Track squad placed fourth overall at state meet
It was a thrilling weekend for the Tippecanoe track squad, as they competed in the OHSAA State Tournament in Columbus. Both the boys and girls teams sent several athletes to the state tournament. Several Red Devil athletes landed on the podium for the top eight competitors from each event.
The boys squad were battling all the way to the final couple of events to challenge for a team Division Two state championship. Tipp finished with 38 points, which gave them a fourth-place overall finish. They were just three points outside of the state title. Big Walnut and New Philadelphia each scored 41, and Avon had 39 to place third. The Tipp girls finished 17th overall as a team in Division Three.
Will and Megan Strong both competed in the prelims, with Will earning a spot in the state finals of the 100 and 200, while Megan fell just short of qualifying in her sprint events. She was 15th in the 100 prelim (12.76) and missed the state finals by one spot by finishing tenth in the 200 with 25.71.
She did come back in the girls long jump, jumping 18’ 2” to finish as the state runner-up in that event. It took a new state record of 19’ 11.5” from Madison Henkel of Shelby to stop Strong from bringing home the title.
Also on the girls side, Maryn Perrault had a good finish in the girls 800, running 2:16.12 as a freshman, putting her on the podium and earning her a seventh place finish in Ohio.
The Tipp 4x2 girls team ran 1:42.43 to finish fourth overall in the state. The 4x8 team also ended up on the podium with an eighth place finish of 9:39.76.
The boys had six top-five state finishes, including a pair of state runner-up places.
Landon Kimmel, who left his mark at Tipp with consecutive state championships in cross country, came down to the wire in both of his distance events at state.
He ran the 3200 meter run, and after falling behind in the final lap, Kimmel exploded to challenge for the title. Down the stretch, Marcus Adelman of New Philadelphia edged out Kimmel by .45 seconds to take the state title, with Kimmel finishing second.
The Tipp senior came back the next day in the 1600 and again had to kick into a different gear after falling behind late in the race. Kimmel caught up to another New Philadelphia runner, Wyatt Lendon, but fell a second short, running 4:12.65 while Lendon ran 4:11.56 to win the state crown.
Will Strong earned a pair of third place finishes in his sprint races. In the 100, he ran 10.52 and missed second by .01 seconds. Jamir Brown ran 10.42 to win the state title in the Division Three 100 meter dash.
Strong then came back in the 200 and was running well again, posting a school-record 21.14 to land third again. Nobody was touching Brown as he set a new state record with 20.91.
Max Deckard placed fifth in Ohio in the long jump, as he had a distance of 22’ 5.5”. While Strong landed seventh with a jump of 22’ 2.75”.
Also placing fifth for Tipp was Trey Sellers, as he jumped 6’ 6” in the high jump to earn Tipp some crucial team points on the day.
Finally for Tipp, Grant Titley qualified for the state 400 meter dash and ran 49.74, placing him 12th in Ohio.
Check back in the upcoming weeks for a follow-up story on the state track meet.
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