A dozen Lady Knight warriors grab second at Div. II district meet
Storming right at the camera is senior Katie Sprang, who took the baton from Hannah Rohr in the girls Div. II 4-by-200 relay and tore to a wire-to-wire victory to advance to regionals.
When it comes to district track and field competition, it isn’t always about winning. In the end game, placing fourth is almost as valuable as placing first because the top-four competitors in each event make their way to the next level.
On Saturday, May 22 at the Div. II district meet at West Holmes High School, the WHHS Lady Knights saw plenty of girls punching their tickets to regionals, and their strong effort led to a runner-up finish behind champion Tuscarawas Valley. The Trojans racked up 118 points to easily outdistance the field while the Lady Knights total of 80 was good enough to push them past Minerva’s 74 and River View’s 72 in the field of 12 teams.
That the Lady Knights grabbed a runner-up trophy with just a dozen participants was something that impressed their head coach.
“That runner-up spot is a great effort from our kids today,” West Holmes head coach Ty Harris said. “To accomplish that with 12 people is absolutely fabulous.”
For the Lady Knights, the 4-by-200 relay team did exactly what it was hoping to do, waging an epic battle against River View. The Lady Knights’ team of Hannah Rohr, Daphne Alexander, Jasmine Giauque and Katie Sprang reeled off a 1:48.42 to win it, with River View’s quartet of Kailey Watkins, Jade Gibson, Averi Wallace and Madison Cadle next in line at 1:49.74.
Alexander continued to improve in a new race, and her time of 17.16 in the 100-meter hurdles was good enough for third, where she advanced to regionals.
In the 800-meters, senior Katie Sprang never pressed herself too hard, cruising to second in 2:22.18 to snag a spot at regionals, trailing only champion Hannah Wyler of Tuscarawas Valley’s winning time of 2:20.81.
Giauque matched Sprang’s second-place finish in the 200, running a fantastic 27.07, trailing only River View champion Kelsey Hartsock’s blistering time of 26.21. Giauque held off hard-charging Kodi Kinsey of Lisbon Beaver, besting her by a mere 0.02 seconds.
In the 3200-meters, Myers ran a balanced race, placing herself in fourth place early on and staying right there to gain a spot at regionals. She ran a 12:57.03 while champion Camryn Barker of Carrollton looked strong in winning in 12:00.9.
In the 4-by-400 relay, Tuscarawas Valley’s quartet of Lexie Engstrom, Macie Hicks, Ella McElwee and Wyler proved to be unstoppable, firing off a 4:09.38, but it wouldn’t stop West Holmes from qualifying for regionals, placing second in 4:12.71. The team of Rohr, Giauque, Alexander and Sprang will look forward to trying to track down the Trojans at regionals.
The 4-by-800 relay team placed eighth, with the team of Brenna Myers, Madisyn Glassford, Taelor Patterson and Olivia Sampsel running a 12:07.20. The 4-by-100 relay team of Laney Duff, Zaylie Shultz, Glassford and Zoe Norris earned a fifth-place finish for the Lady Knights, finishing one spot out of advancing to regionals.
In field events, Amy Hughes left little doubt as to whether or not she would move on in the shot, winning the event with a toss of 35-08, well beyond the 34-03 runner-up effort of Claymont’s Devyn Sproul. Duff would advance to regionals in the high jump, where she cleared 5-02 and won second place based on fewer misses over Sandy Valley’s Lexi Tucci.
Rohr had a shot at moving on coming into the long jump event, but her best leap of 15-09.25 fell just three-quarters of an inch from qualifying, placing her fifth.
“We did really well, and I’m proud of the kids for their effort,” Harris said. “We were excited about getting out and competing. It was a lot of fun, and I think we saw a lot of girls really stepping up and delivering some great performances at the right time of the year.”