A pair of local track and field teams came home with championship trophies after the St. Marys Rider Invitational on Friday.
Bellefontaine won the girls meet, while West Liberty-Salem placed first in the boys meet.
The Chieftain girls tallied 138 points, St. Marys had 124.5 points for second and Fairbanks was third in the eight-team meet with 118 points.
Proving the biggest highlight of the night for the Lady Chiefs was sophomore standout Kylie Adams, who broke Tarrin Scott’s school record with a winning jump of 18-4 1/2.
It was one of three individual victories for Adams. She also place first in the 100 hurdles (15.35) and 300 hurdles (46.34).
Ava Reeves also had a big night for the Chiefs by winning the 100 (12.76) and 200 (26.83).
Also getting wins for BHS were Lexi Robinson in the discus (118-3), Kelsie Snapp in the shot put (35-1) and the 400 relay team of Parker Penhorwood, Adams, Reeves and Callie Shumaker (51.18).
Finishing in second for the Chiefs were Shumaker in the 300 hurdles (47.78) and Snapp in the discus (117-4).
Taking third for Bellefontaine were Shumaker in the 100 hurdles (16.77) and Neeld in the shot put (32-5).
Finishing in fourth place for the Chiefs was Harper Penhorwood in the pole vault (8-0), while fifth-place finishes went to the 800 relay team of Ryan Gatchel, Taylor McCafferty, Maddie Christman and Claire McDaniel (2:03.98) and Shumaker in the high jump (4-6).
“The girls scored in 16 of the 17 events,” said BHS head coach Ben Davis. “It will take a total team effort like this to finish out the postseason to our potential.”
In the boys meet, the Tigers grabbed the top spot with 129.5 points. Defiance was second (103), St. Marys took third (73), Lincolnview was fourth (74.5) and Bellefontaine was fifth out of 10 teams with 60.5 points.
Headlining the Tigers with wins were Mark Bair in the discus (131-4.5), Micah Smith in the 400 (53.58), Asher Knox in the 3,200 (9:49.74) and Logan Phillips in the 110 hurdles (15.87) and 300 hurdles (40.65).
Taking second for WL-S were Jackson Steider in the long jump (19-1.5), the 1,600 relay team of Quentin Rudolph, Smith, Brevin Louden and Troy Bradley (3:37.63) and the 3,200 relay team of Owen Harrison, Smith, Bradley and Knox (8:26.99).
Finishing in third were Bradley in the 400 (53.86), Joey LaRoche in the 800 (2:09.45), Owen Harrison in the 3,200 (10:00.05) and the 400 relay team of Steider, Jack Bahan, Lincoln Henderson and Phillips (45.86), while fourth-place finishes went to Steider in the 110 hurdles (16.79), Rudolph in the 1,600 (4:36.7), Slayde Merriman in the pole vault (11-6) and Bair in the shot put (41-3).
Bahan was fifth in the 100 (11.89) and 200 (24.32) and Caleb Larson was sixth in the 800 (2:11.72).
Sullivan Ashcraft led the BHS boys with a win in the shot put (49-3). Ashcraft added a third-place finish in the discus (124-1.5).
Also for the Chiefs, Collin Deitsch was third in the high jump (5-6) and sixth in the long jump (17-9.5), Kaiden Foulk was fifth in the 400 (54.17), Tony Stewart was fifth in the 1,600 (4:44.30), Jack Hutchins was sixth in the 100 (12.02), James Holt was sixth in the 110 hurdles (17.38), the 800 relay team of Jeffrey Smith, Foulk, Hutchins and Vansh Patel was fourth (1:36.70), the 1,600 relay team of Foulk, Patel, Carter Snapp and Wes Dunn was fifth (3:45.10) and the 3,200 relay team of Stewart, Snapp, Hayden Maus and Zavier May was sixth (8:44.72).
“We scored in every event,” said Davis. “It was a solid team effort. We are anticipating the return of several veterans, but we have had great contributions from our team depth in their absence.”
