BYESVILLE - Athens beware.
A deep and impressive cast of Ohio Valley girls' thinclads is coming your way for the Division II Track and Field Regional Championship, which opens Thursday afternoon at The Plains High School.
The invitations to the regional championship, which is just one step from the ultimate goal of the OHSAA State Track and Field Championship at The Ohio State University in Columbus, were decided Saturday under pleasant conditions at Meadowbrook High School.
Basically, a triangular track meet between eventual District winner John Glenn, runnerup St. Clairsville and Steubenville erupted as those schools combined to win 12 of the 17 events contested. The Lady Lil' Muskies finished with 117.5, while the Lady Red Devils tallied 100 and Lady Big Red posted 82 markers.
The Lady Red Devils advanced in nine events. Talented junior Alyssa Robinson, who placed third in the shot put at the state meet last season, began her quest for Columbus with two victories this weekend. On her first throw of Saturday's shot put competition, she unleashed her best mark since early April at 44-3. That distance is just a fourth of an inch shy of her personal best.
She won the discus on Thursday with a personal and school best mark of 117-4.
Junior Amy Castle returned to the Lady Devils' lineup and advanced in two individual events. She was the champion in the 3200 meter run, posting a 12:29.29. She was third in the 1600 with a time of 5:28.07. Classmate Julianna Madzia was the 1600 meter run champion in 5:22.04 and finished four hundredths of a second in back of Castle in the longer race.
Sophomore Ayla Stewart is headed to her first regional as an individual. She qualified in the 200 meter dash by virtue of a third place finish in 27.32.
Senior Taryne Soukup qualified in the long jump with a mark of 15-0 1/4.
In the relays, the Lady Red Devils' 4x100 and 4x200 teams also qualified with times of 51.91 and 1:50.32. Those teams join the 4x8, which qualified on Thursday in a time of 10:32.68.
Steubenville, which won the OVAC 4A title earlier this month, had a strong day of advancing and produced three district champions. Junior Queen Elder was the 400 meter dash champion in a time of 59.99.
The Lady Big Red also prevailed in the 4x200 in 1:48.28 and 4x400 in 4:16.54.
Senior Jasmine Ware was second in the 100 meter dash in 13.03. Junior Cierra Macon was third in the high hurdles with a time of 17.71. Sophomore Paige Phillips earned a spot in the 200 and 400 meter dash fields with a pair of silver medals. She ran times of 27.02 and 61.02, respectively.
Sophomore Aliah Stinson qualified in the 800 thanks to a fourth place finish in a time of 2:34.66.
Edison, which has been solid all season, qualified well, too. The Lady Wildcats were led by a district championship from sophomore Katelyn Pollock, who cleared 5-2 in the high jump. She was fourth in the 400 in 61.84.
Senior Nhung Tran was fourth in the 100 (13.33), while sophomore Ashley Borsch qualified in both the high and low hurdles. She was second in the highs (16.81) and fourth in the lows (49.22). Edison's 4x100 team was fourth in 52.02.
Sophomore Shaniah Carpenter was fourth in the pole vault during Thursday's action with an 8-foot vault.
Union Local will send a trio of individuals. Senior Arika Kemp won the pole vault on Thursday with a clearance of 9-6. Also on Thursday, frosh Mikayla Patton advanced in the discus with a mark of 104-11.
Junior Casey Glenn qualified in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:30.71, which was good enough for third place.
Indian Creek's 4x400 and 4x800 teams both qualified after placing third. The 1600 squad ran a 4:24.52 and the 3200 team posted a 10:33.82.
