OAK HARBOR — The Galion Tigers track and field teams headed back up to Oak Harbor on Friday, May 17 for the final day of the Division II Northwest Districts Championships.
After the first day back on Wednesday, May 15, Galion had already punched three individual tickets to the regional meet, as well as a regional berth for the girls 4×800-meter relay squad of Zaynah Tate, Ava Smith, Brooklyn Gates and Sari Conner.
The final day at Oak Harbor would prove to be even more fruitful for the Galion Lady Tigers as they battled their way to 102 points as a team en route to claiming their second consecutive district championship. The hosting Oak Harbor Lady Rockets finished as the runner-ups with 88.5 points.
In addition to claiming the hardware, Galion would see six additional individuals qualify for the regional meet in Lexington, as well as advancements by two relay squads.
Kerrigan Myers continued her dominant junior season on Friday, claiming a new meet record in the 100-meter hurdles with a championship time of 14.28. Myers would also prevail as the champ in the 200-meter dash in a time of 25.48 to go along with her high jump championship from Wednesday. Myers and thrower Anna Court (discus) combined to net the Lady Tigers all four of their individual championships at the district meet.
Kaitlin Bailey, Samantha Comer, Jalyn Oswald and Brooklyn Cosey will be joining Myers and Court in individual events at the regional meet for the champions.
Bailey finished in fourth pace in the 200 with a time of 26.59 to advance while Comer picked up third place in the 100-hurdles in 15.63 to move on. Oswald and Cosey packed a two-three punch in the girls long jump as Oswald finished as the runner-up (16’2½”) with Cosey right behind her in third place (16’2”).
Bailey, Cosey, Oswald and Myers will also take part in relay events this week in Lexington.
The 4×100-meter relay squad of Bailey, Myers, Oswald and Cosey finished as the runner-ups in the event at districts with a time of 49.80. In the 4×200-meter relay, Bailey and Cosey were joined by Hannah Snyder and Conner to claim third place in a time of 1:48.46 to keep their postseason run alive.
Also placing for the Lady Tigers but not advancing to regionals were: 4×400-meter relay (Conner, Snyder, Tate, Bailey), 5th; Oswald- 100-meter dash, 7th; Tate- 400-meter dash, 6th; Smith- 1600-meter run, 6th and Gates- 3200-meter run, 5th.
For the Galion boys team, they would finish the two-day meet with 62 total points en route to a fourth place finish in the stacked field. Sandusky Perkins would emerge as the boys team champion, edging the runner-ups from Shelby; 108-101.5.
The Tigers would see one individual champion rise from the district field, as well as a relay champion. In total, Galion’s boys would see five individual event qualifiers and just the one championship relay team advancing to the regionals at Lexington High School. Hanif Donaldson qualified for Lex on Wednesday with his third place finish in the long jump.
Colbey Fox ran his way to the only individual title for the Tigers, claiming the hardware in the 400 with a new school record time of 49.59, a feat that Fox has had his eyes set on his entire high school career. Fox was also a part of the champion 4×200-relay squad and was joined by Evan Barker, Kalib Griffin and Isaiah Alsip. The foursome stood atop the podium after turning in a winning time of 1:30.22. Additionally, Fox will be in action this week in the 200 after qualifying as the runner-up in a time of 22.81.
Braxton Tate and Jack McElligott will represent Galion in their respective events over the two-day stretch at regionals.
Tate claimed third place in the 3200 with a time of 9:34.66 with McElligott finishing third in a crowded boys high jump field by clearing a height of 6-feet, 4-inches.
Placing for the boys but not advancing were: 4×100-relay (Donaldson, Griffin, Barker, Alsip), 7th; 4×400-relay (Fox, Gage Lackey, Griffin, Jacob Williams), 6th; Barker- 200, 6th; Williams- 400, 5th and Noah Atkinson- discus, 5th.
The Tigers are set to begin action on Thursday, May 23 at 4 p.m. and will head back to the home of the Minutemen on Saturday, May 25 with a start time of 11 a.m. expected.
