PIQUA — Thirteen Versailles track and field athletes qualified for state with their performances in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II regional meet at Piqua.
Versailles’ boys finished as the regional runner-up to Dunbar while the Versailles girls finished third in the regional behind Bellefontaine and Van Wert as Tiger athletes qualified for state in 13 events — 10 individual events and three relays.
Senior Josh Steinbrunner led the way for Versailles’ boys as he qualified for state in three events — the 110 meter hurdles, 300 meter hurdles and high jump. Senior Ellen Peters also qualified for state in three events — the girls 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400 meter relays.
Senior Joe Spitzer won a pair of regional championships and qualified for state in the boys 1,600 and 3,200 meter runs. Senior AJ Ahrens in the shot put, senior Kyle Jones in the long jump and senior Luke Shellhaas in the pole vault also qualified for state for the Versailles boys.
Senior Kenia McEldowney in the 800 meter run and sophomore Lucy Prakel in the pole vault were individual state qualifiers for the Versailles girls. Freshman Ali Moran, junior Ava Moran, senior Cassie Peters, junior Liz Watren and sophomore Lindsey Winner advanced to state as part of the Tigers’ relay teams.
Senior Joe Spitzer won the boys 1,600 meter run in a time of 4:19.64 to qualify for the state meet.
Senior Joe Spitzer won the boys 3,200 meter run with a meet record time of 9:21.15, beating the previous record that had stood since 1988 by 0.01 seconds, to advance to state.
Senior Cassie Peters, junior Liz Watren, freshman Ali Moran and senior Ellen Peters finished second in the girls 4×200 meter relay in 1:43.44 to qualify for the state meet.
Senior Kenia McEldowney finished second in the girls 800 meter run in a time of 2:18.88 to advance to state.
Junior Liz Watren, sophomore Lindsey Winner, senior Kenia McEldowney and senior Ellen Peters finished second in the girls 4×400 meter relay with a time of 4:00.07 to qualify for the state meet.
Senior AJ Ahrens finished second in the boys shot put with a toss of 52 feet 1.50 inches to advance to state.
Sophomore Lucy Prakel finished second in the girls pole vault as she cleared 11 feet 6 inches to qualify for state.
Senior Luke Shellhaas finished second in the boys pole vault as he cleared 14 feet 8 inches to advance to the state meet.
Senior Josh Steinbrunner, the defending state champion in the boys 110 meter hurdles, finished third in the event at the regional meet with a time of 14.64 to qualify for state.
Sophomore Lucy Prakel, senior Ellen Peters, freshman Ali Moran and junior Ava Moran finished third in the girls 4×100 meter relay in a time of 49.74 to advance to the state meet.
Senior Josh Steinbrunner finished third in the boys 300 meter hurdles with a time of 39.54 to qualify for state.
Senior Josh Steinbrunner finished fourth in the boys high jump as he cleared 6 feet 4 inches to advance to the state meet.
Senior Kyle Jones finished fourth in the boys long jump by jumping 21 feet 04.5 inches to qualify for state.
Other Versailles athletes concluded their seasons at the regional tournament.
Senior Dana Rose finished fifth in the girls 100 meter hurdles in a time of 15.95, just 0.01 seconds off state-qualifying time.
Junior Brooks Blakeley finished fifth in the boys 1,600 meter run with a time of 4:31.32.
Senior Mitchell Huelskamp, junior Brooks Blakeley, junior Caden Schulze and senior Joe Spitzer finished seventh in the boys 4×800 meter relay in 8:15.52.
Senior Ellen Peters finished eighth in the girls 300 meter hurdles with a time of 52.09 while senior Dana Rose finished 11th in 47.63.
Junior Ava Moran finished 10th in the girls 100 meter dash in 12.98.
Senior Nathan Nelson finished 10th in the boys discus with a throw of 140 feet 2 inches.
Senior Kenia McEldowney, junior Tori Schulze, freshman Maria Mangen and senior Megan Rismiller finished 11th in the girls 4×800 meter relay with a time of 10:02.43.
Versailles’ 13 state qualifiers now will compete on Friday and Saturday in the OHSAA Division II state meet on Friday and Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus.
For complete results from the regional meet and more information about the state meet, visit http://www.baumspage.com and http://ohsaa.org/.
