May 10, 2008

Osborne leads Bluffton, So. Wells in ACAC

By PAUL BEITLER

Sports Editor

The Bluffton Tigers and Southern Wells Raiders did not finish high in the team scoring Friday night, but some individual performances helped make the evening better in the Allen County Athletic Conference girls and boys track and field championships at Fred F. Park Field in Bluffton.

Bluffton’s girls and boys each placed sixth in the team scoring, while the Southern Wells boys were seventh.

Heritage defeated Garrett 138-100 to win the boys championship. Leo was third with 85, followed by South Adams with 51 and Woodlan 35. Bluffton netted 26, Southern Wells 20 and Adams Central 10.

On the girls side, Leo ran away from Garrett with 118 points. The Lady Railroaders netted 88, followed by Adams Central with 81. South Adams was fourth with 51, while Heritage had 48, Bluffton 38, Woodlan 25 and Southern Wells 16.

Lady Tigers senior Haleigh Osborne swept the throwing events for the first time, winning the discus with a toss of 108 feet, 11 inches and the shot put with a heave of 38 feet, 6 inches.

Osborne’s rival from Southern Wells, Haley Killingbeck, was second in the discus with a toss of 106 feet, 8 inches. The Lady Raiders’ junior was fourth in the shot put at 31 feet, 7 inches.

Bluffton senior Vonda Royal was second to Osborne in the shot put at 35 feet, 9 inches and fourth in the discus with 98 feet, 9 inches.

The girls’ shot put was contested while the boys were throwing the discus. At that point of the evening, it was dry, but then it started to rain just as the girls began their discus competition.

Fortunately for Osborne, she had practiced earlier in the week when it was raining.

“We’ve been practicing in the rain. So, I got lucky and we actually got to practice in the rain,’’ she said. “It was still hard and you still have to adjust, but it was easier since I had to practice all week in the rain.’’

In the boys 110 meter high hurdles, sophomore Mark Bowman ran to a first-place finish in 15.92 seconds.

Taking the lone top spot for the Raiders was sophomore Chase Harris with a throw of 149 feet even in the discus.

By winning the discus, Harris accomplished the second of three goals that he set before the season. The first was to break the school discus record and he did that earlier in the season. Now, he wants to make it out of the sectional next week to regional.

“I’m ready for Thursday,” said Harris.

Harris credits the development of his technique to his improvement this season.

“I felt like my spin move was going pretty good,” said Harris. “I was getting through the ring good and my release was good with what wind we had. I’m just glad that I got a couple good throws in.”

Bowman also tied for second in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 8 inches.

Jacob Miller was sixth for the Raiders in the 100 meter dash in 12.13 seconds.

Southern Wells senior Lucas Hamilton was fourth in the 1600 meter run in 4:44.10 and Bluffton senior Chase Anderson was fifth in 4:49.20. Hamilton also was fourth in the 3200 in 10:28.06.

Bluffton junior Caylynne Johnson was fourth in the girls’ 100 meter dash in 13.82 seconds and sixth in the 400 meter dash in 1:07.46.

Emily Pinkerton, a Southern Wells sophomore, was fifth in the 3200 meter run in 12:49.58 and sixth in the 1600 in 5:39.40.

Bluffton’s boys 4x400 meter relay team of Matt Campbell, Alec Betz, Seth Compton and Anderson finished fifth in 3:46.8.

Campbell was fourth in the long jump at 18 feet, 3 inches and Betz was sixth at 18-0 3/4.

In the girls 4x800 meter relay, Bluffton’s Frannie Garrett, Hannah Oman, Allison Carr and Madeline Merkel placed sixth in 11:39.2.

The Lady Raiders’ foursome of Maartje Rooijakkers, Julia Bartlett, Megan Bryant and Killingbeck were sixth in the 4x100 meter relay in 58.28 seconds.

