Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
With the weather getting warmer and the track and field season moving along, it is time for the area runners and field competitors to begin rounding into form with May fast approaching.
One of the area's finest athletes is Oak Harbor sprinter Tyler Thompson.
The senior placed seventh in the 100 and 200 meter dashes at last year’s Division II state tournament, and he was also part of the 4x200 relay team that finished seventh. He is off to another great start.
"He's picked up right where he left off,” Oak Harbor coach Andy Augsburger said. “He's trained really hard, he's taking it really seriously. We're hoping that when the time comes and the weather gets nice, he can get back to state."
Thompson was joined on the relay by Wyatt Augsburger, Carson Ridener and Blake Nickel.
There's Ridener, who runs the 200 and 400 and some relays, Bodee Miller and Braxton Witt, who ran a 2:02.28 and a 2:08.21, respectively, in the 800. Gavin Witt finished the 1600 in just under five minutes at 4:54.25, and Braden Schultz, who was 15th last year in Division II high jump, has reached 5 feet, 10 inches thus far.
Wyatt Augsburger, who nearly placed at state in both the 110 and 300 hurdles last season, hasn't been running much in an effort to stay healthy.
"We're making sure we take care of our athletes," Andy Augsburger said. "He had a strain, and we don't want to push things with the weather being cold."
Throwers Travis Bouyer (discus), Matthew Hubans (discus), Jacob Ridener (shot put) and Isaac Schulte (shot put) have been doing very well thus far.
Gibsonburg senior Anthony Caprara, who is looking to run in college, was 19th in Division III last fall in cross country. Thus far, his best time in the 1600 is 4:45.96, and his best time in the 3200 is 10:06.73, which are times that should they continue to drop even slightly will give him a legitimate shot to compete at the state tournament.
Teammate Grant Dawson had an impressive leap of 6-2 in the high jump at the Lakota Invite, good enough to finish first by four inches while Camden Mooney reached 5-8 to finish third.
Sophomore Hunter Wasserman could be someone to keep an eye on as his best throw in the discus is 128-4, and his best toss in the shot put is 40-10.
As for Eastwood, Dayquan Oliver, Andre Lewis and Jesse Poiry, all of whom serve as captains, have had particularly good seasons.
At the Napoleon Invite, Oliver ran the 100 in 11.25, the 200 in 22.88 and had a leap of 21-6 in the long jump while Lewis ran the 110 hurdles in 15.35, the 300 hurdles in 41.51 and had a leap of 6-2 in the high jump.
Poiry, who will continue his career at the University of Findlay, is a standout in the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles – similar to Lewis.
"Dayquan was a regional qualifier in the long jump and the 4x400 relay and was seventh in the 400 at regionals,” Eastwood coach Brian Sabo said. “He was an indoor state placer in the long jump and the 4x200 relay.
“Andre Lewis was a state qualifier in the high jump last year, a regional qualifier in the 300 hurdles and the 4x400 relay, and he was an indoor state placer in the 4x200 relay. Jesse Poiry qualified for regionals in the 110 hurdles last year and the 300 hurdles in '23. He was a state placer in the 60 hurdles in indoor track, as well as the 4x200 relay, and qualified for state in the 4x400 relay, also for indoor track.”
At the Lakota Invite, Woodmore had a respectable showing. Wildcat senior Derek Blausey ran the 800 in 2:07.69, Landon Rich finished the 100 in 11.55, Brady Thatcher ran the 400 in 54.75 and was followed closely by teammate Colton Shaner, who finished in 55.98.
The 4x400 relay team of Blausey, Thatcher, Shaner and Adyn Smith finished second at the Lakota Invite in 3:39.33.
Smith had a leap of 10-6 in the pole vault, Ryan Maynard (39-8.5 in the shot put) and Jesse Lopez (18-2 in the long jump) also had good showing.
"We have a pretty young team, but we are excited about their potential, especially in the relays," Woodmore coach Lacy Seamans said. "On the field side, we are seeing points from Adyn in the pole vault, Maynard in the shot put and Lopez in the long jump."
Cardinal Stritch coach Jeff Kesselring has a team that is learning the ropes, and junior King Wilson is one of his top athletes.
At the Jim Hauser Pirate Relays, Wilson was third in the long jump with a leap of 19-0.25 and finished fourth in the 100 in 12.29.
Two other Cardinals that are expected to contribute this season are Breyon Jones in the 400, 800 and long jump, and Connor Rowland in the 100, 200 and long jump.
