Friday Flashback: 2011 spring sports

Note: Crestview capped off the 2011 high school softball season with a Division IV runner-up finish, while track and field athletes from Crestview and Van Wert enjoyed a good showing in Columbus. Below is a recap as it appeared on the June 6, 2011 VW independent sports page.

Van Wert independent sports

Several local athletes did well at the State Track Meet held Saturday at Jesse Owens Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus.

Both Cougar long jumper Sydney Riethman and Crestview’s 4×400-meter relay team finished in third place in the finals of their events. Riethman, a junior, had a jump of 17 feet, 9 inches, for the third-place finish.

The Lady Knights’ 4×400-meter relay team, comprised of Courtney Perrott, Ami and Layne Callow and Erika Frey, came in third in that event in a time of 4:01.37, which broke a school record the relay team set two days earlier in the preliminary round of the state meet.

Three of the four relay team members are underclassmen, with only Ami Callow a senior at Crestview.

Jared Fleming got boxed in and finished in sixth place in the 1600-meter run.

In the Division IV State Softball Finals at Firestone Stadium in Akron, Crestview let down only once — in the third inning — but it was enough to allow Strasburg Franklin to plate its only three runs en route to a 3-1 victory over the Lady Knights.

Maddie Preston took the loss for Crestview, giving up all three runs, but only one of them earned, while striking out three and walking two batters. Kasey Gerber was the winning pitcher for the Tigers, giving up an earned run on Kirstin Hicks’ RBI double, while striking out 12 and walking none. She gave up four hits in the game, while Preston allowed five hits.