DIVISION III
Toledo Christian girls clinch district title late
Woodmore's Shrewbury wins sprints; Toledo Christian's Shaw takes hurdles
5/20/2012PEMBERVILLE -- Her legs began shaking and her arms dropped from above her head, and it appeared Delainey Phelps had finally succumbed to a taxing day of work.
Catching Phelps before she fell to the track was her Toledo Christian teammate, Krista Wood, who herself must have been hurting.
In an inspiring performance at a Division III district meet Saturday, Phelps and Wood battled through exhaustion to lift Toledo Christian to a come-from-behind championship at Eastwood.
About 20 minutes after they finished 1-2 in the 3200-meter run, Wood and Phelps returned to the track to fuel a second-place effort in the 1600 relay that bumped Fremont St. Joseph from atop the standings, giving the Eagles a repeat district title. Their 98 points edged St. Joseph by two.
"I was not expecting it to happen, to be honest with you," TC coach Paul Barney said. "That just show their heart."
Phelps and Wood finished in the top four of four races, securing berths in this week's regional meet at Tiffin Columbian. Phelps set a district record in the 1600, crossing the finish line in 5:10.18 -- more than three seconds faster than the previous mark -- and Wood was third. Wood captured the 3200 crown in 11:33.06, topping second place Phelps by about 33 seconds.
After a brief rest and ingesting fluids, the duo readied for the 1600 relay, the final event. TC needed to beat St. Joseph's relay by two spots to capture the championship.
"I've done it all year, and Delainey's been my teammate," Wood said. "We push each other through it, and it's fun."
Sandusky St. Mary won the event, Toledo Christian was second, and St. Joseph, which posted the third-best time in preliminaries, fell to sixth.
Barney called the effort of his relay, which also includes Darian Westmeyer and Michelle Wright, "incredible."
"I told them beforehand if you're not able to answer the bell don't worry about it," Barney said. "We're not going to risk anything."
Wood and Phelps ran Thursday on the winning 3200 relay, with Kavanaugh Phelps and Wright filling the other spots.
Old Fort won the boys championship, scoring 103 points to top runner up Tiffin Calvert with 91.5. Third-place Woodmore was third with 74 points, 20 of which came on Andrew Shrewsbury's sweeping of the sprints.
Shrewsbury, who missed his team's past two invitationals recovering from a groin pull, won the 100 in 11.18 and the 200 in 22.87. Neither time was a personal best, which is to be expected because his groin muscle is tender and he lost some conditioning in his time off.
"I was a little fatigued. I was tired," Shrewsbury said. "I haven't been conditioning very well. Before semifinals I had only been running for two or three days."
Shrewsbury, who finished sixth at state in the 200 last year, said he will spend this week balancing recovering and training.
Shattering a district record was North Baltimore pole vaulter Amanda Hotaling -- the state champion in 2009 -- who posted a mark of 12 feet, besting the previous best height of 11-03. Due to fatigue induced by her competing and qualifying for regionals in the 100 and 400 sprints and 800 relays, Hotaling chose rest over trying to clear a higher mark. She had zero misses on the day.
"At this point I'd rather save bigger vaults and not risk getting hurt," she said.
After winning the state title as a freshman, Hotaling finished second the past two years. To get back atop the podium she believes she must clear 13 feet.
Other girls event winners were: St. Joseph's Katie Bloom (100 hurdles), Kelsey Burkin (100) and its 800 relay; Lakota's 400 relay and Cariss Reese (300 hurdles); Woodmore's Megan Pendleton (discus); and Gibsonburg's Marissa Bolen (shot put).
Collecting boys titles were Gibsonburg's Jared Columber (discus and shot put), St. Joseph's Luke Stierwalt (long jump).
Toledo Christian's Rowan Shaw, won both hurdle races, setting a district record of 39.20 in the 300 hurdles.
Shaw also anchored the winning 1600 relay, a race in which he began the final lap in fourth.
"We have a lot of fast guys on the team," he said. "They kept us up there and I took it home."
Shaw sat in the infield after the relay applying ice to his neck and watching his teammates Wood and Phelps labor through discomfort to bring the Eagles a championship.
"Gatorade," Phelps said of the recovery process.
"And form drills to stay warmed up."