Holmes County-area athletes compete on state track stage

Area athletes made their mark on the state stage June 4-7 during the state track and field tournament at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, with several earning podium finishes and others closing standout seasons among Ohio’s best.

Division III

West Holmes’ Maddax Graham capped his junior season with a fifth-place finish in the boys discus, recording a throw of 161-9. Graham also qualified in the shot put but did not record a distance.

Mallory Marmet led the West Holmes girls with a fifth-place finish in the discus, throwing 129-5. Katherine Kaster finished 18th in the 1600 in 5:23.58 and also helped the Knights’ 4x800 relay team place 17th in 10:00.30. The relay also included Breslyn Brown, Sophie Arnold and Iriel Mena.

Division IV

Waynedale’s Anna Pittman delivered one of the area’s top performances, finishing as state runner-up in the girls pole vault with a vault of 12-4.

For the Waynedale boys, Jackson Varner and Gatlin Herman led the way with podium finishes. Varner placed eighth in the 3200 in 9:20.87, while Herman finished eighth in the shot put with a toss of 53-6½. Varner also ran a leg on the 4x800 relay team, which finished 14th in 8:17.22 and included Jayden Varner, Noah Shaffer and Lucas Miller.

Triway’s Olley Krupp represented the boys team in the 100, finishing 11th in 11.17.

For the Triway girls, Cierra Kemery had a busy state meet, placing seventh in the 100 in 13.05 and 14th in the 200 in 26.18. The junior also helped the 4x400 relay team reach the podium with a seventh-place finish in 4:07.89. The relay also included Elise Wigal, Zoey Baker and Gianna Rowe.

Garaway’s boys were led by Micah Yoder, who placed sixth in the long jump with a leap of 21-8½. Jacob Roudebush finished 10th in the pole vault at 13-6, and Andrew Wicker placed 13th in the 100 in 11.20. The 4x800 relay team of Bryce Johnson, Carter Travis, Dominic Schlabach and Nic Palmer finished 18th in 8:23.10.

Division V

For the Garaway girls, Abby Steiner closed her season with an 11th-place finish in the pole vault, clearing 10-6.