Zane Trace boys take first, area athletes win big at Division II district track meet

WASHINGTON COURT HOUSE − Zane Trace saw what the culmination of a season's worth of growth and success can provide in the Division II district track and field meet at Washington High School.

The Pioneers were riding strong performances from their last two meets ahead of Saturday. Their boys team had taken second place in both the Ross County Meet and the Scioto Valley Conference Championships in the weeks leading up to their district meet appearance.

That success bore fruit on Saturday. Zane Trace's boys team tied for first place in the Division II district track and field championships at Washington Court House on Saturday, earning 80 points to match Minford for a share of the title.

"We've had a pretty good year all year long, and today is a big day for my kids," Zane Trace boys coach Bryan Alley said. "Everybody's PRed today and everybody ran well, and this is when you have to start doing well."

Part of that success came thanks to the 4x400-meter relay team of Wyatt Vick, Riley Hartsaugh, Andrew Payton and Charley Clyne. The group picked up second place in the final event of the day with a time of 3:32.60, which earned the Pioneers enough points to match the Falcons by the end of the day.

The Pioneers also had the most individual first-place finishes of the five area teams present at the meet. Clyne, Nalin Robinson, Zane Pickerrell and Spencer Brower took first in the boys 400-meter dash, discus, pole vault and shot put respectively, while Marie Souther and Kendra Detillion claimed first in the girls 800-meter run and shot put.

Clyne cruised to first place in the 400-meter dash in 51.29. It's a solid time, and it's one of Clyne's best ever in fact. His personal best in the event is 51.13, and he wants to shave it down even further when he makes a return to regionals. He's within a half-second of breaking the school record for the 400, and his ultimate goal is to have his name on the record board by season's end.

"I should break it at regionals," Clyne said. "Especially with the push I'll have from everyone else, it should be my record this year. I'm hoping."

Walker breaks district record

Cameron Walker has taken her first year of high school track almost as far as she can. The freshman played a vital role in anchoring Unioto's 4x400 team to first place at the SVC meet and, on Saturday afternoon, won both the 1600- and 3200-meter runs to help Unioto's girls team to third place at the district meet.

Her first win of the day came with a bonus. Walker's time in the 1600 broke a meet record that'd been set by another SVC runner a decade prior. Zane Trace's Jessie Proehl had originally broken the record with a time of 5:14.20 in 2013. Walker completed her run Saturday in 5:13.67.

The freshman, however, didn't realize she'd set a new milestone until after the race was over. She believed she'd gotten first place, but she's not complaining about the record.

"To be honest, I wasn't even thinking about it during the whole race," Walker said. "I didn't even realize that we were on the fourth lap until I saw the guy lift his hand up. And I was like, 'Oh, wait, I've got to go.' I didn't think I got the record. I just thought I won, but that's even better."

Fox making strides in hurdles

Maddox Fox knows he shines when he races in the 300-meter hurdles for Unioto. It's the event he feels most confident in while running. He says it gives him more time to build up speed and power ahead of his competition.

He was right. Fox cleared the 300 hurdles on Saturday with a time of 40.78, beating Minford's Luke Rader by over half of a second. The success and level of competition only amped the senior up for the event, and he's ready to use his other competitors at regionals to push him further.

"It just feels amazing because I put in a lot of hard work and effort, and I know the 300s are my race," Fox said. "Knowing that, coming to regionals, we'll have more of a competition and its going to push me even harder and maybe I'll eventually break the record."

Fox also took sixth place in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 16.20, and he anchored Unioto's 4x400 relay team for a fourth-place finish and a time of 3:34.16.

Trapp riding first place to regionals

Josh Trapp knows just how competitive, yet distinctly close, distance running in the SVC is. He's used to racing opponents Vick or Unioto's Ashton Beverly and JJ Larue. He earned second place in the 800-meter run behind Beverly at the SVC meet.

On Saturday, however, Trapp wore the crown. He picked up first place in the 800 with a time of 2:00.13 to beat out Vick and Beverly, who walked away with second and third place respectively.

"I've raced these guys for a while now," Trapp said. "Wyatt, J.J. Ashton, all of them. We're kind of used to racing each other, and I haven't beat all of them at the same time yet. So that was kind of the goal. Just get out there, run my race, do my best and that's what I did. I'm pretty proud of it."

With first place in hand, Trapp knows he can replicate his success at regionals. His final goal, like many others, is to reach the state meet. Saturday provided the jolt of confidence the sophomore needed to push himself toward seeing that goal through.

"I know I've done it now," Trapp said. "There's some pretty fast kids from the other districts that I'll be racing against, but I'm pretty confident. If I run like I did today I can most likely make it to state, which is the ultimate goal."

Green chasing first place

Mitch Green is one of the most dependable distance runners for Waverly this season. The senior has routinely placed at or near the top in both the 1600 and 3200 events at various meets throughout the season. He even claimed first place in both events when the Tigers competed in the Southern Ohio Conference Championships.

