Western Brown High School’s Alyssa Campbell, left, clears the final hurdle on her way to victory in the girls 100-meter hurdles at the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference meet May 10, 2023, at Williamsburg High School.
Georgetown boys, girls both finish third
Georgetown High School’s Alex Underwood wins the boys 110-meter hurdles at the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference meet May 10, 2023, at Williamsburg High School. He also won the 300 hurdles.
Georgetown High School’s Lizzy Cahall, left, approaches the finish line to give the Lady G-Men the win in the girls 4x200 relay for the at the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference meet May 10, 2023, at Williamsburg High School.
In track running events, it’s safe to say that good times often equate to good finishes.
And many runners do concentrate on times first – for example, in personal-best or school-record bids. But there is a time and place for everything, even in a world ruled by times.
After dominating the field events the first day of the Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference meet, Western Brown High School used 17 top-six finishes in the running events to run away with the girls American Division title, finishing 41.5 points ahead of runner-up Goshen, 149-107.5. New Richmond was third at 96, followed by Wilmington, 83.5; Batavia, 66; and Clinton-Massie, 21.
The field events were held May 8 and the track finals May 10, all at Williamsburg High School. The Lady Broncos racked up 63 points in just the five field events the first day, thanks in part to a pair of victories and three runner-up finishes. And they didn’t let up on Day 2.
“On Monday (May 8) we scored 63 points and had a good lead coming into Wednesday (May 10),” Western Brown coach Mark Abbinante Jr. said, but added of the running events, “we knew we had some work to do.”
“I explained to the girls not to be worried about times – it’s all about placing, and that’s what we did. We scored points and came out as league champs.”
It was the Lady Broncos’ third consecutive league title, Abbinante said.
“Going into the meet we knew what had to be done. The girls preformed to their potential and then some,” he said.
Along with the slew of top-six finishers, the Lady Broncos also had four individual champions:
Tiana Roland, 400 meters, 1:02.58; Alyssa Campbell, 100 hurdles, 15.94; Sierra Elam, long jump, 16 feet, 4.75 inches; and Cassidy Armstrong, shot put, 37-5.
Western Brown finished third in the boys American Division team race – by far the tightest of the meet. Batavia was first at 119, with Wilmington a close second at 113, and the Broncos just another 8.5 points back in third at 104.5. Clinton-Massie was next at 90, followed by New Richmond, 56; and Goshen, 40.5.
Brayden Dill led the Broncos with wins in the 1,600 (4:40.88) and 3,200 (10:28.36), and Dane Tomlin added a victory in the shot put (52-8.5).
The Georgetown High School boys and girls both finished third in the National Division. Bethel-Tate won the girls National Division with 167 points, followed by host Williamsburg at 111 and the Lady G-Men at 90. Clermont Northeastern was fourth at 76, followed by Blanchester, 56; East Clinton, 45; and Felicity-Franklin, 15.
Winning events for the Lady G-Men were Elizabeth Cahall (400, 1:00.42), Erin Stansberry (shot put, 35-3), and the 4×200 relay team (1:53.41).
Host Williamsburg won the boys National Division by 31 points over Clermont Northeastern, 162-131. The G-Men were next at 105 and Bethel-Tate a distant fourth, another 40 points back at 65. Blanchester was next at 62, followed by Felicity-Franklin, 23; and East Clinton, 20.
Alex Underwood again was a force in the hurdles races for the G-Men, winning the 110 (14.86) and 300 (41.43), and the G-Men also finished first in the 4×800 relay (9:01.76)
“The highlights of the meet were Alex Underwood and Elizabeth Cahall for us,” Georgetown coach Mike McHenry said. “Alex beat the Georgetown High School record again in the 110 hurdles and Cahall broke her own school record again in the 400 dash. I am really proud of the kids for all their hard work and focus this season.”
Warrior girls second in SHAC meet
The Eastern Brown High School girls track team had only one individual champion May 12 in the Southern Hills Athletic Conference track and field meet at Leesburg. But the Lady Warriors had 15 top-six finishes, including five second-place showing, to finish second in the girls competition.
Fairfield-Leesburg won the nine-team girls division by 27 points over Eastern Brown, 130-103. North Adams was third at 80, followed by West Union, 69; Peebles, 65; Whiteoak, 49; Lynchburg-Clay, 48; Fayetteville-Perry, 32; and Manchester, 30.
Brandy Shular was the Lady Warriors’ lone champion, winning the 800 meters in 2:37.40. Fayetteville-Perry’s Anne Murphy was the only other area Brown County winner – boy or girl – in the meet, winning both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles in 17.32 and 50.89, respectively. She was also fourth in the shot put at 30 feet, 6 inches.
Eastern Brown also led area county teams in the boys division, placing fourth. The Warrior boys had a day similar to that of the Eastern Brown girls – although they had no individual champions, the Warriors had 11 top-six finishes, including three runner-up efforts.
Whiteoak edged North Adams, 152.75-150.5, to win the 10-team boys competition. Peebles was third at 132.75, followed by Eastern Brown, 58, Fairfield-Leesburg, 44; Manchester, 23; Fayetteville-Perry, 21; West Union, 17; Lynchburg-Clay, 13; and Ripley Union Lewis Huntington, 3.
The Fayetteville-Perry boys’ top finish came in the 4×100-meter relay team, where the Rockets placed third in 47.83.
Ripley Union Lewis Huntington also had its best showing in the boys 4×100 relay, placing sixth in 51.24.