Photos by Steven Wright | Greene County News
Legacy Christian junior Caroline Hamilton was all smiles after her race after she made the podium in the D-III girls 1600 meters.
Carroll senior Neil Tivakaran runs the third leg of his team’s Division II boys 4 x 400 relay preliminary heat. Tivakaran was a member of the 4 x 800 team which won a state championship earlier Friday at the OHSAA State Track and Field Championships.
Carroll senior Kyle Heilmann competed in the Division II boys high jump finals on Friday. He cleared 6’ 0” but was unable to advance past the next height.
Beavercreek freshman Faith Brown moved on to the finals of the D-I girls 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.74 seconds.
Beavercreek junior Kayleigh Keyes will have a chance to make the podium for the third time at state after advancing to the finals of the D-I girls 400 meters.
Beavercreek junior Kaden Ellerbe got second in his heat for the D-I boys 400 meters and qualified for Saturday’s final.
Beavercreek sophomore Aaden Hildebrand helped the boys 4 x 400 relay team run the fastest time in the prelims on Friday to advance to Saturday’s final.
Beavercreek junior Zoe Roll got sixth in the prelims for the seated girls 100 meters with a time of 30.24 seconds.
Cedarville sophomore Ellie Mark got her first experience at state with a 16th place run in the D-III girls 3200 meter finals.
Cedarville senior Isaac Wallis ran to 17th place in the D-III boys 3200 meters.
DAYTON — Carroll began day two of the OHSAA State Track and Field Championships by winning a state title.
The boys 4 x 800 relay team won the Division II finals in the event for the Patriots. The team of Neil Tivakaran, Becket Nash, Logan Arnold and Andrew Janson ran a time of 7:49.65 to prevail by 1.82 seconds over a team from Marlington. The victory completed a sweep of titles along the path to state after they also won district and regional championships.
Marlington’s team came into the competition with best qualifying time from regionals, but Carroll improved upon its time by nearly six seconds to finish in first.
The girls side also qualified for the finals in the same event. They finished in ninth place in the first race of the day. Ruby Gross, Melanie Hoffman, Maggie Poor and Anna Thurman ran a time of 9:41.90.
Kyle Heilmann competed in the finals for the boys high jump. The Carroll senior cleared the initial six-foot bar on his second attempt, but was unable to get over 6-feet, 2-inches. After clipping the bar on his first two leaps, he did not get to make his third after he stopped himself in front of the bar during his run up but was ruled by judges to have crossed the boundary line and therefore was declared to have made his attempt.
Carroll’s boys 4 x 400 team ran second in its heat and had the fifth fastest time overall in the preliminaries. There was a brief delay before results were posted in order to determine if a foul had occurred during the race that was determined to have not happened.
Division III
Legacy Christian junior Caroline Hamilton not only improved her positioning from state a year ago, but was able to make a late race adjustment this year to get onto the podium for the first time.
Hamilton got eighth place in the D-III girls 1600 meters with a time of 5:06.21 on Friday evening.
She made state in the 800 meters in 2023 and just wanted to soak in that experience after qualifying. Possessing more exposure of the event to lean on and competing in a new race, Hamilton said it lessened the stress and helped enable her to run her race.
Hamilton found herself near the back of the pack early in Friday’s final as the 17 other runners jumbled together down onto her from her inside lane starting spot. She ran in either 12th or 13th for most of the race, but pushed her way to the front on the final lap.
“I did not expect to place,” she said. “I mean, I thought I was in like 12th so I did not expect to place,” she said. “That was a stretch goal for me, but I’ve never been on the podium before at state. I’m grateful to have done it.”
Cedarville had two runners compete in the 3200 meters finals.
Ellie Mark got 16th in the girls race with a time of 11:50.75. Isaac Wallis ran immediately after in the boys finals and came in 17th with a time of 9:51.45.
Division I
Beavercreek’s Faith Brown qualified for the finals of the girls 100 hurdles.
Brown’s time of 14.74 was seventh fastest overall in prelims, and had the quickest time of a non-top two finisher after she ran third in the first heat of the competition. She advanced to the finals on Saturday by .02 seconds with five of the nine fastest times coming from her race.
Also advancing were two 400 meter runners. Kayleigh Keyes, a former state champion in the girls event, won her heat with a time of 56.66 that was good for third overall in the prelims. Joining her in the finals on Saturday from the boys run will be Kaden Ellerbe. He finished second in his heat and fifth overall with a time of 47.96.
The boys 4 x 400 relay team came in with the 12th fastest time out of regionals, but ran quicker than anyone in prelims on Friday. Their time of 3:16.81 was the best of the eight teams to advance by .82 seconds over Lexington from a different heat.
Zoe Roll of Beavercreek also qualified for the seated 100 meter finals with her third place finish in prelims. She also placed sixth in the seated shot put.
2024 STATE TRACK AND FIELD SCHEDULE
SATURDAY
10:35 a.m. — D-II — Logan Arnold, Boys 1600m finals (Carroll)
11:25 a.m. — D-II — Andrew Janson, Boys 800m finals (Carroll)
12:25 p.m. — D-II — 4x400m Boys relay finals (Carroll)
3:30 p.m. — D-I — Faith Brown, Girls 100m hurdles finals (Beavercreek)
4:07 p.m. — D-I — Jackson Brown, Boys 1600m finals (Beavercreek)
4:15 p.m. — D-I — Kayleigh Keyes, Girls 400m finals (Beavercreek)
4:22 p.m. — D-I — Kaden Ellerbe, Boys 400m finals (Beavercreek)
5:40 p.m. — D-I — 4x400m Boys relay finals (Beavercreek)
Contact Steven Wright at 937-502-4498 and follow on X (formerly Twitter) @Steven_Wright_.
