ST. PARIS — Eaton’s boys and girls track teams each finished 8th in at the Graham Division II district meet Saturday, May 19.
Eaton coach Randy McKinney said the coaching staff was very excited with the overall effort and placement of their athletes at the district championship meet.
The boys finished up 8th overall in a field of 16 team while the girls also finished up 8th in a field of 18 teams.
Preble Shawnee’s boys finished 12th at the Piqua Division II meet with 13 points.
The girls 4×100 relay and the district champion 4×200 relay qualified through to the regional meet, while Tyler Pittman individually qualified in the long jump. The men’s team qualified Chase Smith in the discus and Alex Newport in the 1,600-meter run.
Smith started out on Thursday with a 3rd place finish in the discus with a personal best throw of 157 feet, 8 inches.
“He’s worked hard over the last few years coming up short last year, but did an excellent job qualifying on to the regional meet this year,” McKinney said.
Junior Tyler Pittman jumped 14-5 in the long jump Saturday which placed her 4th overall also qualifying her to the regional championships.
“Tyler’s been very inconsistent through the middle of the season in the long jump so it was great to see her get it all together and jump a personal best jump to qualify on to the Regional meet,” McKinney said.
Alex Newport ran a 4:44.47 in the men’s 1600 meter run which placed him 3rd overall qualifying him on to the regional this week.
“Alex ran a very smart race against a very talented field of 1600 meter runners by placing himself in a position during the race that allowed him to move up a place or two over each of the first three laps of the race. Then with ¾ of a lap to go he made a strong move into 3rd place cruising across the line with a strong finish,” McKinney said.
The girls 4×100 and 4×200 relays consisting of Tyler Pittman, Kendall Combs, Kylee Kidwell and Makenzie Cooper had a big day. The 4×100 relay placed 3rd overall in 52.92 and the 4 x 200 relay easily outdistanced the field with a finishing time of 1:51.98 to capture the district championship in the 4×200.
“All four girls ran strong races in both relays making both races very exciting to watch,” McKinney said.
“Overall just a very tough district championship meet. We had multiple individual and relay teams season and even career bests that were good enough to place, but not quite good enough to qualify through to the regional championships,” McKinney said. “It’s always especially tough when you individually or with a relay place 5th overall and don’t qualify on the regional meet, but anytime you can go into a district meet as tough as the Graham D-II District and place in the top 8 it’s quite an accomplishment.”
Other Eagle placers:
5th Place – Tyler Gregory – 100 meter dash – 11.62
8th Place – Kylee Kidwell – 100 meter hurdles – 18.40
7th Place – Tyler Pittman – 100 meter dash – 13.57
7th Place – Boys 4 x 200 Relay – 1:36.52 – Michael Watkins, KeAnthony Bales, Logan Sizemore, Dylan Suding
8th Place – Katie Bassler – 1600 meter run – 5:59.81
8th Place – Todd Coates – 1600 meter run – 4:50.57
6th Place – Makenzie Cooper – 200 meter dash – 27.57
8th place – Tyler Gregory – 200 meter dash – 23.74
8th place – Boys 4 x 100 Relay – 45.67 – Seth Hodapp, Tyler Gregory, Sylan Suding, Michael Watkins
8th Place – Girls 4 x 400 Relay – 4:34.91 – Jenna Aukerman, Gabby Best, Bella Hurd, Kendall Combs
5th Place – Boys 4 x 400 Relay – 3:34.96 – Tyler Gregory, Darius Benton, LeKendric Brown, Dyaln Suding
7th Place – Mallory Deaton – Discus – 95’ 2”
7th Place – Chase Smith – Shot Put – 43’ 3”
8th Place – Brooke Caplinger – Long Jump – 13’ 10 1/2”
8th Place – Kylee Moore – Pole Vault – 7’ 6”
7th Place – Girls 4 x 800 Relay – 10:58.67 – Sasha Taxter, Destiny Brubaker, Brooke Caplinger, Claire Meyer
8th Place – Boys 4 x 800 Relay – 9:32.16 – Jack Bortell, Austin Kopf, Kameron Sandifer, Garrett Sanders
5th Place – Braden Clabaugh – Pole Vault – 11’ 0”
The girls 4×100 relay, 4×200 relay and Chase Smith will compete Thursday at Piqua with the field events starting at 5 p.m pm and running events starting at 6:30 pm.
Tyler Pittman and Alex Newport will compete on Saturday at Piqua with the field events starting at 11 a.m. and the running starting at 12:30 p.m.
For Preble Shawnee, senior Chase Thomson placed second in the long jump with a leap of 21-6.25 to advance to the regional. He also placed sixth in the high jump clearing 5-8.
Dakota Keeler was seventh in the pole vault clearing 10-6.
