Hay soars, Sanchez shines at River View Invite
Hay easily won the pole vault, something he has grown very accustomed to doing, winning the event by four feet over the nearest competitor. That nearest competitor this weekend would be teammate Nick Rousch, who earned a second place finish at 10-06.
"I tried 14-09, but didn't have the best of jumps at it," said Hay of attempting to break his own school record. "I am getting there, I just need to start extending the top a little bit. I am on a longer pole now, I just haven't perfected the form yet. I've got time to do that."
That one-two punch helped the Knights roll to second place, the team collecting 124 points, runner-up only to River View, which collected 166. Coshocton was third (94), Ridgewood earned fourth (60) while Hiland nipped Zanesville Rosecrans by one point, 52-51, to claim fifth.
"I thought our guys performed very well," said coach Rich Patterson of West Holmes. "We had some kids step up big time, and I was very pleased with all of our performances. It was a really good meet for all of us,"
Cully Gordon continued to have his way in the distance events. Gordon won the 800 in 2:05.6, easily cruising past runner-up Thor Reed of Ridgewood (2:10.9). Alex Mast of Hiland was a surprising third at 2:12.4, while Knight Matt Gardner placed seventh.
Gordon also captured a win in the 1,600 in a time of 4:40.0, beating River View's Steve Scheetz by one second, and teammate and third-place finisher Sam Boyd by 11 seconds. Hiland's Darian Pacula rolled home in sixth place in 5:13.7.
West Holmes' 4x800 team took a second place to River View, with Boyd, Phillip Schaffter, J.R. Yoder and Gordon finishing in 8:52.2, four second off the winning pace. Hiland's team of Mast, Brady Conn, Pacula and Joe Wengerd earned fifth in 9:39.4.
Mikey Sanchez did what Mikey Sanchez does best in the 110 meter hurdles, racing to victory in 17.6 seconds, while teammate Reagan Miller placed sixth.
Sanchez also tore apart the field in the 300 meter hurdles, roaring to a win in 41.2 seconds. Not far behind was Schaffter, who finished third in 43.10.
Sanchez narrowly missed a triple victory at the meet when he was nipped at the wire in the 200. One-fifth of a second was all that separated him from River View's Brandon Adams, who won in 23.4 seconds. West Holmes' Luke Ogi finished third in 24.1.
Ogi also had a solid race in the 100 meter sprint, finishing third in 11.8 seconds.
Matt Miller nearly pulled off a win in the 400, but was nipped at the wire, his time of 52.2 just a half-second off the lead runner, River View's Andy Parsons. Hiland's Morgan Gingerich finished seventh in 59.1.
Miller also helped the 4x100 team earn second place behind Rosecrans. He and teammates Matt Casey, Hay and Ogi were only .5 off of the winning time of 46.00.
Boyd outlasted the field in the 3,200, bringing home a victory in 10:38.4, while teammate J.R. Yoder finished fourth (11:22.8), and Hiland's Pacula (11:24) and Conn (12:04) finished fifth and sixth respectively.
In the field, Andrew Rose led West Holmes to solid points in the shot by placing second with a throw of 45-06, and grabbed fifth in the discus with a toss of 130.03.
Hiland's Brennan Coil was right behind him in the discus, with a throw of 125-05, while Knight Ben Barbey was seventh at 110-04.
Javen Yoder (40-00) and David Yoder (38-08) placed fifth and seventh in the shot.
Ogi placed third in the long jump with a 16-08.5 effort, while Chris Beck of Hiland placed eighth with a jump of 14-05.75. In the high jump, Matt Miller took third with a leap of 5-04, while Hiland's Morgan Gingerich placed one spot further down, also clearing that same height.