55 mark at Lakota West on April 17.

3,200 meters: Towne is the lone boys Buckeye runner here. His time of 9:25.42 is good for fourth in the state. Lakota West boasts a pair of girls in sophomore Ava Shepard (fourth fastest, 11:08.51) and Evelyn Prodoehl (10th fastest, 11:15.58).

The Kentucky boys distance squad is something special. Covington Catholic junior Will Sheets (second fastest, 8:57.45) leads Bartlett (seventh fastest, 9:17.36), Cooper sophomore Paul Van Laningham (eighth fastest, 922.32) and Carroll (ninth fastest, 9:23.02) into the top 10. Beechwood's Lily Parke is the lone Kentucky girl to appear in the rankings; her mark of 11:13.99 is second-best in Kentucky.

East Central rounds out a trio of top 10 distance times with Jenna Weiler's 11:17.33 mark in the metric two-mile. She is currently ranked seventh in Indiana.

Long jump: Wyoming sophomore Olivia Hill's recent personal best of 18 feet, 4.5 inches is also the third-best mark in Ohio. Little Miami's Peyton Dews own the eighth-best jump at 17 feet, 10 inches.

Alexis Howard has the third-best distance in Kentucky at 17 feet, 10 inches. Bellevue freshman Aleigha Watson could contend for a Class 1A state title with her distance of 17 feet, 6.5 inches, which is the fifth-best in Kentucky. Dixie Heights senior Beni Mwamba, who is committed to play football at Chattanooga, has the third-best jump in Kentucky at 22 feet, two inches.

Triple jump (Kentucky only): Alexis Howard makes her third appearance in the rankings with a triple jump of 37 feet, 3.75 inches that is good for third in the Bluegrass. Evan Smith's speed from the 800 meters gets him down the runway just fine. His hop, skip and jump of 42 feet, 8.5 inches is the 10th-best in Kentucky.

High jump: Clinton-Massie's Jude Leahy snuck into the top 10 with a height of six feet, 2.5 inches. Coming off a second place finish at the 2023 state meet, Wyoming's Penelope Webb is currently tied for the highest jump in Ohio at five feet, six inches.

Holmes senior Ja Nia Johnson is one of six jumpers that are tied for the fourth-best height in Kentucky (five feet, two inches). Simon Kenton's Brayden Polly has the fifth-best flop in the state at six feet, five inches.

Pole vault: We've already mentioned that Grant Harrison leads the Buckeye state, but Loveland's Jason Deem is in the fourth spot at 15 feet, three inches and Lakota West's Jonah Dangel is tied for eighth with a personal best of 14 feet, seven inches.

Ryle's Ethan Southerland currently has the fourth best vault in Kentucky at 14 feet. Fresh off a runner-up finish at the state wrestling tournament, Highlands's Rilen Pinkston is tied for ninth at 12 feet, six inches. Campbell County's Abi Bauer has the third-best height in Kentucky.

Shot put: Madeira has a pair of throwers in the top 10 in sophomore Makayla Davenport (third, 42 feet, two inches) and senior Kennedy Cunningham (10th, 39 feet, nine inches)

Fresh off an indoor state title, Ryle's Viktoriya Emelianova has the third-best attempt in the state at 39 feet, 10 inches.

Discus: Cincinnati Christian's Josh Holder is just outside the top 10 shot put distances, but his discus throw of 173 feet, four inches is good for sixth in the state. Mercy McAuley junior Kristen Berwanger is fifth in the state on the girls side at 139 feet, eight inches.

St. Henry's Keanu Ziolkowski's mark of 155 feet, one inch is good for fourth in the boys rankings while senior Anna Guard has the best girls mark in the entire state at 124 feet, 11 inches. Campbell County's Hunter Wiseman has the eighth-best throw at 145 feet, nine inches. Emelianova has the third-farthest throw at 118 feet, five inches, Dixie Heights's Ari Carter is currently in seventh at 111 feet, 11 inches and Bishop Brossart's Ava Walters is currently in 10th at 110 feet, one inch.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The best Greater Cincinnati track and field performances this season