Graduating with (regional) honors: Weaver’s big weekend includes title on her home oval
LEXINGTON — Friday night’s commencement exercises at Lexington High School were the highlight of Elyana Weaver’s Memorial Day weekend.
For less than 24 hours.
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On Saturday afternoon, she was back inside the football stadium, where she walked with the rest of the Class of 2024 at graduation ceremonies. Gone was the cap and gown, replaced by a gleaming medal around her neck that came with winning a Division II regional track and field championship in the 800-meter run.
Not only was Weaver one of just two area girls to win an individual event in the two-day meet, she avenged last week’s runner-up finish to Huron’s Jaydn Towns at districts.
After getting nipped by .06 in that meet at Ontario, Weaver won on her home oval by a 2:14.83 to 2:16.27 margin to carry some huge momentum into next week’s state meet in Dayton.
“I’m a senior, but I’m still learning that every race is different,” Weaver said. “I trust in my training. I trust in my coach (distance crew chief Denise Benson). I trust in God. That’s all I can do. Having faith over fear gets me through every race.”
She was also grateful – yes, grateful – for a rival like Towns, even if she did deny Weaver a district crown.
“Jaydn’s a beast,” Weaver said. “She always has the (1600) before the 8. Really, since last season she’s someone I can count on having fun racing with. It’s really a blessing. I can’t thank her enough. Without her, I wouldn’t have dropped as much time as I have.”
In Thursday’s first session of the meet, Weaver ran on the state-bound 4x800 relay with sophomores Brailey Slone and Katya Prykhodko and junior Julia Wyant. They cranked out a third-place time of 9:39.10.
That finish enabled Prykhodko to hit a rare trifecta, having already competed at the state level during the school year in cross country and swimming.
Weaver admitted that the swirl of activity as her high school career winds down has been challenging.
“Some days are a little bit more emotional than others, being a senior,” she said. “The school year’s been kind of stressful with college stuff (she’s an Ohio University commit). But just being able to have fun with sports means a lot because my teammates and coaches and family and friends are always there for me.”
It’s hard to remember sometimes that teammate Emily Thomas is not a senior like Weaver. She carries herself like one, and she certainly impacts the team like one. She even runs the 300-meter hurdles like a four-year letterwinner.
You’d never know this is Thomas’ first season as a hurdler. Especially after the Lex junior broke Lex’s 40-year-old record in the 300 hurdles with Saturday’s second-place time of 45.18. The old record of 45.7 belonged to Tracy Au.
One of the first to congratulate Thomas was track announcer Jay Schmidt, who happened to be doing his job from the infield. He was Au’s head coach when she set the record in 1984, the first year of the 300s.
“(Getting the record) was actually my goal all season,” said Thomas, who also anchored Lex’s state-qualifying 4x200 relay team to a fourth-place time of 1:43.41. “Even though I was just starting out with the hurdles for the first time, I was like, 'I need to break the record.' When I kept getting closer and closer, I knew I could do it.
“Now that I have it, I want to keep it and get another record.”
Collaborating with Thomas in the 4x2 were sophomore Allison Laury and seniors Olyvia Stoots and Makenna Arnholt. Lex’s two state-qualifying relays are among four girls teams headed to Dayton.
Ontario’s 4x400 relay of freshman Audrey Mahon, sophomores Sasha Bulakovski and Kenzie Goodlin and junior Arialyn Bischak was third (4:00.75). Shelby’s 4x100 of sophomores Princess Timko and Madison Henkel and seniors Jaleeza Zehner and Peyton Putnam was fourth (49.38).
Henkel joined Weaver as a regional champion, winning Saturday’s long jump with a leap of 18-7.5. The other area girl to qualify for state in a field event was Galion’s Miranda Stone with a runner-up finish in the discus (139-11).
This marked the third time this season Henkel has popped a jump of over 18 feet. Her best is 18-9.75, which set the meet record at the 91st Mehock Relays in April.
Last year, her best was 17-9.5. That was good for a fifth-place medal at the state meet, so she’s already improved by a foot in one year, with two more to go.
“I worked really hard in the off-season,” Henkel said. “Coming into the season, I didn’t know if I could get over 18 feet. Hopefully, I can get 19 feet (at state). I really have to stay focused on my speed and stay confident in my ability.”
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Graduating with (regional) honors: Weaver’s big weekend includes title on her home oval
