Alivia Grothause takes the baton from Emma Heringhaus in the 4x200-meter relay Monday at the Gold Medal Meet at Ottawa-Glandorf High School.
Jessica Trinko | The Lima News
OTTAWA – The weather was not favorable this past Friday when the Ottawa-Glandorf Gold Medal Meet was scheduled to take place, so it was moved to Monday when the warmer and less windy weather conditions seemed to be to the liking of the Ottawa-Glandorf track-and-field program.
Ottawa-Glandorf ran away with both the boys and girls team titles at Monday’s Gold Medal Meet.
The O-G boys team scored 148.66 points, compared to second-place Bath’s 82.33 points. Bluffton (80), Liberty-Benton (64), Elida (54), Van Wert (53) and Otsego (45) rounded out the seven squads.
On the girls side, O-G recorded 145 points, compared to Bath’s 101 points. Liberty-Benton (82), Otsego (70), Bluffton (63.50), Van Wert (45) and Elida (20.50) rounded out the field.
“It helps having beautiful weather. I’m very glad that we moved it from Friday to today,” O-G girls coach Matt Burwell said. “The (girls) four-by-eight (3,200 relay – Rose Turnwald, Brea Recker, Corinne Closson, Anna Buddelmeyer; first place in 9 minutes,32.83 seconds) broke the meet record. Then, we turned around and our four-by-two (800 relay –Laney Hedrick, Emma Heringhaus, Alivia Grothause, Averie Fox; first place 1:43.97) was like 2/10 of a second off the school record, and it was the meet record. Our four-by-one (400 relay – Laney Hedrick, Delaney Duling, Savannah Recker, Averie Fox; 49.94) breaks 50 seconds and breaks the Gold Medal record. Then our four-by-four (1,600 relay – Corinne Closson, Liana Fortman, Emma Heringhaus, Anna Buddelmeyer; 4:05.41, second place) just ran a six or seven second PR for the season.
“Emma Hoffman had a great day in the shot (put) and discus. She got first in the discus and second in the shot. Savannah Recker was ¾ of an inch from 17 feet (in the long jump). Anna Buddelmeyer won the 1,600 (5:15.56). (Corinne) Closson and (Liana) Fortman went one-two in the 800. We are beating our times from what we were running in June at last year’s state meet. It’s April and we have a lot of things to do, and we’re going to get better. We’ll see what happens,” Burwell said.
Hoffman, who was a Division II state qualifier two years ago in the discus, nearly set an all-time personal best on Monday in the discus with a winning toss of 139 feet, 8 inches. Hoffman finished second in the shot put on Monday with a mark of 36-10.5.
Hoffman said that she has focused on her mechanics and mental approach this season.
“(I) just want to be consistent and have like a good mental game -whether I foul the first one or not,” Hoffman said. “Just kind of staying in it and making sure that I advance on my marks and improve my technique and not get stressed. … The distance will come.”
Bath senior Tatum Walsh won the 400 (58.66) and 200 (25.55) on Monday.
Walsh also was the anchor leg of Bath’s 1,600 relay (Hailey Hale, Isabella Bartlett, Gwyneth Foust, Walsh) that won in 4:05.22. Walsh also finished a close second to Van Wert’s Kendra Deehring in the 100. Deehring won in 12.55, while Walsh crossed the finish line in 12.75.
Last spring, Walsh was a Division II state qualifier in the 400.
“I would say that I’m better at the 400, but the 400 is really painful,” Walsh said with a grin. “The 200 is my favorite, but the field this year in the 200 is so fast. So, I think I’ll have more opportunity in the 400.”
On the boys side, O-G scored well in nearly all of the events on Monday.
“We had a lot of guys do really well,” O-G boys coach Brian Heebsh said. “We have a lot of juniors that are going to be three-year lettermen. So, there’s a lot of experience. We have a lot of kids that love track, and they’ve been working hard.
“Tonight, we had a great number of kids that had just not PRs, but big PRs, and just really pushed the envelope way out there. … That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to keep a good upward arc. Tonight, I think we increased the slope a little bit. So, it’s going to be a challenge to continue on that path. They love competing. Good things can happen when there’s a good positive culture. And they’re all in.”
The O-G boys team started Monday’s meet off with a new meet record in the 3,200 relay (Isaac Macke, Ethan Metzger, Masen Vogt, Ty Rosengarten) with a winning time of 8:09.32.
Rosengarten came back later in the 3,200 and pulled away for a win in a new meet-record time of 9:34.26. In fact, Liberty-Benton’s Jackson Hochstettler (second, 9:37.59) and Van Wert’s Owen Scott (third, 9:37.79) also broke the old meet record.
Less than a week ago, Rosengarten broke his own school record in the 3,200 when he clocked a winning time of 9:31.11.
“Last year at this time, I think I ran just below 10 minutes,” Rosengarten said. “This year, I think I’m a lot fresher. The training is a lot better. When it comes time to race, I know I can run fast times.”
O-G freshman Deegan Miller won the 100 (11.27) and 200 (22.69) on Monday. Miller also was part of O-G’s winning 400 relay (Gavin Morman, Dane Duling, Trevor Rump, Miller; 44.34).
Elida sophomore Elisha Reddick won the 400 (51.14) and was fourth in the 200 (23.45) on Monday. Reddick was last year’s Western Buckeye League champion in the 400.
“It’s usually not as warm as it is today,” Reddick said. “So, I just want to give all the glory to God for this weather and for me to have the energy to run.”
*Complete results from Monday’s Gold Medal Meet are on oh.milesplit.com