While not taking the crown for either event on Saturday, Green powered through to a confident second place − as well as booked his ticket to regionals − in both races. The senior completed the 1600 in 4:32.34 and the 3200 in 10:00.94, and he finished both events behind Portsmouth's Charles Putnam.

But Green isn't satisfied. He'll see Putnam again, and he'll be prepared to chase down first place next time.

"To really go harder in the last lap," Green said. "I was pushing myself the whole time and the last lap just kind of took me over, I didn't really do anything about it ... I know those guys, I know how they race. That just gives me a little bit more information to run my race."

Division II team scores and results

BOYS

Zane Trace, Tied for first place (80); Unioto, fourth place (72); Waverly, seventh place (49); Westfall, 10th place (28); Piketon, 13th place (17).

Regional qualifiers for the boys: 4x400: Wyatt Vick, Riley Hartsaugh, Andrew Payton, Charley Clyne (Zane Trace), Wyatt Crabtree, Carson Peters, Dillon Glass, Alex Stoller (Waverly), Kyan Clark, Ashton Beverly, JJ Larue, Maddox Fox (Unioto); 4x800: Henry Barnes, Mason Barnes, Tyler Yates, Josh Trapp (Westfall), Caden Larue, JJ Larue, Ashton Beverly, Turner Markko (Unioto); 200 dash: Alex Stoller (Waverly); 400 dash: Charley Clyne (Zane Trace), Alex Stoller (Waverly); 800 run: Josh Trapp (Westfall), Wyatt Vick (Zane Trace), Ashton Beverly (Unioto); 1600 run: Mitch Green (Waverly), Turner Markko and Ashton Beverly (Unioto); 3200 run: Mitch Green (Waverly), Caden Larue, Eli Peck (Unioto); 300 hurdles: Maddox Fox (Unioto); long jump: Caden Cutright (Unioto); discus: Noah Fetters, Nalin Robinson (Zane Trace), Alan Austin (Piketon); shot put: Noah Fetters, Spencer Brower (Zane Trace), Alan Austin (Piketon); pole vault: Zane Pickerrell (Zane Trace).

GIRLS

Unioto, third place (79); Zane Trace, sixth place (47); Waverly, ninth place (39); Westfall, 10th place (20); Piketon, 13th place (8).

Regional qualifiers for the girls: 4x100 relay: Rachel Remy, Morgan Crabtree, Avery Nathan, Paige O'Bryant (Waverly); 4x800: Cameron Walker, Briana Nelson, Gwyn Eldridge, Ava Rooker (Unioto); 4x200: Alexis Book, Ella Cutright, Addison Mohan, Aidyn Danison (Unioto); 100 dash: Paige O'Bryant (Waverly); 200 dash: Paige O'Bryant (Waverly); 400 dash: Addison Mohan (Unioto); 800 run: Marie Souther (Zane Trace), Caitlyn Shipley (Westfall); 1600 run: Cameron Walker (Unioto), Caitlyn Shipley (Westfall); 3200 run: Cameron Walker (Unioto), Molly Prochaska (Zane Trace); long jump: Paige O'Bryant (Waverly); high jump: Alexis Book (Unioto); discus: Kendra Detillion (Zane Trace); shot put: Kendra Detillion (Zane Trace); pole vault: Olivia MacCrae (Piketon), Reise Grant (Zane Trace).

Division III District team scores and results

BOYS

Paint Valley, third place (53); Huntington, fifth place (46.5); Adena, 13th place (24); Southeastern, 17th place (10).

Regional qualifiers include: 4x100 relay: Dom Chambers, Bryson Dunham, Justin Pence, Trevin Tuttle (Paint Valley); 100 dash: Cole Miller (Paint Valley), Wes Brown (Huntington); 200 dash: Cole Miller (Paint Valley), Wes Brown (Huntington); 400 dash: Wes Brown (Huntington); 1600 run: Ryan Richendollar (Adena); 110 hurdles: Cole Miller (Paint Valley); discus: Roman Wisecup (Paint Valley), Ryan Marion (Huntington), RJ Cartwright (Southeastern); shot put: Ryan Marion (Huntington); high jump: Liam Ray (Adena); long jump: Cole Miller (Paint Valley); pole vault: Noah Potter (Huntington).

GIRLS

Adena, second place (80); Huntington, 11th place (19); Paint Valley, 17th place (12 points).

Regional qualifiers include: 4x100: Abby Daugherty, Karris Dye, Kendall Dye, Averi McFadden (Paint Valley), Aaliyah Simmons, Bailey McGarvey, Brenna Bossert, Jacey Smith (Adena); 4x200: Kamryn Sowers, Bailey McGarvey, Jacey Smith, Brooke Bossert (Adena); 400 dash: Brooke Bossert (Adena); 1600 run: Jessica Elick (Adena); 3200 run: Sarah Lute (Huntington); high jump: Grace Townsend (Adena); discus: Sydney Foglesong (Adena); shot put: Sydney Foglesong (Adena); pole vault: Claire Robinson, Kali Routte (Adena).

This article originally appeared on Chillicothe Gazette: Zane Trace boys take first at Division II district track meet