Compelling storylines entering regionals
From the acceleration of Pickerington Central sprinter Troy Lane to the pacing of Hilliard Davidson distance specialist Connor Ackley, central Ohio’s top boys track and field athletes possess a wide array of elite skills.
Ackley and Lane will be among those competing in the Division I regional meet Wednesday and Friday at Pickerington North. The Division II regional is Thursday and Saturday at Lexington, and the Division III regional is Wednesday and Friday at Heath.
In Division I district action last week at Hilliard Darby, champions were Central (110 points, district 1), North (94, district 2) and Olentangy Orange (129, district 3). Gahanna Lincoln finished first (145) in district 4 at Granville.
In Division II at Westerville South, Liberty Union (91.5) won district 1 and Buckeye Valley (121.5) won district 2. In Division III at Granville, Mount Gilead finished first (101).
At regional, the top four finishers in each event advance to state June 2 and 3 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Here are some of the storylines heading into the regional meets this week:
Lane continues to shine
Lane, a Kentucky commit, enters the regional looking for a return trip to state, where he won the 100 (state-record 10.25) and 200 (21.09) and was part of the first-place 400 relay (41.22) last season as the Tigers captured the team title, edging Orange 31-30.
Lane helped the Tigers take the District 1 title by winning the 100 (10.53) and
200 (21.15) and running on the first-place 400 relay (41.76). He edged Licking Heights’ D.J. Fillmore (21.38) for the 200 title.
“I’m usually not used to getting pushed, but this was only about my third 200 of the year, so to run a 21.1 (now) is early for me,” Lane said. “For being my third race, it is pretty good for me.”
Other district champions for Central were Kendrick Mensah in the shot put (47-81⁄4) and the 800 (1:28.82) and 1,600 (3:23.45) relays.
Orange opens with strong effort
Orange remains one of the strongest programs in central Ohio. For the first time in school history, the boys and girls teams won district titles in the same year.
The boys team also knows a strong regional showing is significant because of
what it could mean at state.
“This week is the toughest regional in the state,” coach Adam Walters said. “You have to have a mindset of top four, but if you fall to fifth or sixth, you still finish strong because of the at-large berths (to state). Our region has a history of taking many of those. The team points will take care of themselves if you qualify people to (state).”
District champions for the Pioneers were Nick Robinson in the 100 (10.73) and 200 (21.75), Saketh Rudraraju in the 3,200 (9:20.2), Bobby Ogles in the discus (154-5), Eijah Lewis in the high jump (6-4), Cam Shively in the pole vault (14-0), Zach Mcdowell in the shot put (5110 1⁄4) and the 1,600 relay (3:23.32).
Heavy hearts at Eastmoor
It was an emotional week for Eastmoor
as it competed in the Division II, District 1 meet following the death of teammate Devon Biggs. He died May 2 after being struck by a car.
“Our boys competed hard at the district meet and were edged out in the end by a strong Liberty Union squad (91.584),” coach Jason Lewis said. “It’s been a hard couple of weeks for us with the tragic loss of Devon Biggs getting hit by a car (while practicing). Emotionally we are spent, but we still managed to compete hard.”
Dallas Hodge finished first in the discus (170-6) and second in the shot put (50-8), while Christian Monroe won the 100 (11.04) ahead of teammate Tderyan Lewis (11.34).
Westland qualifies four
Four field event athletes reached regional for the Cougars. Kaiden Wade (6-4) and Landon Bott (6-2) finished first and second in the high jump at district, and Justin Mathews (21-6) and Blake Bilger (21-4 1⁄2) finished second and third in the long jump.
Ackley looking for more titles
Ackley, a Syracuse commit, hopes to wrap up his prep career by winning state titles in the 1,600 and 3,200.
Last season, he withdrew from the 3,200 to focus on the 1,600, in which he finished second (4:10.67). He also won the Division I cross country state title last fall.
Ackley opened the postseason by winning the 1,600 (4:11.57) and 3,200 (9:08.07) in the district 2 meet. He also ran on the third-place 3,200 (8:01.35) and fourth-place 1,600 (3:29.7) relays.