Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
The Eastwood track program capped a highly successful season for both the boys and girls with several podium performances at the Jesse Owens OHSAA State Track & Field Championships June 4-5.
GIRLS LED BY RELAYS, FOUR-EVENT STATE QUALIFIERS
On the girls side, Eastwood had three of its four relay teams compete at state and each of them landed in the podium.
The 4x100 team of Josie Appelhans, Macy Shoemaker, Lauren Schuerman and Macie Bradley finished sixth in a time of 49.85, just ahead of Spencerville’s 49.86. In doing so, they finished just shy of the school record of 49.49.
The 4x400 team of Foos, Schuerman, Ava Majzun and Gabby Provo also finished sixth in 4:04.16, just behind Patrick Henry’s 4:03.85.
The 4x200 team finished seventh. The group of Schuerman, Appelhans, Camille Foos and Sophie Gillespie ran a time of 1:44.86, coming in just behind Bluffton’s 1:44.66 and just ahead of Elmwood’s 1:45.56. In the semifinals, though, they established a school-record time of 1:44.13, which was 21 years old.
In the individual race portion of the event, Appelhans ran a 25.86 in the 200-meter dash, which allowed her to finish seventh and assume a spot on the podium. The time was just shy of her school record time of 25.54, which she established in the regional final.
Appelhans was a four-event state qualifier, earning a spot in the 100-meter, as well. However, she chose not to run that. Foos, who also competed in the high jump and long jump, and Schuerman, who competed in long jump, were also four-event state qualifiers.
That trio joined Katelyn Meyer (2016, 2017) as the only four-event qualifiers in program history. In fact, aside from Meyer’s three-event qualification in 2018, no others have qualified in at least three events.
In the long jump, Schuerman (11th) and Foos (14th) failed to qualify for the finals, having to jump just after the 4x400 relay for the first time. In the high jump, Foos cleared 5-0 to finish in a three-way tie for 14th.
Jenna Gallant rounded out Eastwood’s performance at state by breaking her own school record in the seated 100, finishing in a time of 33.06 to come in seventh. She also checked in seventh in the seated shot put with a throw of 9-6 ½.
Eastwood’s girls finished 26th in the Division IV team standings.
BOYS COMPETE IN FOUR RELAYS, THREE FIELD EVENTS
On the boys side, the 4x400 relay team of Zach Mullholand, Austin Miller, Collin Brogan and Henry Howard captured a fourth-place finish, finishing in 3:25.15.
The Eagles also had the other three relay squads compete at state.
The 4x800 team of Miller, Howard, Ben Buehler and Casen Henline finished 17th in the finals, while the 4x100 and 4x200 teams weren’t able to qualify for the finals but still finished the season among the best in the state.
Although he qualified for state in the 400-meter race, Miller didn’t compete.
In field events, Hunter Lauer competed in both the discus and shot put, finishing fifth and 12th, respectively, while Cullen Shank tied for seventh in pole vault.
After qualifying for the finals in discus, Lauer’s top throw of 171-06 was good for fifth, topping Kirtland’s 169-03 and tying his PR. His 12th-place finish in shot put included a top throw of 51-05.50.
Meanwhile, Shank cleared 13-06 in the pole vault, tying Kade Schwartz of Versailles to earn his place on the podium.
Overall, Eastwood finished 21st in the team standings.
