The Ohio High School Athletic Association’s track and field season ended peacefully without any more “Code Red” weather delays on June 7, but Cincinnati’s Divisions I and II athletes still brought the thunder to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Eleven state championships across Divisions I and II went to Cincinnati-area competitors, including some multi-time individual winners.
Here are some highlights from the last day of the OHSAA track and field state championships.
Mason senior Azarae Hawkins wins three state titles
Azarae Hawkins might be committed to a college with a turtle for a mascot, but there’s no doubt she could outrun both tortoise and hare.
Hawkins, a Maryland Terrapins commit, won three state Division I state championships on June 7, including two individual races.
She boomed through the 100-meter race in 11.61 and then took the 200-meter in 23.98. Hawkins secured her third title as a member of the Comets’ 4×100-meter relay squad. The Comets ran the relay in 46.78.
Hawkins just missed a fourth title on the day in the 4×400-meter relay. Mason’s team finished as state runner-up in the race, running in 3:49.63, finishing eight-tenths of second behind Pickerington North.
“Very successful day,” Hawkins said. “I’m very happy with how everything went. This has been a very long goal of mine to win states and it was just a cherry on top to win the 4-by-1.”
The Comets finished third in the team standings with 58 total points, finishing three points behind Hilliard Davidson and 10 behind Division I champion Avon.
Mason senior Austin White also won the shot put state championship. She was the state runner-up in the event a year ago, but returned for her senior campaign with the state’s top seed entering the event. White’s second throw was her best of the day, sailing 44-08 for first, just under a foot better than the runner-up from Avon.
St. Xavier’s Dom Ellis finishes off distance triple crown
For the first time since La Salle’s Doug Bockenstette did it in 1993-1994, a Cincinnati boy finished off the “distance triple crown”: winning the cross country championship in the fall and the outdoor 1,600- and 3,200-meter races in the spring.
St. Xavier senior Dom Ellis became the newest member of the club thanks to his 1,600-meter win on June 7.
Ellis, who won the 3,200-meter on the day before, secured the 1,600 in 4:10:37. The Bomber also won an indoor 3,200-meter race, making him a four-time individual champion in one school year.
“I always give myself a chance whenever I go into every race,” Ellis said. “Always going to go for it whenever I can.”
Turpin’s Claire Iaciofano wins third pole vault championship
Make it not one, not two, but three OHSAA pole vaulting crowns for Turpin’s Claire Iaciofano.
After winning the Division I pole vault title the last two seasons, Iaciofano wrapped up her career with the Spartans competing in the Division II tournament and against fellow pole vaulter Annie McCracken of Granville.
McCracken, who took second to Iaciofano for the second-straight season, cleared 12-06 feet on her first attempt, but missed all three shots at 13-02 feet. Iaciofano cleared 12-02, 12-06 and12-10 on her first tries and needed two to get her championship mark of 13-02.
Loveland’s Caroline Murnan wins second and third titles of the meet
Loveland’s Caroline Murnan was already a state champion from her performance with the Tigers’ 4×800-meter relay team, but the senior added a two more in her final day racing for the Tigers.
Murnan secured both the 200- and 400-meter dash state championships in Division II. In the 200-meter, Murnan ran in 24 seconds flat and had a 55.29 time in her 400-meter run.
Little Miami boys led by 4×400-meter title team
The Little Miami Panthers scored 32 points as a team in the Division I standings, tying for fourth place with Dublin Jerome as the top local team. Wayne won the Division I championship with 55 total points.
The Little Miami boys had individual podium finishers with Ethan Greenwood (5th in 400-meter), Ian Patrick (5th in 1,600-meter) and Ryne Reynolds (runner-up in 3,200-meter), but the 4×400-meter relay team led them all.
In 3:16:90, the Panthers took first in the relay. Their other relay team in the 4×800-meter took third place.
The 4×400-meter relay for Division II boys also went to an Eastern Cincinnati Conference team. The Turpin Spartans won their race in an even faster 3:14.88 time.
Lakota West junior Saniya Taylor wins Division I 400-meter
Lakota West junior Saniya Taylor claimed a championship in the Division I 400-meter race, sailing through her run in 55.04, clearing the runner-up by .34 seconds.
“I think it really just means my hard work has paid off and the amount of mental and physical work that I’ve done has paid off to get to this moment,” Taylor said.
Which Cincinnati athletes in Division I and II finished on the podium?
