Lady Whippets prevail at MOAC meet Baker, Gonzales spark second day, boys place third
Daily Globe Sports Editor
MARION — After stumbling out of the starting blocks to begin the second day of competition at the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference meet, Shelby’s girls remained undaunted in their quest for the championship.
Junior Haylee Baker won two individual events and anchored two victorious relays while teammate Kayla Gonzales was also a double-winner Thursday at Marion Harding in helping the Lady Whippets to the conference championship.
The SHS girls totaled 143.5 points — tallying 107 on the second day — to outdistance runner-up Ontario with 116.
On the boys side, Shelby had a difficult the 4 x 200 in 1:49.68. The junior worked with Mary Wilkins, Mary Mayer and Channon Cundiff to prevail in the 4 x 400.
Running anchor on the 4 x 4, Baker entered the final 100 meters in third and out kicked the two ahead of her in giving Shelby the win with a time of 4:19.13.
“She was definitely on a mission to make up for a lost ending to her freshmen year due to injury and then Covid took away last season,” said Lewis of Baker’s performance.
Gonzales ruled the distance races as she won the 1,600 with 5:15.26 and claimed the 3,200 in 11:44.85.
Although things finished well for the Whippets, they did not start well at all, noted Lewis.
“The meet had a rocky start. Gabby (Stumbo) fell in the 100 hurdles relay (9:59.27).
Carmel timed at 50.83 for second in the 300 hurdles.
“The 4 x 8 started the day off with their season best. Kassie led us in the field events. As a whole coaching staff, we couldn’t be more proud of how these ladies performed. They’re a young group that competes like a seasoned veterans.
At the beginning of the season, we really didn’t know what to expect. Now looking back, if you take away the impact of some injuries, everyone on our team improved in at least one of their event areas, if not more. I don’t think you can ask more than to grow as an athlete and have personal best performances at some point during the year. At the league meet is just a little sweeter,” summed up Lewis. for us, day two didn’t go as well. We knew we had to be near perfect to beat Harding and Harding was on today. We had some mistakes and left points on the track that left us in third. Harding was so good today we would not have been able to win unless we were perfect.” Said boys coach Chris Zuercher.
“Connor Henkel looked good after five weeks. Huck Finnegan dominated the 3,200 and controlled it the entire way. Xander has improved so much in the discus and him winning it shows that,” Zuercher added.
Next up for Shelby’s boys and girls track teams is the Division II District Thursday and Saturday at Ontario High School.
MID OHIO ATHLETIC CONFERENCE At Marion Harding Girls Results Boys Results
Team scoring - 1. Marion Harding 142; 2. Ontario 123; 3. Shelby 115;
4. River Valley 80; 5. Galion 60; 6. Clear Fork 44; 7. Marion Pleasant
13.
4 x 800-meter relay - 1. Ontario (Slater, Phillips, Fulmer, Meisse) 8:23.21; 2. Shelby (H. Finnegan, Moore, Mohr, Dininger) 8:31.15.
110-meter high hurdles - 1. Scott, On, 16.17; 3. Rank, Sh, 16.55.
4 x 200-meter relay - 1. Marion Harding (Beechum, Scott, Morris, Faggs) 1:29.66; 4. Shelby (Herring, Ramsey, Ramey, Hill) 1:35.46.
1,600-meter run - 1. Meisse, On, 4:32.12; 2. Dininger, Sh, 4:32.55; 3. H. Finnegan, Sh, 4:34.02.
4 x 100-meter relay - 1. Marion Harding (Jefferson, Scott, Morris,
High jump - 1. Branstetter, Ga, 5-11; 3. Baker, Sh, 5-10.
Pole vault - 1. Staley, CF, 14-0; 7. Delauder, Sh, 9-0.