The Raiders’ boys 4x100 team of Austin Schortgen, Kyle Jones, Travis Schortgen and Miller was sixth in 47.83 seconds.

sports@news-banner.com

Allen County Athletic Conference
Boys Track & Field
At Bluffton
TEAM SCORES: 1. Heritage 138; 2. Garrett 100; 3. Leo 85; 4. South Adams 51; 5. Woodlan 35; 6. Bluffton 26; 7. Southern Wells 20; 8. Adams Central 10.
3200 Meter Relay: 1. Heritage 8:17.70.
110 Meter High Hurdles: 1. Mark Bowman (Bluffton) 15.92.
100 Meter Dash: 1. Dontay Paige (H) 11.52; 6. Jacob Miller (Southern Wells) 12.13.
1600 Meter Run: 1. Andy Bayer (L) 4:24.20; 4. Lucas Hamilton (Southern Wells) 4:44.10; 5. Chase Anderson (Bluffton) 4:49.20.
400 Meter Relay: 1. Heritage 44.59; 6. Southern Wells (Austin Schortgen, Kyle Jones, Travis Schortgen, Jacob Miller) 47.83.
400 Meter Dash: 1. Ryan Marshall (G) 51.4.
300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles: 1. Colby Knott (Garrett) 41.49.
800 Meter Run: 1. Cody White (H) 1:57.84.
200 Meter Dash: 1. Dontay Paige (H) 23.20.
3200 Meter Run: 1. Andy Bayer (L) 9:13.19 (Meet record; old record 9:28.11 by Bret Grover, Bluffton, 2001); 4. Lucas Hamilton (Southern Wells) 10:28.06.
1600 Meter Relay: 1. Garrett 3:33.38; 5. Bluffton (Matt Campbell, Alec Betz, Seth Compton, Chase Anderson) 3:46.80.
Shot Put: 1. Lance Carey (L) 46-9.
Discus: 1. Chase Harris (Southern Wells) 149-0.
Long Jump: 1. Steve Simpkins (G) 19-11 1/2; 4. Matt Campbell (Bluffton) 18-3; 6. Alec Betz (Bluffton) 18-0 3/4.
High Jump: 1. Josh Mills (H) 5-10; 2. (TIE) Mark Bowman (Bluffton) 5-8.

Girls Track & Field
TEAM SCORES: 1. Leo 118; 2. Garrett 88; 3. Adams Central 81; 4. South Adams 51; 5. Heritage 48; 6. Bluffton 38; 7. Woodlan 25; 8. Southern Wells 16.
3200 Meter Relay: 1. Leo 10:09; 6. Bluffton (Frannie Garrett, Hannah Oman, Allison Carr, Madeline Merkel) 11:39.2.
100 Meter Hurdles: 1. Jessica Grandlienard (AC) 16.6.
100 Meter Dash: 1. Misty Loveless (G) 13.58; 4. Caylynne Johnson (Bluffton) 13.82.
1600 Meter Run: 1. Emily Johnson (L) 5:27.90; 6. Emily Pinkerton (Southern Wells) 5:39.4.
400 Meter Relay: 1. Garrett 52.34; 6. Southern Wells (Maartje Rooijakkers, Julia Bartlett, Megan Bryant, Haley Killingbeck) 58.28.
400 Meter Dash: 1. Melinda Ripley (AC) 1:02.32; 6. Caylynne Johnson (Bluffton) 1:07.46.
300 Meter Low Hurdles: 1. Evie Lehman (AC) 47.30.
800 Meter Run: 1. Keri Lencke (L) 2:30.66.
200 Meter Dash: 1. Chelsey Jones (G) 27.72.
3200 Meter Run: 1. Ericka Williams (H) 11:48.42.
1600 Meter Relay: 1. Garrett 4:15.96.
Shot Put: 1. Haleigh Osborne (Bluffton) 38-6; 2. Vonda Royal (Bluffton) 35-9; 4. Haley Killingbeck (Southern Wells) 31-7.
Discus: 1. Haleigh Osborne (Bluffton) 108-11; 2. Haley Killingbeck (Southern Wells) 106-8; 4. Vonda Royal (Bluffton) 98-9.
Long Jump: 1. Jessica Grandlienard (AC) 15-7 1/2.
High Jump: 1. Jackie Cottrell (L) 5-4.

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