MARION — After two days of competition, the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference has crowned their four champions for the 2017 season.
For the second year in a row, the Galion Tigers boys squad reigns atop the Red Division after defeating the Harding Presidents. Galion finished the league meet with 134 team points to edge the runner-up Presidents, who scored 122 points. Since joining the MOAC, the Galion boys have finished as runner-up (2015) and back-to back champions (2016, 2017).
Rounding out the Red Division scoring were: 3. Buckeye Valley- 82; 4. River Valley- 72; 5. Pleasant- 67; 6. Jonathan Alder- 59; and 7. North Union- 36.
In addition to the field event champions, Zhamir Anderson (long jump) and Brett May (shot put), the Tigers claimed three event championships on Thursday.
Colin McCullough was a part of every one of those events. McCullough coasted his way to a victory in the 110-meter high hurdle event, winning with a time of 14.82. In the 300-meter hurdles, McCullough left the rest of the field in his dust, crossing the finish line in 38.27 for the win. The final event of the day, the 4×400-meter relay, was the grand finale that the Galion squad was hoping for when McCullough teamed up with Colbey Fox, Anderson and Harrison Ivy to race to the event and league championship with a time of 3:29.89. Colin also took a runner-up finish in the 100-meter dash with teammate Takoda Crisman finishing fourth. Tanner Crisman finished in sixth place in the 110-hurdles and third overall in the 300-hurdles behind McCullough.
Harrison Ivy and Anderson also racked up some points for the Tigers in the 400-meter dash, finishing second and fifth, respectively. Takoda Crisman and Caleb Ivy finished fourth and fifth in the 200-meter dash on the day as well.
In other individual event scoring, Braxton Tate earned Galion sixth place points in both the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs.
The 4×100 and 4×200 relay teams for the Tigers finished as runner-up to Marion Harding’s squads in both events.
After winning the MOAC Red last season, the Lady Tigers finished as the runner-up behind the River Valley Lady Vikings. River Valley, winning their first track title since 2013, finished fourth last season.
Scoring for the girls side was as follows: 1. River Valley- 124; 2. GALION- 104; 3. Pleasant- 93; 4. Jonathan Alder- 86; 5. North Union- 71; 6. Buckeye Valley- 56.5; and 7. Harding- 38.5.
Marisa Gwinner, who won the girls high jump and long jump events on Tuesday, was active on Thursday as well. In the 100-meter dash, Gwinner would take fifth place, right behind teammate Kerrigan Myers who finished fourth. Myers, who finished as the runner-up to Gwinner in the high jump, would finish fifth in the 200-meter dash with Gwinner taking third.
Myers was also busy in the 100-meter hurdles, capturing a third place finish while Brooklyn Cosey snagged sixth. Cosey would also score points for the Lady Tigers in the 300-hurdles by finishing in third place.
Other scoring for Galion would come from the distance events. In the 800-meter run, Megan Zier and Sari Conner would team up to earn sixth and seventh place finishes, respectively. Conner would also take home a third place finish in the 1,600-meter run. Earning a seventh place finish for the Tigers was Airyona Nickels in the 3,200.
Galion wrapped their scoring with a third place finish in the 4×100-meter relay and a sixth place overall finish in the 4×400.
Over in the MOAC Blue Division, the Mount Gilead Indians continued their dominance.
The Indians were victorious on the boys side of the meet, defeating runner-up Northmor 176-122, followed by 3. Highland- 107; 4. Centerburg- 71; 5. Fredericktown- 70; 6. East Knox- 62.5; 7. Elgin- 36.5; and 8. Cardington- 15.
Northmor had crowned two field event champions on Tuesday in the likes of Tony Martinez (pole vault) and Demetrius “Meechie” Johnson (long jump). Kolton Smith and James Walker would earn championships on Thursday for the Golden Knights. Smith took the top spot in the 110-hurdles, winning the event with a finishing time of 15.34. Teammate Anthony Petulla finished fifth in the event. Walker would go on to win the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.43 while Smith finished in third.
Meechie would be active on Thursday as well, earning third place finishes in the 400-meter dash and the 200-meter dash and taking fourth in the 100. Calvin Komer would earn fifth place points for Northmor in the 400 as well.
In the 800-meter run, the Knights had teammates AJ White and Mostyn Evans cross the finish line in sixth and eighth place, respectively. Wrapping up the scoring was the relay teams, earning third in the 4×4 and sixth in both the 4×1 and 4×2.
For the Lady Golden Knights, they finished the meet in fourth place in the Blue Division, scoring 91 points. For at least the fourth year in a row, the Mount Gilead Lady Indians won the championship, scoring 165 points to surpass runner-up Fredericktown (100 points), followed by 3. Highland- 98; 5. Cardington- 78; 6. Centerburg- 58; 7. East Knox- 54; and 8. Elgin- 17.
Northmor added two more MOAC champions to go along with Hope Miracle’s championship in the pole vault from Tuesday.
Brooke Bennett was a part of both of Thursday’s champions. In individual competition, Bennett was the winner of the 400-meter dash with a time of 62.6. Bennett was joined by Julianna Ditullio, Maddie Jordan and Rachel Morrison to race to the first place finish in the 4×400, winning in a time of 4:25.14. Bennett also took home a pair of third place finishes in the 100 and 200-meter dash events.
Jessica Duryea earned a fifth place finish for Northmor in the 1,600 while sister Kristen finished eighth. Jessica also took sixth in the 3,200. Jordan and Morrison were active in the 800-meter run, finishing in sixth and seventh, respectively. Ditullio was the sixth place finisher in the 300-hurdles behind teammate Samantha Peters. Selena Cortez took home sixth in the 100-hurdles and Bailey Wiseman earned a point by finishing eighth in the 200-meter dash.
In the other relay events on the day, Northmor finished fifth in the 4×1 and seventh in the 4×2.
