Area athletes eye podium finishes at state championships

WESTERVILLE — The state track and field championships will get underway on Friday at three different high schools in central Ohio. The area will have nine different competitors from three Firelands Conference schools at the Division III championship meet to be held at Westerville North High School. Western Reserve junior and regional champion Jacob Jarrett will compete in two events on Friday within two-plus hours. Jarrett is in Lane 5 in the third and final semifinal heat of the 110 hurdles at 2:45 p.m. on Friday. His time of 15.79 seconds has him fourth in his heat, and 13th overall in the race. At 5 p.m. Friday, Jarrett will then complete in the 300 hurdles in Lane 3 of the third semifinal heat. His time of 40.67 seconds is the second-fastest in his heat, and overall the mark is seventh out of the 18 competitors. The top eight placers who advance to Friday's finals earn All-Ohio honors and a spot on the podium. South Central senior thrower Mason Kiesel will compete in both the shot put (10 a.m. Friday) and the discus (10 a.m. Saturday) for the Trojans. His mark of 49-feet-6.5 inches in the shot is ninth in his first flight and 16th overall. In the discus, his regional mark of 149-feet-6 is fifth in his flight and 12th overall, though he has thrown his personal-best in the 162-feet range twice this season. Kiesel's teammate, junior Trey Beverly, is in Lane 3 of the second semifinal heat in the 400 dash at 4:30 p.m. Friday. His time of 51.55 seconds is sixth in his heat and 10th out of the 18 competitors slated to run. At 3:35 p.m. on Saturday, New London junior Tyler Twining is among the 18 runners in the 800-meter run. His time of 2:00.58 from last week at the Chillicothe regional has him seeded 10th entering the race, though several times in the two-minute range are sandwiched around him, giving him the potential to move into All-Ohio position. On the girls side, New London sophomore Kaitlyn Gum is also a podium contender in the 10 a.m. shot put on Saturday. Her seed distance of 39-feet-2.5 is seventh among the competitors based off last week's regional throws. Also with the seventh-best distance is South Central freshman Angela Williams in the long jump competition (16-feet-11). She will also begin competing in the first flight at 10 a.m. Saturday. South Central freshman Grace Lamoreaux and junior Onalee Keysor will also represent the Trojans. Onalee Keysor (pole vault) and Gracelyn Lamoreaux (100 hurdles) are also competing for the Trojans. At 10 feet, Keysor is tied for the eighth-best height from the regional competition. Lamoreaux will run in the 100 hurdles at 2:30 p.m. Friday in Lane 7 of the first of three semifinal heats. She entered with the 17th-best time in the event based off times from last week. In the 800, Western Reserve senior Aliyah Perez will compete at 3:35 p.m. on Saturday. While her seed time is 14th among the 18 competitors, incredibly over half the field, including Perez (2:22.86) are all seeded within less than a second of each other. DIVISION II Rose, Lesniak eye podium finishes PICKERINGTON — Willard sophomore Destiny Rose will compete in the 800 run at 3:35 p.m. on Saturday with a shot at the All-Ohio podium at the Div. II championships at Pickerington North High School. Rose's program record time of 2:18.13 is the fourth-best time, though two other competitors were just a tenth of a second behind at 2:18.14 from last week. Meanwhile, the Willard girls 4x800 relay team has the 12th-best time out of 18 teams at 2 p.m. Friday. The team is compromised of senior Layla Dials, senior Mckenna Stephens, freshman Lindsay Vogel and Rose. In the 3200 run at 3:50 p.m. on Saturday, Edison senior Abby Lesniak is seeded 10th out of 18 runners. An All-Ohioan in the fall in cross country, Lesniak will look to also end her career on the podium. On the boys side, Edison's Caleb Bell will be in Lane 2 of the second semifinal heat n the 400-meter dash at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. His regional time of 51.45 seconds is fourth-best in his heat and 12th overall out of the 18 competitors scheduled to run. His teammate, Dylan O'Dell, is seeded 11th in the high jump competition on Saturday at 6-feet-2.