COLUMBUS — The Ontario Warriors earned their repeat.
For the second consecutive year, the girls 4×400-meter relay state championship is coming back to Ontario as Kamryn Pelphrey, Tessa Crum, Sasha Bulakovski and Audrey Mahon posted the winning time of 3:53.43 in Division III. They stood proud in front of a jam-packed crowd at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University at the Jesse Owens Ohio High School Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships on Saturday, June 6.
“It is such an amazing feeling,” Mahon said. “I am so happy I got to do it with these three girls. Sending Tessa and Sasha out with a state championship in their final season and then bringing Kamryn under our wings has been an incredible experience. She came in three weeks late to the season and when we saw her run, we knew she was the perfect fit to be our teammate.”
Crum, Bulakovski and Mahon were members of the 2025 Division II state championship 4×400 squad that was the first state title relay team in Ontario girls track program history.
“It’s been amazing to come back and do it again,” Mahon said. “We have been the underdogs this season, but today, we showed who we really are.”
Pelphrey was the newcomer to the team in 2026 and the youngster more than held her own this year.
“It has been an incredible season with these three,” Pelphrey said. “It was so intimidating at first because they were state champions last year. They already have a major legacy. To come out and run with the three of them meant so much to me.”
She admitted she learned a lot about being a champion from her trio of title-owning teammates.
“I never would have expected to be a part of this team and contributing to a state championship,” Pelphrey said. “They pushed me to a level I didn’t know was in me and I owe so much to them.”
It wasn’t the dominant season the Warriors had a year ago, but they have added layers of success all season long. At last week’s Division III regional championships at Piqua High School, the Warriors took second with a 3:55.27 behind Richland County rival Clear Fork.
“It was so challenging to go into every meet and not get the results we wanted,” Bulakovski said. “Last week, getting beat, pushed us and told us this was our time to go.”
A lot of it had to do with the pressure of being a defending state champion. It was pressure they didn’t handle well at first, but found a way to overcome it and win a state title again.
“Last year, we won and that just added so much pressure to this season,” Bulakovski said. “We had a lot to live up to with our success last year that it was a very emotional season. Our coach, Rachel Miller, was so helpful to us and taught us how to get through it all.”
The quartet won the 76th Marion Night Invitational with a 3:57.45 before cruising to a Division II district championship with a 3:56.30. They also took second at the Colonel Crawford Grove/Keller Invite back on April 2 and second at the Walsh Jesuit John Hesenstab Warrior Relays on April 18. They were runners-up at the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference championships with a 4:08.01 without Mahon as the anchor.
Spending all season chasing that team from 2025, the 2026 squad finally caught it with another state championship, the first time in program history any athlete or relay team won two consecutive state championships.
It was a moment that made Crum overwhelmed with emotion. That and complete exhaustion after a four-hour weather delay pushed the race back to nearly 11 p.m.
“It was just so much excitement coming out all at once,” Crum said. “To repeat as a state champion is incredible. I was overwhelmed and still very sad because I am leaving Audrey and Kamryn behind to try and do it again next year. It was an emotional day.”
Mahon overcame a busy day after running in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter relay before the 4×400 on a rolling schedule due to the weather delay. Exhausted, she left it all on the track in that final 400 meters.
“It was a lot of grit and determination,” Mahon said. “I was determined. I have been working so hard in the weight room all through the off season and one of my goals was to win another state title with my girls and it’s awesome all that work paid off.”
It paid off in the way of another state championship.
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Ontario Female State Champions
1986: Cara Craze – 300-meter hurdles
2006: Krystal Barnhill – Shot Put
2009: Kelly Barnhill – Shot Put
2017: Rachel Miller – 300-meter hurdles
2025: Arialyn Bischak, Tessa Crum, Sasha Bulakovski, Audrey Mahon – 4×400-meter relay
2026: Kamryn Pelphrey, Tessa Crum, Sasha Bulakovski, Audrey Mahon – 4×400-meter relay.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Ontario Warriors go back-to-back for 4×400-meter relay state title
Reporting by Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal | USA TODAY Network
