OAK HARBOR — Powered by two individual champions and two first-place relays, the Ontario boys won the two-day Division III district track and field meet that concluded Saturday.
Jace Young won the 800 (1:54.95) and Xavier Trent won the 1600 (4:22.41) as Ontario out-distanced Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference rival Clear Fork for the team crown by a 118.5-85 margin.
The Warriors also got firsts from their 4×200 relay team (1:29.06) and 4×800 relay crew (8:07.97). Running on the sprint relay were Elton Toska, Brady Rowe, Tre Fowler and Jermel Powell. Collaborating in the 4×800 were Trent, Young, Michael Ward and Xander Chitwood.
In a great relay battle, Clear Fork won the 4×100 in 42.44, holding off Shelby (42.46) and Ontario (42.72). Making up the winning quartet were Aidan Haring, brothers Davis and Marcus Hoeflich and Devyn Oswalt.
Davis Hoeflich, a state high jump runner-up in 2024, won a district title in his specialty, clearing 6-4. The Clear Fork boys had another individual champ in Ethan Beck, thanks to his winning effort in the 400 dash (50.56). Teammate Landen McKee was third in that same race as the top four placers in each event automatically qualified for regional competition in Piqua.
Bellevue won the girls meet with 112 points, finishing ahead of runner-up Lexington (100). Rounding out the top six were Oak Harbor (80), Ontario (68), Clear Fork (65) and Shelby (54).
Shelby’s reigning state long jump champ Madison Henkel won a district title with a leap of 17-10 and also ran on the winning 4×100 relay team (48.60) with Princess Timko, Ashley Montgomery and Yamiah Williams.
Like her relay mate Henkel, Timko also won an individual district championship, claiming the 100 dash (12.25).
Clear Fork had two individual champs in Taylor Bly and Katrina Neal. Bly won the 400 dash (55.84) and Neal captured the 1600 (5:07.88).
The 3200 race had a fantastic finish, with Lex’s Katya Prykhodko winning in 11:10.93 to nip teammate Brailey Slone (11:11.05) and Neal, the 1600 champ (11:11.08). One week earlier, Prykhodko and Slone finished one-two in the 3200 to help Lex win its fifth straight Ohio Cardinal Conference title.
Saturday’s relay finals on the girls side were dominated by local teams. In the aforementioned 4×100, Shelby’s 48.60 was good enough to hold off Ontario (49.83) and Lex (49.93).
In the 4×200, the Ontario foursome of Mia Moton, Tessa Crum, Sasha Bulakovski and Audrey Mahon ran a 1:42.22 to beat Clear Fork (1:43.32) and Lex (1:43.9) to the wire.
In the 4×400, Mahon, Bulakovski and Crum collaborated with Kamryn Pelphrey to win in 3:56.30, finishing just ahead of Clear Fork (3:56.41) and Lex (3:59.41).
On Thursday, the Lex girls kicked things off by winning the 4×800 in 9:47.41. Members of the winning team were Jersie Palmer, sisters Gabi and Mia Twedt and Morgan Harrod.
By virtue of their top four finishes, these other girls automatically qualified for the regional meet in Piqua:
100 dash – 2. Audrey Mahon, Ontario
200 dash – 2. Allison Laury, Lexington
400 dash – 4. Audrey Mahon, Ontario
800 – 2. Mia Twedt, Lexington; 4. Quinn Stover, Clear Fork
1600 – 2. Gabi Twedt, Lexington; 3. Katya Prykhodko, Lexington
4×800 relay – 3. Ontario
Discus – 2. Braylee Sturts, Shelby
High jump – 3. Asia Bechtel, Clear Fork
Pole vault – 2. Mikaela Guegold, Ontario
Boys who automatically qualified for the Piqua regional included:
100 dash – 3. Jermel Powell, Ontario; 4. Tre Fowler, Ontario
200 dash – 3. Jermel Powell, Ontario; 4. Tre Fowler, Ontario
800 – 4. Xander Chitwood, Ontario
1600 – 3. Michael Ward, Ontario
3200 – 2. Ashton Drozda, Ontario; 3. Rylan Baker, Ontario
110 hurdles – 2. Gavin Baker, Shelby
300 hurdles – 4. Dalton Downs, Shelby
4×200 relay – 3. Clear Fork; 4. Shelby
4×400 relay – 2. Ontario; 4. Clear Fork
4×800 relay – 4. Shelby
Shot put – 2. Nathan Wine, Clear Fork; 3. Clayton Mitchell, Shelby
Discus – 3. Maddix Smith, Ontario; 4. Julian Mills, Clear Fork
High jump – 4. Gavin Miller, Shelby
Pole vault – 4. Owen Weiser, Clear Fork
Long jump – 2. Jacob Chambers, Galion; 3. Nash Evans, Clear Fork
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ontario boys bring home Division III district track and field crown
Reporting by Jon Spencer, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
