WESTERVILLE — In her first appearance in the state track and field meet, Colonel Crawford junior Liv Krassow was able to make the podium by virtue of placing sixth in the high jump on Friday.
Competing at Westerville North High School in the Division III state meet, Krassow was able to clear 5 feet on her first try and 5 feet, 2 inches on her second attempt, but couldn’t get over the bar at 5 feet, 4 inches. A total of five girls went out on that height, with the Eagle athlete placing second among those to finish sixth overall. The event was won by Springfield Central Catholic junior Mallory Mullen, who set a new state meet record of 5 feet, 10.25 inches.
“I felt pretty good at first,” she said. “Then I got a little nervous.”
With another year of high school left, Krassow, who won her regional meet with an effort of 5 feet, 6.25 inches, is hoping to be better prepared for the atmosphere of the state meet, as she felt the moment affected her.
“It’s definitely nerve-racking,” she said. “I want to more mentally prepare myself.”
Teammate Katie Ruffener will see plenty of action in Saturday’s second day of state competition. Not only will she compete in the long jump in the morning, but she also advanced through the preliminaries to the finals in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles.
She had the second-best qualifying time of 14.72 seconds in the 100 hurdles and recorded the fourth-best time of 45.51 seconds in the 300-meter event.
Ruffener and Krassow, along with Lynae McKibben and Cassidy Vogt, nearly advanced in the 400-meter relay. They finished 10th in the preliminaries with a time of 50.98 seconds — only .22 seconds out of eighth place.
The Colonel Crawford boys had both an individual and a relay compete in the preliminaries, but neither were able to reach the finals.
Trevor Vogt had a time of 16.74 seconds in the 110 hurdles, while the quartet of Ethan Holt, Ryan McMichael, Jacob Awbrey, and Gavin Trubee ran the 1,600-meter relay in 3:37.99.
