West Liberty-Salem brought back a pair of Division III district track and field championship trophies Saturday as both the boys and girls teams finished first.
The WL-S girls held off Botkins to win its fourth DIII Southwest district title in six years.
The Lady Tigers finished with 121 points, while Botkins had 113.5. Anna was third (86), Legacy Christian was fourth (54) and Lehman Catholic and Houston tied for fifth (48).
Triad’s girls finished eighth (40), Calvary was 17th (3) and Riverside was 18th (1).
“It’s always a fun meet when the championship comes down to the 4×400,” said WL-S head coach Ann Vogel. “Our women showed a lot of fight and composure for a young team. Botkins is a well-coached team and gave us all we could handle. I’m proud of the way we battled until the very end.”
The top four finishers move on to this week’s regional meet.
The Lady Tigers were led by the hurdling duo of Sophia Hardwick and Claire Longshore.
Hardwick won the 300 hurdles (47.38) and took third in the 100 hurdles (16.26).
Longshore placed second in the 100 hurdles in a new school record time of 16.20 and placed fourth in the 300 hurdles (49.31)
WL-S qualified all four of its relays to the regional meet.
Along with the 4×800 relay that qualified on prelim night, the 4×200 relay team of Tori Douthwaite, Gwen McCullough, Claire Longshore and Mallory Bostick placed third (1:51.10), the 4×100 relay team of Tori Douthwaite, Gwen McCullough, Lena Kauffman and Chloe Griffith placed third (52.77) and the 4×400 relay team of Ashley Yoder, Gwen McCullough, Teagan Boyd and Mallory Bostick placed second (4:16.02).
Also qualifying for the regions for the Tiger girls were third-place finishers Breece Gullett in the 1,600 (PR of 5:24.43), Mallory Bostick in the 400 (1:02.06), Malia Miller in the 3,200 (PR of 11:52.45) and fourth-place finishers Ashley Yoder in the 1,600 (5:25.88), Elise Longshore in the pole vault (9-0), Sophia Hardwick in the discus (PR of 99-03).
The WL-S girls had numerous other district placers.
Chloe Griffith took fifth place in 100 (13.14) and 200 (28.38), Gwen McCullough was fifth in the 800 (PR of 2:29.48), Lena Kauffman tied for sixth in the pole vault (8-06), Tori Douthwaite was eighth in the 100 (13.50) and sixth in the 200 (28.67), Ashley Yoder was eighth in the 800 (2:31) and Taylor Kennedy was sixth in the 3,200 (13:23.98).
The WL-S boys finished 10 points ahead of Anna (134-124) to win their title. Botkins was third (67), Emmanuel Christian was fourth (59.5) and Cedarville was fifth (56).
Riverside was eighth (30.5), Calvary was ninth (26) and Triad was 14th (8).
The WL-S boys were led Saturday by Logan Phillips, who won district titles in both the 110 hurdles (15.44) and 300 hurdles (42.28).
Finishing in second for WL-S on Saturday were Jackson Steider in the 110 hurdles (15.80), Micah Smith in the 400 (52.94), Asher Knox in the 3,200 (9:51.87), the 800 relay team of Jack Bahan, Gabe McGill, Lincoln Henderson and Steider (1:34.97), the 400 relay of Dylan Glunt, Gabe McGill, Logan Phillips and Jack Bahan (45.04) and the 1,600 relay of Logan Phillips, Micah Smith, Brevin Louden and Troy Bradley (3:35.70).
Taking fourth Saturday was Harrison in the 3,200 (10:05.42).
Also placing for WL-S on Saturday were Bahan (fifth in the 100, 11.51) and 200 (23.93), Troy Bradley (fifth in the 400, 53.92), Quentin Rudolph (fifth in the 800, 2:03.5), Steider (sixth in the 300 hurdles, 44.36), Dylan Glunt (seventh in the 100, 11.71, and 200, 24.04) and Dylan King (eighth the 1,600, 4:48.05).
Calvary’s Daniels qualifies for regional
Calvary Christian was competing in its first Southwest District meet, and the Spartans were led by Ephraim Daniels, who qualified for the regionals in two events.
Daniels placed second in the high jump (5-8) and was fourth in the 400 (53.84).
Also for the Spartan boys, John Gaertner was sixth in the 800 (2:07.08), the 400 relay team of Clay Howard, Caleb King, Christian Rogan and Nehemiah Dillon was sixth (47.72), the 800 relay team of Howard, King, Rogan and Daniels was fifth (1:37.65), the 1,600 relay team of Howard, Dillon, Gaertner and Daniels was seventh (3:49.12) and King was eighth in the long jump (17-6).
For the Cavalry girls, Abigail Reinhard placed sixth in the 100 hurdles (17.18).
Brooks, Kreglow advance for Pirates
Brooks, Kreglow advance for Pirates
Travis Brooks finished second in the shot put (44-5.75) and Carter Kreglow was fourth in the pole vault (10-6) to earn spots in the regionals.
Also for the RHS boys, Tyler Knight was fifth in the pole vault (10-0) and fifth in the high jump (5-3), Ayden Clary was sixth in the shot put (42-8) and was seventh in the discus (125-10), the 800 relay team of Dylyn Burchett, Dominik Stotler, Tyler Knight and Houston Anderson was sixth (1:40.08), the 400 relay team of Isaac Bender, Anderson, Shockey and Stotler was seventh (47.72) and Michael Shockey was eighth in the 400 (58.49).
For the Riverside girls, the 800 relay team of Shaye McGill, Kaylee Fulkerson, Briana Bradley and Rachel Knight placed eighth (1:57.94).