Findlay’s Brown wins 3 events; Jackets’ Wyrick sets mark in regional track

Malcolm Johnson runs the final leg to help Southview win the 800-meter relay at the Division I regional track meet.

THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH
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Malcolm Johnson runs the final leg to help Southview win the 800-meter relay at the Division I regional track meet.

AMHERST, Ohio — Findlay’s Tyler Brown exceeded even his own expectations at the Division I regional track and field meet Friday.

Sasha Dailey, center, of Rogers wins the 200-meter dash at the Division I regional track meet in Amherst, Ohio.

The senior qualified for state in Columbus in four events — three as a champion — at the rain-interrupted event. Brown placed first in the high jump, long jump, and 400 meters before coming in fourth in the 200.

Emily Wyrick of Perrysburg wins the 800 meter run at the Division I regional track meet.

“That’s the most effort I’ve ever put into anything,” Brown said.

J.J. Pinckney runs the final leg as Southview captures the 1600-meter relay.

He’ll be joined in Columbus by plenty of familiar faces from the region, including Perrysburg’s Emily Wyrick and Courtney Clody, who scored impressive individual wins of their own in a meet that was stopped for nearly an hour because of sudden rainfall accompanied by a few lightning strikes in the area.

Courtney Clody of Perrysburg races to a victory in the 1600 meters.

The top four finishers in each event qualified for the state meet.

Findlay's Tyler Brown wins the 400-meter dash. He also won the high jump and long jump, and was fourth in the 200, qualifying in four events for the state meet.

Wyrick muscled her way to the front of the 800 field en route to winning with a school-record time of 2 minutes, 14.09 seconds. Clody also gave the Yellow Jackets plenty to cheer about with her 1600 victory in a time of 5:04.2.

Bowsher's Rachel Marter finished fourth in the long jump to qualify for the state meet.

“That was my goal coming in, to get first place,” Wyrick said. “The last 200 of the race was when I had to make my move.”

Rogers sprinter Sasha Dailey punched her ticket after taking last year off from track competition. The junior, who helped lead the Rams to a Division II state runner-up showing in the team competition as a freshman, won the 200 (25.06).

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Dailey’s attempt to make it to state in two individual events was derailed after she finished fifth in the 100 (12.32), a spot behind Notre Dame’s Chantalia Young (12.23). Sandusky’s Dorresha Green won the 100 with a time of 12.11.

“I didn’t make it in a lot of races, but it’s just good to make it to state,” Dailey said.

Young, a junior, also qualified for state in the 200.

Northview’s Janelle Noe extended her track season by running second in the 300 hurdles (44.59).

Whitmer’s Alaya Hayes and Tityana Gardner locked up a trip to state by finishing among the top four in the shot put, which Hayes won with a winning throw of 41 feet, 6½ inches. Gardner placed fourth (37-1½).

Clody, Taylor Monheim, Jordan Doore, and Wyrick had already won the 3200 relay (9:15.62) on Wednesday.

Clay’s Grace Winckowski advanced by placing fourth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 15.52.

Northview’s Erin Gyurke ran second in the 3200, and Haley Hess was a top-four finisher in the 1600. Teammate Alysha Welch qualified by finishing third in the high jump with an effort of 5-4.

Whitmer’s Kaitlyn Barber cleared 11-6 for the second week in a row in the pole vault, and for the second week in a row it topped the field.

“It’s amazing and I can’t even believe it,” Barber said of her regional title.

Bowsher’s Rachel Marter placed fourth in the long jump (16-7) to continue her season.

“I thought I finished fifth all the way up to when they called my name,” Marter said.

Southview’s Malcolm Johnson earned a regional title by winning the 200. He also qualified in the 100 after finishing fourth (10.83) in a swift finals race. Central’s James Freeman ran third (10.80) in the event.

St. Francis de Sales’ Daniel Lenart, David St. John, Jacob Basugh, and Kyle Lach scored a berth by winning the 3200 relay (7:51.32).

Lach qualified for 1600 after running fourth with a time of 4:19.79. St. John finished second in the 3200.

“I’m just really, really excited,” St. John said about qualifying for state for the first time. “It was a very good race. A lot faster that I expected.”

Perrysburg’s Bryan Byrd finished second in the 800 to qualify to state.

Southview won the 1600 relay with Frank Hayes, Perry Burkes, Jeremy Cook, and J.J. Pinckney.

Clay’s Jack Nagy finished fourth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.64.

Start’s Dionte Carey earned his first state trip with a runner-up finish in the 300 hurdles.

Findlay’s Brown qualified by winning the long jump with an effort of 23-9¾. Southview’s Pinckney finished runner-up with a jump of 23-5¾.

Whitmer’s Nick Jolley cleared 14-9 in the pole vault to place third. Findlay’s Bryce Burnside and Fremont Ross’ Jared Ballenger placed third (177-1) and fourth (172-0), respectively, in the shot put.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302, or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade