A number of Ohio-based OVAC athletes got their first real taste of state-sanctioned athletic competition in Hilliard on Saturday during the OHSAA 7th and 8th grade championship meet.
While no golds were brought back to the Ohio Valley, the area was represented well with a number of placers, including three bronze and one silver winner.
One individual, Caldwell eighth grader Gwyn Lori, placed in two events, earning 14 points herself and helping Caldwell finish 10th in the girls’ team standings.
Pressure competing on the state’s biggest (middle school) stage wasn’t a factor, but the Redskins throwing ace did appreciate the bump in competition.
“It was really exciting to have really tough competition all around,” Lori said. “But I tried to view it as any other meet, so I would not get worked up.”
Lori’s afternoon was met with equal parts elation and disappointment.
While shot put is the better of her two events, she started with discus along with teammate Laurana Lashley. The tandem finished 1-2 at the OVAC Junior High Championships, with Lashley edging her teammate.
Saturday, Lori shattered her previous PR of 90-3 with a toss of 98 even on her fourth throw. She earlier broke her previous PR with a 92-09 on her third throw. The winning throw was 113-06 by Isabelle Perry of Perry Edison. Lashley finished in 15th at 83-6, one spot behind Bellaire’s Alyson Vingia, who threw 83-07.
Lori finished third, a better placing than she expected. That excitement was tempered, however, when she didn’t meet her own expectations in the shot.
Lori’s best throw of the day came on her final one, 41-9½. She finished with four above 41 feet. But she finished second as Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy’s McKenzie Neal threw 43-11 for the win. Lori came in with a PR of 46-7, so she was disappointed she wasn’t able to win gold.
“I was not expecting third in the disc, so that was a surprise, but I wasn’t happy with my shot performance,” she said. “But now it’s time to get back to work and prepare for my first high school season. It was a bit of a damper on the day, but getting two medals was nice.”
Lori has her sites set on qualifying for states her freshman season. That requires an upgrade to the 8-pound shot from the middle school weight of 6-pounds for girls. She also plans to implement a full rotation, as she currently utilizes the glide technique.
“This just gives me more motivation and grit to make it to states my freshman year with the older kids,” Lori admitted. “I’m going to work on it during the winter and try some indoor meets as well to get ready.”
Success All Around
While Lori was the highest finisher and the only one to place in multiple events as an individual, she was not the only local athlete to taste success in Hilliard.
Her teammate on the boys’ side, fellow eighth grader Ethan Crock, also won third place in the discus. Crock bested his PR in the event by two inches, 139-07 to 139-05, to claim bronze. The winning throw was 154-01.
St. Clairsville’s Ryan Ivey also PR’d in the disc, improving from 132-7 to 133-9 to finish in fifth. Ivy came up short in the shot put, finishing 12th with a throw of 41-9. But Cambridge’s Quincey Wilson was able to PR in the shot, as his 41-11½ vaulted the Bobcat into eighth place.
Harding’s Will Taylor finished third in the long jump with a leap of 20-4¼. He was less than an inch off the winning jump of 20-5. East Liverpool’s Gavin Wright tied for fourth in the high jump at 5-8, one inch off the winning mark.
On the girl’s side, Harding Middle School saw two individual placers and two relay teams score points.
Individually, Alivia Vostatek finished eighth in the high jump at 4-9, one spot behind Warren’s Sydney Starcher, who came in seventh at 4-10.
The Stallions’ Sena Smith also came in seventh, with a 16-4½ leap in the long jump.
Dover’s Ava Zobel was the lone OVAC athlete to place in an individual running event when she finished sixth in the 400 in a time of 1:00.56. She also helped the Tornadoes’ girls 4×400 team to a fifth-place finish.
Speaking of relays, Harding showed off some of its team speed with a 5th-place finish in the 4×100 and a fourth in the 4×200.
