Medina boys earn four podium finishes at state track meet

Medina's boys track team was a deep and talented group this year. That the Bees finished 21st in the state this past weekend shows two things: They are still an elite unit, and it's really, really hard to climb high on the state leaderboard, a position Medina has occupied many times over the decades.

This year, Medina netted 12 points. Wayne won with 55. Odd as it sounds, the Bees were not far from the top 10. State team points are tough to come by.

The Bees had a solid group competing in Columbus and wound up with two multi-event placers. They made it to the podium in four events overall.

Medina senior Liam Meade was a three-time All-Ohioan, making the podium in one individual event and two relays. Classmate Jackson Riffle earned All-Ohio status in two events, also doing so both as an individual and as a relay member.

Individually, Meade placed fourth in the 800-meter run, while Riffle came in ninth in the long jump. Riffle also qualified in the 400-meter dash but did not start.

Meade and classmates Nate Fischer, Carson Henning and Riffle teamed for a fourth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. Meade, Fischer, Henning and senior Joey D'Aurelio placed seventh in the 4x800-meter relay.

Senior Owen Stepsis had a tough day in the pole vault, unable to record a height, but still had a stellar season overall.

In other results

Division II: Buckeye senior Brady Salazar, his school's lone representative on the boys side, narrowly missed the podium in the 400-meter dash. He finished 10th in 49.63 seconds.

Division III: Cloverleaf's 4x800-meter relay team made the trip to Columbus and missed the state podium and All-Ohio status by one spot and less than three seconds, a small margin in an event that takes about eight minutes to run.

The team of seniors Caleb Neville and Gavin Forbes and juniors Noah Mion and Matthew Jenkins finished in 8:04.00. That left the Colts in 10th place behind Minerva, which finished in 8:01.37.