Ottawa-Glandorf’s Ty Rosengarten and Shawnee’s Noah Williams battle to the finish line in the 1600m run Friday night at Bath’s Ehresman Invitational.
Nate Reynolds | The Lima News
BATH TOWNSHIP – At last Saturday’s Celina Invitational the Ottawa-Glandorf track-and-field program showcased its depth as it won both the girls and boys team titles.
At Friday’s Bath Ehresman Memorial Invitational, Ottawa-Glandorf replicated last weekend’s feat by winning both team titles.
On the girls side, O-G scored 142.5 points compared to second-place Bath’s 108.5 points. Bluffton (71.5), Van Wert (60.5) and Kenton (60) rounded out the top five teams in a field of 11.
For the boys, O-G out-distanced itself from Shawnee, 143-115 to win the team crown. Bluffton (76.5), Bath (69) and Wapakoneta (59) were the top five squads.
The O-G girls were dominant in the relays as well as in the individual events.
“Another great day,” O-G girls coach Matt Burwell said. “Our relays led the way again. We got gold in all four (relays). We put some different pieces in, and times have been really good. For a cold day, and a little windy to start, things went really well today.”
“Savannah Recker had another great day in the long jump. … She went 16 feet, 8 ½ inches, and almost broke the meet record. Our four-by-eight (3,200-meter relay; Liana Fortman, Madelyn Hovest, Corinne Closson, Anna Buddelmeyer) did set the meet record at 9:56. Emma Hoffman won the discus (124-3). So, another good day in the field events, relays and some of the other individual events as well. It was a very good day.”
In the girls 3,200, O-G’s Anna Buddelmeyer pulled away in the second half of the race, en route to a winning time of 11 minutes, 45.5 seconds. Kenton’s Addi Manns was a distant second (12:09.1).
Buddelmeyer, who was All-Ohio in cross country this past fall, has run the outdoor 3,200 just once before Friday’s invite.
“I felt really strong after the first 800 (meters) – even like after the first mile,” Buddelmeyer said. “So, I really want to work on pacing. And I need some good competition to get me going.”
In the girls 400 relay, O-G (Savannah Recker, Emma Heringhaus, Delaney Duling, Averie Fox) won in 51.4 seconds.
In the 800 relay, O-G (Laney Hedrick, Delaney Duling, Emma Heringhaus, Averie Fox) won in 1:49.
O-G’s 1,600 relay (Averie Fox, Rose Turnwald, Brea Recker, Corinne Closson) took first in 4:14.8.
On the boys side, O-G was led by junior Ty Rosengarten.
Rosengarten was part of the winning 3,200 relay (Masen Vogt, Isaac Macke, Ethan Metzger, Rosengarten; 8:21.6), and the 1,600 relay (Deegan Miller, Ethan Metzger, Rosengarten, Masen Vogt; 3:30.3) that finished second to Shawnee (Reece Davidson, Dalton Hopson, Sean Alexander, Noah Williams; 3:28.5).
Rosengarten took first in both the 1,600 (4:35.1) and 800 (2:00.2).
In the 1,600, four runners bunched up in the first three laps.
However, in the final 400 meters, it became a two-man race between Shawnee’s Noah Williams and Rosengarten.
Rosengarten managed to edge out Williams (4:35.6) at the finish.
“My 1,600 strategy was to just sit and kick,” Rosengarten said. “I knew two of the guys were pacers and one of them was a kicker. I knew I had to watch out for Noah Williams. I just kind of told myself, ‘I’m not going to get out ahead and try to be safe for his kick. I’m going to take it head-on and kick with him’.”
In the 800, Rosengarten pulled away from the pack and was never challenged. Bath’s Jacob Wireman finished second (2:00.2).
O-G’s 400 relay (Gavin Morman, Dane Duling, Alec Schroeder, Deegan Miller) clocked a school-record time of 44.04 and notched first place.
“My start is pretty decent,” Morman, the first leg of O-G’s 400 relay said. “So, I tend to be there (as the lead-off). With this cold weather, it’s not easy for sprinters, but we pulled it off.”
Alec Schroeder was surprised with the relay’s fast time on Friday. However, he feels like the relay has a high ceiling.
“With the (weather) conditions, yes, (I’m surprised with) the time that we ran,” Schroeder said. “It’s a bright future for this year, and I can’t wait for what’s to come. We’ve got some fast guys on our team.”
Dane Duling, the second leg for O-G’s 400 relay said he is more focused on what he needs to do, rather than things that are out of his control.
“I’m not really focused on what is going on around me, but just the time I have to run, and on the hand-offs,” Duling said.
Added freshman anchor leg Deegan Miller, “When I get the hand-off, I just try to run as fast as I can. Sometimes I hear people coming from behind and that helps me speed up a little bit. I think it (the times) will go down as time goes on. The hand-offs will get better, and we should get better.”
O-G boys coach Brian Heebsh was pleased with how his team competed, especially the relays.
“We won three of the four (relays), and we were really competitive in the fourth (1,600 relay). We ran a big PR in that mile (1,600) relay team. Shawnee has a great four-by-four (1,600) relay team as well. They (Shawnee) were WBL champs last year,” Heebsh said. “That’s the standard that we’re trying to achieve. Our kids keep getting better and better. That’s kind of our mantra – keep getting better and good things are going to happen. We’re starting to show up on the stopwatches.”
In the boys 3,200, Van Wert’s Owen Scott pulled away from the pack in the final 800 meters, en route to a winning time of 9:52.9. Wapakoneta’s Axton Fosnaugh (9:53.5) and Bryan’s Xander Fackler (9:55.9) finished second and third, respectively.
“I didn’t know how hot (fast) that Xander (Fackler) would get out,” Scott said. “He likes to go out hot, but he actually sat on me, and I was a little scared at the beginning. So, I just sat and waited. Xander made a move to get ahead of me around lap five. In laps six and seven, I said, ‘I just got to go’.”
Full results of the Ehresman Memorial Invitational are on oh.milesplit.com
