Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Clay’s Barack James, a sophomore who has positioned himself as one of the state’s top hurdlers, suffered a heartbreaking false start at the Jesse Owens OHSAA State Track & Field Championships that derailed his chances for a Division II state title in the 110-meter hurdle competition.
Things got wilder as Fremont Ross junior Mason Englund, who won the prelim by 3/4 of a second, was disqualified along with Akron St. Vincent St. Mary’s Ali Hann during the race. Chase Bergsten, who was seeded sixth heading into the final, then captured the state championship.
Also in boys competition, Clay’s Derek Harmer finished 14th in the high jump, clearing 6-02, while Logan Davis competed in the pole vault before missing his first three attempts.
On the girls side, Emily Schultz wasn’t able to qualify for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles, but she finished 13th in the state with a 15.41 time in the prelim.
The 4x400 relay team of Olivia Muir, Grace Mittendorf, Audrey Miller and Jaelyn Rowe had their prelim eliminated due to one of two rain delays on Saturday, so they shifted to a pair of timed-heat finals on Sunday, where they finished 13th with a time of 4:07.00.
Arianna Bench finished 18th in the shot put, throwing 35-01.75, and Carly Miller competed in the pole vault before suffering a similar fate as her male counterpart, Davis.
