GALION — Galion High School’s girls and boys track and field teams each claimed first place in a home quad meet on Saturday.
The Tigers played host to Crestline, Arcadia, and Cory-Rawsonin the opening meet of 2021 at Unckrich Stadium.
In the girls meet, Galion tallied 108 points. Arcadia was a distant second ith 69 points. Cory-Rawson placed third with 25 points and Crestline was fourth with 15 points.
Galion won the boys meet with 120 points. Arcadia was second with 46 points. Crestline and Cory-Rawson tied for third with 27 points each.
Lady Tigers senior Samantha Comer collected victories in three events. She won the 100-meter hurdles by nearly a 3-second margin, crossing the finish line in 16.36 seconds. Katie Bish of Cory-Rawson placed second with a time of 19.06 seconds.
Galion sophomore Dezi Lester (19.42 seconds) and freshman Mia Felder (19.76 seconds) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the 100 hurdles.
Comer was the lead-off runner in the 4×100-meter relay, which Galion won with a time of 56.19 seconds. She teamed up with Lester, junior Adriana Zeger, and sophomore Madison McCane to win the event. Arcadia placed second with a time of 1:01.07.
In the high jump, Comer and Paige Massie of Arcadia both topped out at 4 feet, 10 inches, but Comer claimed first place in the event.
Crestline senior Rachel Weyant was a double winner on Saturday, taking first place in the discus and shot put. She recorded a heave of 91 feet, 5 inches to win the discus. Weyant followed that performance up with a toss of 32 feet to win the shot put, surpassing the runnerup effort by nearly four feet.
Galion runners dominated the 1.600 meters races. Junior Natalee Perkins was an easy winner in the girls race, crossing the finish line 6:33.52. Freshman teammate Nora Harding placed second with a time of 6:56.46.
Tigers sophomore Hayden Kaple, junior Kellen Kiser, and senior Braeden Horn finished 1-2-3 in the boys 1,600 meters race. Kaple posted a time of 5:01.64 to claim first place. Kiser’s time was 5:09.56 and Horn finished the race in 5:14.73.
Tigers junior Andy Sparks led a Galion sweep of the top three places in the 110-meter hurdles. His winning time was 18.15 seconds. Senior Ian Lehman placed second with a time of 20.15 seconds and freshman Linkon Tyrrell finished third with a time of 20.28 seconds.
Sparks ran the first leg of the 4×100-meter relay that Galion won handily. Sparks, junior Hanif Donaldson, senior Caleb Branstetter, and freshman Gabe Ivy combined to post a time of 45.78 seconds.
Crestline finished third in the relay, recording a time of 52.42 seconds. Junior Connor Lusk, seniors Austin Silverwood and Alec Sipes, and freshman Kerrigen Ellenberger represented the Bulldogs in the race.
Four Galion runners and one from Crestline filled the top five spots in the 400-meter dash. Tigers senior Simon Shawk (54.23 seconds), junior Cannon Butler (56.63 seconds), and senior Corban Justice (58.7 seconds) placed 1-2-3, respectively. Crestline freshman Nate Lowe (59.29 seconds) finished fourth and Galion senior Zach Slone (1:00.01) placed fifth.
Galion dominated both 300-meter hurdles events. Freshmen Elisha Brown (59.84 seconds), Autumn Mullins (1:02.73), and Whitney Kimble (1:03.57) claimed the top three places in the girls race.
Juniors Andy Sparks (44.13 seconds) and Justin Guthridge (45.45 seconds) placed 1-2 in the boys race and senior Grayson Willacker (48.17 seconds) finished fourth.
Lady Tigers Zaynah Tate (2:41.79) and Natalee Perkins (2:56.55), both juniors, finished first and second, respectively, in the 800-meter race. Freshman Nora Harding (3:00.75) was fourth.
Galion freshman Raygann Campbell nosed out senior teammate Brooklyn Gates to win the 3,200-meter race. Campbell’s winning time was 12:45.32 seconds, while Gates finished an eyelash behind with a time of 12:45.46.
Tigers freshman Chad Taylor won the boys 3,200-meter run, posting a time of 11:21.66. Crestline junior Danny Kiser finished second with a time of 12:37.27.
Galion won both 4×400-meter relay races. Zaynah Tate, Ava Smith, Adriana Zeger, and Dezi Lester posted a winning time of 4:32.42 in the girls race. Simon Shawk, Cannon Butler, Zach Slone, and Caleb Branstetter combined to record a time of 3:50.05 on the way to their win in the boys race.
In the boys high jump, Branstetter won with a top height of 5 feet, 11 inches. Crestline’s Alec Sipes (5 feet, 6 inches) placed second and Galion’s Kyle Foust (5 feet, 4 inches) was third.
Galion athletes finished 1-2-3 in the girls long jump. Freshman Lexi Rush won the event, recording a best jump of 14 feet, 1 inch. Adriana Zeger finished a close second with a best distance of 14 feet, .25 inches. Madison McCane placed fourth with a top effort of 12 feet, 10.5 inches.
Tigers junior Hanif Donaldson dominated the boys long jump. His best jump of 21 feet, 6.5 inches gave him an easy win in the event. The runnerup effort was nearly three feet short of Donaldson’s distance.
Galion junior Clayton Yost easily won the shot put, recording a top effort of 42 feet, 5 inches. His nearest competitor finished four feet short of that mark.
To see the complete meet results, visit baumspage.com, click on the Track link, and then click on the Galion Meet 3-27 link under the Regular Season list.
The Galion track and field squads are scheduled to be back in action on Saturday, April 3 at the Bucyrus Elks Invitational.
The 2020 Elks Invitational was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Galion teams each placed second the last time the event was staged in 2019.
Lexington is the defending girls team champion. Oak Harbor is the defending boys team title-holder.