Genoa coach Luke Hodulik knows his team has potential, especially Nathan Kesler and R.J. Adkins.
At the most recent invite, the A.W. Hendricks Invitational, Adkins was fourth in the 100 in 11.19 and fourth in the 300 hurdles in 42.42. Kessler took second in the 400 in 50.08 and placed fourth in the 200 in 22.70.
Teammate Braden Lesher was third in the 1600 in 4:51.60, Zayden Dunn was third in the pole vault with a jump of 11-6, Chase Cooper placed fourth in the 3200 in 10:54.75, Adam Knight took fifth in the long jump with a leap of 18-6.5
Lake coach Jason Schober is particularly happy with three of his athletes, two sprinters and a thrower in Luke Steep, Brady Hayward and Matt Nietz.
Steep competed in indoor track during the winter and won the 800 and 1600 at the Van Buren Invite, setting a record in the 1600 in the process. His best times are pretty good at this point in the season — the 400 (55.52); the 800 (2:04.58); and the 1600 (4:37.21).
"He ran a lot of indoor meets," Schober said. "We've only had three meets so far (in outdoor track). Against Eastwood, he won the 800 and the 1600 and anchored the 4x400 and the 4x800."
Hayward, a senior like Steep, qualified for the indoor state track meet in the 60 hurdles and the high jump. As of now, his best times are in the 110 hurdles (15.37), the 300 hurdles (40.52), the 400 (55.52) and the 100 (11.49). He has a leap of six feet in the high jump and covered 20-09 in the long jump.
"Against Eastwood, he won the 110 hurdles and long jump and came in second in the 300 hurdles," Schober said. "At the Van Buren Invite, he won the 110 hurdles, was second in the 300 hurdles and came in third in both the high jump and the long jump. In our first meet against Genoa and Northwood, he won all four events, both hurdles and both jumps."
Sophomore Matt Nietz is doing very, very well as his best throw in the shot put is 52-09.5, and his best throw in the discus is 150-04.75. He finished sixth in the indoor state meet in the shot put.
Big things could be on the horizon for Nietz, who broke school records in the shot put (54-1) and the disc (156-2) April 22.
"He has not lost yet this season in shot put or discus," Schober said.
Frank Swails III was third at the Van Buren Invite in the 3200 (11:02.32), Andrew Solomon finished fourth in the pole vault (10-0) and Isaac Romero was third in the shot put (45-9).
At the TPS City Meet No. 2, which was held at Bowsher High School, Waite senior Tyquawn Goetz finished second in the 200 with a time of 24.22, and teammate Dezmond Jackson was fourth in 25.04.
In the 800, the Indians took the top three spots. Elias Valdez was first in 2:12.45, followed by Gavin Harmon (2:25.70) and Adam Aranda (2:27.58). Valdez also won the 1600 in 4:57.36, Oscar Valdez was fourth in 5:22.99 and Angel Rodriguez finished in sixth in 5:30.32.
Rodriguez came in third in the 300 hurdles (52.45), followed by Bryan Ceja-Bahena, who ran a 57.03.
In the field events, Keshaun Houston was fifth in the high jump with a leap of 5-6 and Terron Belle won the long jump (19-1.25).
At the Napoleon Invite, Clay senior Ben Roberts led the way, finishing first in the 800 (2:02.63) and the 1600 (4:33.53). Tanner Reindel was third in the 800 (2:08.27). In the 400, Joey Yarrito was third (53.54) and Brody Csizmar was fourth (54.19), and in the 110 hurdles, Barack James finished second in 14.81.
The highest finisher in the field events was Derek Harmer, who had a leap of six feet in the high jump.
Northwood junior TaeVe'ion Greene had the best showing of any Ranger at the Lakota Invite, placing second in the 110 hurdles in 16.42 and second in the 300 hurdles in 43.43, respectively.
"Aside from a good work ethic, Tae's personality is infectious,” Northwood coach Jeremy Lewin said. “He always seems like he's having a good time, and that rubs off on a lot of his teammates. During practice, he is always willing to help out with the other hurdlers. When it comes to his hurdle preparation and races, he is always determined to do better.
“In his 300 hurdle race on Tuesday, where he was essentially running by himself, he still dropped time from the previous week, accomplishing a new PR in the process.”
Nick Reinhart was fifth in the pole vault with a leap of 10-6.
