Licking Valley boys soar to runner-up finish in 19-team Heath invite
HEATH ― Licking Valley's boys track team used the air and land to help it reach stellar heights on Saturday at Heath's Swank Field.
Jacob Wheeler and Cooper Hornfeck soared through the wind on a blustery day while All-Ohio thrower Trevor Croak and the relays had their feet planted firmly on the ground.
With 19 teams competing in the always entertaining Hank Smith Invitational, titles by the three Panthers seniors and a strong overall showing enabled Valley to grab second place in the boys meet with 74 points. Fairfield Union, which also claimed the girls title, racked up 97.
Wheeler, who leaped 20-6.75, successfully defended his long jump championship, beating Fairfield Union's Hunter Ruff by nearly four inches. He had been expecting to face Heath senior Brayden Bayles. But Bayles was injured in a Tuesday meet in which he went 21-2 and couldn't compete. Wheeler's PR is 21-0, established at last year's Licking County League meet.
"Going into today, I figured I would have to beat him," said Wheeler, who contributed key points on a third-place relay. "I was looking forward to the competition, because, you know, iron sharpens iron. It's one of my main events, and I have extra motivation. Last year at the district, on my last jump I mixed up my steps and ran through the pit on my last jump."
Hornfeck pole vaulted a victorious 13-0, besting the 12-6 of Buckeye Valley's Riley Boyles, and teamed with his sophomore brother Quinn on two key relays. The 4x200 of senior Marshall Carr, the Hornfecks and Wheeler took third in 1:33.91, a half-second out of second, while the 4x400 of Carr, Cooper Hornfeck, senior Matthew Fehrman and Quinn Hornfeck took third in 3:36.03.
And Croak won the shot put by two feet over Fairfield Union's Remington George with his winning effort of 49-8.25.
Meanwhile, Carr grabbed second in the high jump (5-10), Fehrman contributed a third in the 800 (2:06.8) and Quinn Hornfeck placed third in the 300 hurdles in :42.9.
"The 4x200 was a PR, and we're taking aim on the school record. We're about a second and a half off," Wheeler said. "I give our coaches a lot of credit. Hanover was badly flooded for two days, and we didn't have schools. But they still came out to the track and we still had practice. I'm very thankful for having good, dedicated coaches."
The Panthers began the day strongly, along with the host Bulldogs, who picked up two titles.
Valley ran second in the 4x800 (8:33) to Heath's 8:31, while the Bulldogs also went 1-2 in the discus thanks to personal records from seniors Carter Higgins and Reece Shriner.
Sophomore Ryan Baker anchored the Heath title team of freshman Joe Ward, junior Jacob Lane and senior Tucker See, and he was confident when he got the baton for the final two laps.
"The anchor is the best spot to be in," Baker said. "It all depends on me, and I knew I was better than anyone else on that anchor. And I proved it in that last 100 meters. The 8:31 was as good as last year, and we have so much time to progress. Everyone can run faster, and I believe we'll win the LCL this year."
The Panthers expect to be right there with them, as seniors Fehrman, Logan Debo and anchor Anthony Blizzard teamed with junior Sam Cooperrider for a strong Saturday showing.
"We had a good race and competed well," Debo said. "If we keep putting the work in at practice, over and over again, we can be pretty good by the end of the year. We ran like 8:50, 8:48 last year, and had 8:33. We want to get under 8:30.'"
Higgins uncorked a PR of 159-1 to take the discus, over six feet beyond his previous best, while Shriner's runnerup 152-4 was a PR by nearly four feet. They picked a great day to do it on their home track.
"I had a really frustrating day in the shot, so it was a bit of a surprise, actually," Higgins said. "It's always an exciting day here, and it was a huge PR for both of us. We love to see each other succeed and we go back and forth at practice, pushing each other to get better."
Higgins has had the school record of 168 feet in the back of his mind since early in his career.
"It began my freshman year," he said. "I had a 20 foot jump to my sophomore year. I thought, if I can keep going 20 feet farther each year, I'll be right there."
Utica sophomore Hunter McKinney added another title for the LCL, clearing 5-10 to take the high jump, edging Carr on fewer misses. Lakewood senior Isaiah Mitchell ran second to Beechcroft's Tyrell Russell in both the 100 (:11.09) and 200 (:23.16).
Heath was sixth in the boys meet with 54 points, Northridge was ninth with 30, Lakewood 11th with 30 and Utica 14th wih 14.
Other third-place finishers on Saturday included Heath's 4x100 relay (44.75) of senior Tyler Hudson, juniors Carter Wiley and Jahki Royster and freshman Tristyn Jones. See of the Bulldogs took 14 seconds off his seed time, leading for part of the 3,200 before finishing in 9:36.14. It was less than three seconds back of Sheridan's Tate Ruthers and Mount Gilead's Will Baker. Northridge junior Bodhi Foster was third in the pole vault at 12-0.
Fourth place went to the Vikings' 4x400 relay (3:36.07) of seniors Jack Van Fossen and Drew Bingham, junior Nathan Burkey and freshman Elias Zinks, while junior Xave Fiamingo was fourth in the shot put (45-2.5). Tyler Hudson did 11-6 in the pole vault, placing fourth for Heath.
In the girls meet, Northridge junior Isabel Evans, who finished second in the Division III state meet in both hurdles, took second in a photo finish with Mount Vernon's Marissa Rutter in the 100s. Rutter clocked 14.97 to 15.02 by Evans, who did not run her signature 300s later in the day.
Sophomore Ava Travis of the Vikings finished runner-up in the 400 in 1:01.42 to Buckeye Valley's Carlie Osborne, who also ruled the 100.
"It's my first 400 of the season, so it's good to see where I am at the start," Travis said. "I know what I can do, and just go from there. It's kind of a building year for us, but we're doing well so far."
Also grabbing second was Northridge's 4x800 relay (10:47.9) of seniors Sarah Koker and Annabeth Hilton, junior Courtney Bevier and sophomore Cheyann Severance, while Koker took third in the 800 in 2:31.
Heath sophomore Bradlee Higgins cleared 4-8 to finish second in the high jump. She also competed in the 4x400 and 300 hurdles.
"Hopefully, I'll get 5-0," Higgins said. "I haven't been able to practice as much as I want. It seems like it's raining every practice. We're definitely a young team and a small team. But we're going to get better and better as we get more practices in."
Utica sophomore Katie Reed placed third in the shot (30-11.75) and fourth in the discus at 106-9.5.
Fairfield Union dominated the girls meet with 133 points to 101 for runner-up Buckeye Valley. Northridge finished sixth with 39, Utica 11h at 11.6, Heath had 10 for 14th, Valley 16th with 4.6 and Lakewood 17th with 3 points.
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This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Licking Valley boys soar to runner-up finish in 19-team Heath invite
