Trentman hopes to continue Ottoville hurdles tradition

May 25—FOSTORIA — Last year, Ottoville's Garrett Trentman watched his teammate Kellen Schlagbaum win the Division III state title in the 300-meter hurdles.

Last year as a sophomore, Trentman was a state qualifier in the 300 hurdles, but did not make it to the finals.

With Schlagbaum now graduated, Trentman is hoping to carry on the tradition at Ottoville.

At Friday's finals in the 300 hurdles at the Division III regional meet at Fostoria, Trentman won the regional title with a new personal best time of 38.96 seconds. Trentman also finished fourth in the 110 hurdles (15.39).

Trentman will compete at this coming week's Ohio High School Athletic Association's Track and Field State Tournament at the University of Dayton, which runs on May 30, 31 and June 1.

The top four placers in each event at the regional meets automatically qualify for the state meet.

Trentman is heading to the state meet with a great deal of confidence.

"If I get the opportunity, I'm going to go for the win," Trentman said. "I'll give it my best. I still have one more year left. So, I'll give it my all this year, then come back next year and give it my all again."

Trentman gives Schlagbaum a lot of credit for his success.

"He (Schlagbaum) was a good coach, and a good friend," Trentman said. "We were always pushing each other in practice and races. He was always ahead of me, but it was good to compete with him. He always pushed me to get better and I pushed him to get better."

In the boys final team standings on Friday, Tinora won the regional title with 63 points. Margaretta finished second with 52 points, while Wayne Trace (44) and Edgerton (43.50) rounded out the top four teams. Columbus Grove posted the best Lima area finish, coming in sixth (34). Bluffton placed eighth (26).

On the girls side, Liberty Center edged out Coldwater for the regional crown, 59-58, while Margaretta (51) and Toledo Woodmore (50.50) rounded out the top four squads.

Riverdale (fifth, 47 points), Columbus Grove (seventh, 37) and Kalida (eighth, 25) were the other area girls teams that finished in the top 10.

Grove's Ellerbrock returning to the state meet

In the boys 3,200-meter run on Friday, Columbus Grove's Luke Ellerbrock finished a close second to Ottawa Hills' Riley Nixon.

Nixon won the 3,200 in 9 minutes, 26.15 seconds, while Ellerbrock crossed the finish line in 9:28.74. Bluffton's Theo Andreas notched fourth place in the 3,200 (9:46.45) to secure a state berth.

"I'm happy with where I was. I wanted to win, but I know how great of a runner that Riley Nixon is," Ellerbrock said. "Sometimes, it's hard to win when there is such great competition with him in the race. So, I'm definitely happy to get runner-up and to move on to state. It's a lot better than what I did last week. So, I'm happy with it."

At last year's D-III state meet, Ellerbrock placed fourth in the 3,200 (9:28.12). Ellerbrock, a senior, will compete in track and cross country at the University of Findlay next school year.

"I'm really confident on how it will play out," Ellerbrock said about the upcoming state meet. "I'm confident with my ability to compete and I hope for the best — to go out there and give it my all in my last (high school) race."

Ada's Brown notches a regional title

Last year as a junior, Ada's Jackson Brown finished seventh in the 110 hurdles at the D-III regional meet.

That race has been on Brown's mind ever since.

On Friday, Brown vastly improved on last year's finish as he won the 110 hurdles in a personal best of 14.70.

"I knew going into this race (110 hurdles), it was going to be close," Brown said. "It's awesome. I was just going for the top four (places). Obviously, first place was going to be great. ... I'm very happy that I got that."

Grove's Auchmuty, Palte qualify for the state meet in three events

Columbus Grove's Lauryn Auchmuty competed in four events in this week's D-III regional meet at Fostoria.

When it was all said and done, Auchmuty came away with three state berths.

Auchmuty placed fourth in the pole vault (11 feet) and was part of the 800-meter relay (Allison Thompson, Kendal Palte, Auchmuty, Jade Roeder) that finished second (1:43.95) and the 400 relay (Thompson, Palte, Auchmuty, Roeder) that also came in second (49.98). Auchmuty placed seventh in Friday's long jump (15-8.5).

"We've been working really hard for this and had bad hand-offs in the prelims (Wednesday's preliminaries)," Auchmuty said. "So, coming in today — getting two PRs and breaking two school records — the adrenaline was high. Kendal (Palte) made it out in the (300) hurdles, and I made it out in the pole vault. It was a good day to run for sure. There was not a lot of wind. So, we can't wait to see what happens in Dayton."

Palte, a sophomore, placed second in Friday's 300 hurdles (46.36).

"I'm really grateful. I took 2 1/2 seconds off my PR in the hurdles," Palte said. "So, I didn't really expect to make it this far. I give all the credit to my teammates because they motivate me the most. They all did really great today."

Thompson, a sophomore, said they have worked hard to perfect the relays.

"It's really big. We were really hoping for it. I feel like we all knew if we ran really hard and did the hand-offs well, that we would make it far," Thompson said.

Added Roeder, "It's very big for me, because last year I was an alternate. So, making it down in two relays is a really big accomplishment for me."

Kalida's Laudick shines

On Wednesday, the Kalida girls 3,200-meter relay (Allie Kuhlman, Ady Miller, Andrea Burgei, Lauren Laudick) placed third (9:52.32) to notch a state berth.

On Friday, Lauren Laudick won the 400 (57.91) and was part of the 1,600 relay (Kuhlman, Miller, Laudick, Kendal Krouse) that came in fourth (4:03.09).

"I'm very happy," Laudick said. "Last year, I missed state by four tenths of a second in that race (400). So, I just really wanted to qualify, but winning was icing on the cake. I thought about it every day. I really wanted to get to state this year. So, I'm hoping to take it down to Dayton and do really well down there too."

Coldwater's Zahn heading to state in four events

Coldwater junior Izzy Zahn won the 100 (12.21), 200 (24.42), long jump (17-11) and anchored the winning 1,600 relay (Audrey Alig, Becca Wenning, Kiersten Keller, Zahn; 3:58.96).

Last year, Zahn won the D-III state title in the 200.

**The complete results of the Division III regional track and field meet at Fostoria are on milesplit.oh.