Regional track: Whitmer pair capture titles

5/29/2005
BY DONALD EMMONS
BLADE SPORTS WRITER
  • Regional-track-Whitmer-pair-capture-titles

    Aaron Waldie of Southview runs the final leg in the 800-meter relay which the Cougars won in 1:29:30 at the regional.

  • Aaron Waldie of Southview runs the final leg in the 800-meter relay which the Cougars won in 1:29:30 at the regional.
    Aaron Waldie of Southview runs the final leg in the 800-meter relay which the Cougars won in 1:29:30 at the regional.

    AMHERST, Ohio - Whitmer runners captured the shortest and longest races of the day to help the Panthers place fourth at the Division I regional track and field meet yesterday at Amherst Steele High School.

    The Panthers' Aeric Clay outran the field to win the 100 meters in 10.77 seconds to secure his first trip to the state meet.

    "I'm pretty happy about going to state as a sophomore," Clay said. "I'm expecting to at least be in the top 10."

    Whitmer's Skyler Schmitt successfully defended his title in the 3200 by crossing the finish line in a time of 9:30.49.

    "The first five laps felt smooth and I wasn't breathing hard," Schmitt said. "The last three laps I felt good and felt I would win it."

    Fremont Ross' Adam Wilhelm helped carry the Little Giants to a second-place finish in the boys team standings.

    Dashing to first place in the 200 meters (21.88) and the 400 (48.81), Wilhelm helped his team compile 49 points. Cleveland St. Ignatius won with 74.

    Defiance's Darren Flickinger ran third (9:32.44), and Maumee's Bo Waggoner was fourth (9:33.32).

    Darryl Elston of Rogers heads to a first-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles in the Division I regional at Amherst.
    Darryl Elston of Rogers heads to a first-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles in the Division I regional at Amherst.

    Southview's Malcolm Campbell, Michael Campbell, Kwesi Kankam, and Aaron Waldie ran to victory in the 800-meter relay with a swift time of 1:29.30. The foursome also qualified for state in the 400 relay after placing fourth in a time of 43.24.

    Rogers hurdler Darryl Elston nearly swept the hurdles for the third straight week. He posted a season-best time of 37.72 to win the 300 hurdles and settled for a second in the 110 hurdles in which he produced a season-best time of 14.63.

    "I'm going to go out and try to do my best at state and go for the gold," said Elston, who placed third at state in the 300 hurdles last spring.

    St. Francis' Shane York captured the long jump with a distance of 22-2 1/4.

    St. John's Marcus Waugh had a season-best 56-9 1/2 in the shot put to earn second place.

    "It was a pretty good day for me," said Waugh, the defending champion, who has bounced back from shoulder surgery in December.

    Scott's Romen Walton placed third in the 100 (11.03) before he ran fourth in the 200 (22.65) and ran a leg on the Bulldogs' 400 relay team that posted a second-place 42.87 behind Cleveland St. Ignatius' winning time of 42.29.

    Clay's Marty Vieth and Rogers' Marcus Thompson cleared 6-4 in the high jump, but Vieth required fewer attempts to earn fourth place and the right to compete at state.

    St. Francis' Zach Graham finished third in the 1600 in

    4:19.67.