Knights win, Pirates turn in strong efforts in district meet
Lexy Starner, front, and teammate Brenna Myers round the corner during the 3200 meters at districts. Starner qualified for regionals, placing third, while Myers just missed by one spot, claiming fifth.
Maybe it was the comfort of performing in their home stadium, but more likely, it was a team trending in the right direction. Either way, it was a banner day for the West Holmes Knights at the East Div. II district meet on Saturday, May 21, where the Knights won the boys district title and the Lady Knights grabbed runner-up honors behind district champion Tuscarawas Valley.
West Holmes head coach Matt Torgler said there was one simple goal the Knights had in mind.
“It was about getting as many kids as possible on to regionals,” Torgler said.
In addition, the Garaway Pirates rode into town and claimed their own runner-up crown on the boys side in what head coach Zach Mottice said was a very enjoyable day.
“Our guys were IVC champions, and we had a great IVC meet,” Mottice said. “We knew we were going to score some points, but we’ve done really well and the guys stepped up big-time. We think several of these guys will have an excellent shot at qualifying for state.”
If moving athletes on to regionals was the goal, Torgler had to be thrilled with the effort his kids gave all day.
Torgler said the goal was to have the kids focus not on times, distances and heights, but rather on what they can control, which is competing to the best of their ability.
Beaver Local’s Caleb White won the 100 meters in a blazing 11.18 while West Holmes’ Logan Zollars took seventh in 11.98. White also won the 200 meters in 22.16 with Zollars nailing down fifth in 24.15.
Garaway star Brendan Chapman squared off with Coshocton’s Korbyn Haley in the 400 meters, where they ran stride for stride before Chapman pulled away late in 50.69 to Haley’s 50.97. Chapman’s teammate Quinten Schwartz waged his own battle in the 800 meters, where he and Minerva’s Connor Shingleton ran neck and neck before Shingleton inched to a victory in 1:59.56 to Schwartz’s 1:59.82.
Shingleton, Garaway’s Bobby Palmer, River View’s Seth Adams and West Holmes’ Zeke Galbraith pulled away from the field and made it a four-man race in the 1600, with Shingleton winning in 4:33.09. Palmer (4:36.07), Adams (4:36.98) and Galbraith (4:39.44) will all meet again in regionals.
Galbraith improved his position in the 3200 meters, where he ran second in 10:23.49, behind only champion Grasyn Rettig of Minerva’s time of 10:20.13. Parker Graf of Garaway just missed a qualifying spot, placing fifth in 11:39.37.
Ty Winters of Garaway moved on to regionals by placing fourth in the 110-meter hurdles and doubled down by taking third in the 300-meter hurdles.
West Holmes’ quartet ran to third in the 4-by-100 relay to qualify for regionals, and Garaway placed second in the 4-by-400 relay and nearly duplicated that effort, placing third in the 4-by-800 relay, sending both teams to regionals.
It was a clean sweep of the top-two spots for the Knights in the high jump, where Kyle Maltarich and Zander Shultz took first and second, respectively. Teammate Sawyer Pritt missed qualifying for regionals in the long jump by 1 inch, placing fifth.
West Holmes also advanced a pair of pole vaulters, with Zach Snow second at 11-06 and Macin Miller third at 11-00. They were a far cry away from champion David Adams of Indian Valley’s effort of 15-03.
Brock Zimmerly capped off a monster throwing weekend by claiming the title in the discus with a PR throw of 159-10 while also taking second in the shot with a heave of 45-11, falling to second in the final throw of the meet when Harrison Central’s Hunter Boals chucked the shot 46-11. Garaway found its own success in both events. Tate Amicone placed third in the discus with a throw of 144-08 and then grabbed fourth in the shot with a toss of 44-00, joining third-place teammate Braden Adams, who threw 44-04.75.
On the girls side, West Holmes sprint star Jasmine Giauque did her thing, winning the 100 meters in 13:30, edging River View’s Cortney Bookless (13.35). Giauque got edged out in the 200 meters, where her run of 26.94 was just shy of winner Kodi Kinsey of Beaver Local’s 26.74.
Tusky Valley’s Ella McElwee got the Trojans on their way to a title by winning the 400 meters in 1:01.19. Teammate Hannah Wyler, who was absolutely dominant all day, won the 800 meters in 2:20.92, with Lady Knight Noelle Smith qualifying for regionals by placing fourth in 2:26.93.
Wyler crushed the field in the 1600 meters in 5:07.68, winning by 17 seconds, then kept rolling by claiming the title in the 3200 meters in 11:49.10, with WHHS’ Lexy Starner qualifying third at 12:19.64. Her teammate Brenna Myers just missed out on regionals, running fifth in 13:31.94.
West Holmes’ Cierra Miller pulled a double-qualifier, running third in the 300-meter hurdles and placing fourth in the 100-meter hurdles. West Holmes’ 4-by-800 relay team earned a spot at regionals, placing fourth.
In the field, Lady Knight Laney Duff soared over 5-00 to take runner-up in the high jump but missed out in the long jump, placing sixth. Her teammate Casey Ogi topped all competitors in claiming the title in the pole vault at 8-06, and Lady Knight Amy Hughes grabbed the championship in the discus with a throw of 119-11. Teammate Zaylie Shultz narrowly missed qualifying, placing fifth at 101-05.
Hughes and teammate Zoe Norris both moved on, taking second and third in the shot with throws of 35-07.5 and 34-05.5, respectively.
“At this time of the year, if kids happen to PR, whether they move on to regionals or not, they gave their best, and that is what we want,” Torgler said. “Either way, it’s a good way to launch ourselves into competing that much harder next year. I’m proud of the way our athletes handled themselves throughout this weekend, and I couldn’t ask for more. They went out and did exactly what we wanted them to do.”
He said finding success and sending so many kids on to the next level is exciting as the younger kids get to experience and buy into the program.
West Holmes senior Sawyer Pritt, who has been to state, said seeing his teammates achieve their goals is exciting. He said as an underclassman he had seniors take him under wing, and he is trying to follow suit.
“I’m trying to hold everyone to a high standard,” Pritt said. “We want to keep making it back to state. That’s the end goal. But all my experience has made this so much fun, and the culture here at West Holmes has been amazing.”