DI girls 100-meter hurdles: 4. Mikaylah Chandler, Lakota East; 6. Jada Wallace, Middletown
DI girls 100-meter dash: 1. Azarae Hawkins, Mason
DI girls 4×200 meter relay: 7. Walnut Hills (Jasmine Isome, Honesty Billups, Nyla Mack, Alexis Rushing)
DI boys 4×200 meter relay: 5. Mason (Anthony Parker, Dante Appolon, Brandon Birdsong, Jamien Martin)
DI girls 1,600-meter run: 6. Ava Shepard, Lakota West; 8. Elle Campbell, Milford
DI boys 1,600-meter run: 1. Dom Ellis, St. Xavier; 5. Ian Patrick, Little Miami
DI girls 4×100 meter relay: 1. Mason (Azarae Hawkins, Taylor Birdsong, Kate Buckley, Nora Moore); 4. Princeton (Aubrie Todd, Ryann Harris, Ariel Thompson, Alana Morris)
DI boys 4×100 meter relay: 5. Princeton (Tyreke Smith, Jordan Hall, Brandon Martin Jr., Monsanna Torbert); 7. Winton Woods (Isaiah Garrett, Jachai Dubois, Jon’ir Travis, Greg Lawrence)
DI girls 400-meter dash: 1. Saniya Taylor, Lakota West; 4. Tori Killens, Mason
DI boys 400-meter dash: 5. Ethan Greenwood, Little Miami
DI girls 300-meter hurdles: 6. Mikaylah Chandler, Lakota East; 7. Jayda Diawara, Princeton
DI boys 300-meter hurdles: 5. Camden Pham, Lakota East
DI girls 800-meter run: 7. Ava Dickenson, Lakota East
DI girls 200-meter dash: 1. Azarae Hawkins, Mason
DI girls 4×400 meter relay: 2. Mason (Tori Killens, Camryn Renske, Taylor Birdsong, Azarae Hawkins); 6. Princeton (Bre’iel Smiley, Gielynn Frazier, Aubrie Todd, Jayda Diawara)
DI boys 4×400 meter relay: 1. Little Miami (Carson Cherry, Isaiah James, Jaqualon JQ Wayne, Ethan Greenwood); 7. Moeller (Darryl Webb, Brock Grubert, Gavin West, David Boehm)
DI girls discus: 4. Austin White, Mason
DI boys discus: 4. Carter Matthews, Moeller; 8. Koa Anoai, Moeller
DI girls shot put: 1. Austin White, Mason; 4. Eshaal Pasha, Sycamore; 6. Bailey Bacher, Lakota East
DI boys shot put: 6. Koa Anoai, Moeller; 7. Joey Corcoran, Mason
DI girls long jump: 3. Abrianna Bouldin, Colerain; 4. Tazara Prophett, Walnut Hills; 5. Peyton Dews, Little Miami
DI boys long jump: 3. Landen Adams, Moeller
DI girls high jump: 3. Anna Jorden, Milford; 8. Baylee Sakho, Sycamore
DI boys high jump: 4. Teague Boland, Moeller; 5. D.J. Lack, West Clermont
DI boys pole vault: 4. Eric Low, Sycamore
DII boys 110-meter hurdles: 3. Isaac Menke, Batavia
DII boys 100-meter dash: 7. Romello Mitchell, Aiken
DII girls 4×200 meter relay: 8. Mount Notre Dame (Mya Famble-Thompson, Autumn Cherry, Breyon Isham, Kylie Carp)
DII girls 1,600-meter run: 6. Abra Mills, Talawanda; 8. Delaney Cilley, Loveland
DII girls 400-meter dash: 1. Caroline Murnan, Loveland
DII boys 400-meter dash: 3. Chase Spencer, Turpin
DII girls 200-meter dash: 1. Caroline Murnan, Loveland
DII boys 4×400 meter relay: 1. Turpin (Chase Spencer, Carson Hughes, Parker Jones, Evan Overholser); 8. McNicholas (Zayden Harvey, Aidan Beverly, Isaac Troutman, Zarius Harvey)
DII boys high jump: 2. Khaylen Cotton, Northwest
DII girls pole vault: 1. Claire Iaciofano, Turpin
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati athletes win 11 championships Sunday in OHSAA track finals
Reporting by Alex Harrison and Chase Souder, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Alex Harrison and Chase Souder, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
