By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

COLUMBUS — Many local Darke County athletes competed at the State Track and Field Tournament at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on June 2 and 3. Three different athletes made the podium, the top eight, at states.

In Division III, Ansonia junior Colleen Steinmetz finished as the state runner-up in the girls pole vault with a height of 12-4 feet. That is a new school record and a personal best for Steinmetz.

Steinmetz said it was great to be back at states for another year and set some new records. Overall, she was thrilled with how her junior season went.

“My junior season was very exciting, it was thrilling. I had some rough patches, but every athlete has rough patches. I overcame them,” Steinmetz said. “I worked on technique a lot this year and it paid off at state as I placed second overall.”

In the boys 110 meter hurdles, Versailles senior Colton Reese took third in the qualifying round and then finished in the finals as the state runner-up with a time of 14.89. In the 300 meter hurdles, Reese took sixth in the qualifying round and then took seventh in the finals with a time of 40.07.

Reese said all season long he worked with some great coaches and even better teammates. With their help, he pushed himself with the goal of at least competing in both hurdle events at states.

“I stepped up my game. I told myself all offseason and kept working that I am going to be at state for both hurdles at least. I got here, maybe not finished the best I could but I gave the best I could. I cannot complain with how I’m ending my high school career,” Reese said.

Also competing in the boys 110 meter hurdles, Tri-Village senior Justin Finkbine took fourth in the finals with a time of 14.95. He finished sixth in the qualifying round.

Finkbine said it was a fun experience at states and was glad to be back. He competed in the 110 meter hurdles last season at states and finished eighth then. Once baseball season was finished for him, he turned his attention to the track season.

“I thought I did good. At the end of the year, I focused on track a little bit more. It paid off,” Finkbine said.

In the qualifying rounds, Versailles had a relay team of Reese, Tyler Barga, Conner Gibson and Keegan Gibson compete in the boys 4×200 meters and 4×400 meters relay. They finished 12th in the 200 relay with a time of 1:32.54. They took 11th in the 400 relay with a time of 3:29.66.

In the boys 400 meter dash, Ansonia sophomore Brayden Bromagem took 13th with a time of 51.69. In the boys 1600 meter run, Ansonia junior Matthew Lee took 13th with a time of 4:27.46.

In the field events, Tri-Village senior Loryn Metzcar took 13th in the girls discus with a distance of 111-0 feet. Metzcar took ninth in the shot put with a distance of 38-7.25. Also competing in the shot put was Arcanum freshman Faith Wooten, the only freshman in the field. She finished 14th with a distance of 35-0 feet. In the girls long jump, Tri-Village freshman Adalynn Hines took 14th with a distance of 16-5.25 feet.

In boys shot put, Arcanum senior Eain Parks took 13th with a distance of 48-9 feet. In boys discus, Ansonia junior Garrett Stammen took 13th with a distance of 145-5 feet. In boys pole vault, Franklin Monroe sophomore Nate Good took ninth with a height of 13-6 feet, a new school record.

In the Division II qualifying track events, Versailles senior Lexi Magoto finished 14th in the girls 400 meter dash with a time of 59.70. In the girls 4×400 meter relay, the relay team of Magoto, Katey Litten, Meredith Barga and Miriam Gehret took 11th with a time of 4:07.24.

In the field events, Versailles junior Tori Tyo took 17th in the girls shot put with a distance of 34-8.50 feet. In the girls pole vault, Versailles junior Heidi Stammen took 10th with a height of 11-2 feet.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]