Three-peat.
The Perry boys made it three straight titles and the Waynesfield-Goshen girls snared the top honors at Northwest Central Conference track and field and both teams did it with senior leadership.
BOYS
Perry standout Brady Yingst did his thing by winning three events and the Commodores got a number of big contributions from a number of other runners to snare its third straight championship.
Perry finished first with 112 points with Waynesfield-Goshen taking second with 97 points. Ridgemont was third with 82.5 points followed by Elgin with 76 points, Upper Scioto Valley with 71.5 points and Ridgedale with 9 points.
“We had really great senior leadership with Brady and James Shorter and they really stepped up and then on Thursday night our other senior Kobe Ohchieng stepped up (as a member of the 3,200 meter relay team) so we had that other 4×800 win so that set the tone for everything and then we came out today and everyone just did a great job,” Perry head coach Travis Lepley said. “We are really excited about it.
“These seniors have always won and it has been great and you can’t take that away from them.”
Yingst, named the boy’s MVP of the meet, shined with a record-setting day. The Commodore senior opened his day with a first place performance in the 800 with a record-shattering time of 4:17.82. It eclipsed the old mark set by Hardin Northern’s Natham Bame of 4:25.78 set in 2017.
Yingst then followed that up with another record and another first place finish in the 800 meter run as he ran a time of 1:57.74 to beat his own record of 1:58.81 set last year.
A third top place for Yingst came in the 3,200 meter about 20 minutes later when he took top honors with a time of 9:50.4.
“He (Yingst) is better in real life than on paper,” Lepley said. “He is like all-around the best kid. You can count on him as a coach and as a teacher I can count on him as a student and he always does the right thing and leads kids by example and with his words. His leadership will be missed.”
Shorter also had a big day as the Commodore sprinter swept the hurdle events. He garnered first in the 110 meter hurdles with a time of 15.89 and raced to the top spot in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 41.90.
Perry freshman Kimari Glenn provided some valuable points by taking third in the 100 meter run, second in the 400 meter run and he had already placed first in the long jump Thursday.
Waynesfield-Goshen won the 800 and 1,600 meter relays and Hardin Northern garnered first in the 400 meter relay.
Elgin’s Cy Starcher swept the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes.
GIRLS
Waynesfield-Goshen’s Taylor Spencer, named co-MVP of the tournament for the second straight season helped guide the Tigers to a league crown after the standout senior snared first in four events.
Waynesfield-Goshen was first with 161 points, followed by Elgin with 133 points. Hardin Northern took third with 73 points, followed by Temple Christian with 48 points, Ridgemont with 39 points, Ridgedale with 10 points and Upper Scioto Valley with 7 points.
“We are happy for our girls,” Waynesfield-Goshen head coach Jim Epperly said. “We were second last year and they wanted it this year and they did a lot of things they needed to do. Our distance kids did a great job coming in 1-2 and we won the 4×8 and the 4×4. We are excited we won both of those. Our seniors have worked for four years and they are pretty happy and they root for each other and that is what it is.”
Spencer started her day with a first place performance in the 1,600 meter run with a time of 5:38.32 and followed it up with a top showing in the 400 meter run with a time of 1:02. Another first place came in the 800 meter run after she clocked a top time of 2:32.7 and then ended her day with a blue ribbon performance in the 3,200 meter run with a time of 13.11.62.
“I thought it really well today,” Spencer said. “It was hot and the weather kind of got to me in a few of the races especially the distances but I just knew I needed to go for places and not so much for time.
“We really wanted a team championship. We haven’t had one for years now and I am really excited we got one because we worked so hard for it.”
Temple Christian’s Worsham, who shared female tournament MVP honors with Spencer, added to her trophy case. After winning the long jump Thursday, the Pioneer senior swept the hurdle events and won the 200 meter dash. In the 100 meter hurdles, she posted a time of 15.62 and in the 300 meter hurdles she raced to a top time of 48.94. In the 200 meter dash, she clocked a time of 26.85.
“I am really excited and I felt good,” Worsham said. “I was really exhausted and glad that it is over. I thought I did it to the best of my ability. I really just didn’t want to fall over because my legs were too tired and I ran the best that I could.”
Other Tigers helping to the team’s first place were Molly Zechman and Chloe Baugardner who were first and second in the discus Thursday.
The Tiger’s won the 1600 meter relay and 3,200 meter relays. Perry was first in the 800 meter relay with Elgin first in the 400 meter relay.
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