Van Wert wins D-II district track title

VW independent sports

DEFIANCE — With the pole vault to be completed on Monday, Van Wert claimed the Division II boys track and field district championship at Defiance on Friday.

The pole vault was postponed due to high winds.

Connor Pratt won the 400 meter dash (50.13), while Trey Laudick finished third (51.44). Gage Springer won the 800 meter run (2:01.79) and Gage Wannemacher finished fourth (2:06.37). Logan Dotson was the runner-up in the shot put (49-04.50), Nate Phillips placed third in the high jump (6-00), while Ty Jackson notched a third place finish in the 110 meter hurdles (16.99). Keldyn Bill secured a spot at regionals with a fourth place finish in the 100 meter dash (12.03).

All four Cougar relay teams advanced to regionals as well, with three of them winning district championships.

The 4×800 team (Wannemacher, Laudick, Springer, Hunter Sherer) won in 8:21.14. The 4×200 team (Pratt, Phillips, Nate Jackson, Laudick) finished first with a time of 1:32.22, while the 4×400 team of Pratt, Phillips, Jackson and Laudick won in 3:25.84). The 4×100 team of Bill, Phillips, Gage Stemen and Jackson qualified for regionals with a fourth place finish (45.10).

The Cougars won the team title with 103 points, while Wauseon was the runner-up with 82 team points.

On the girls’ side, the 4×200 meter relay team of Kendra Deehring, Macy Johnson, Danesha Branson and Sofi Houg finished the runner-up (1:47.73), and the same four qualified for regionals in the 4×400 (4:15.12).

Deehring, a freshman, also qualified for regionals in the 100 meter dash with a third place finish (13.23), while Mia Rager, also a freshman, advanced to regional competition with a third place finish in the long jump (16-01.50).

As a team, the Cougars finished seventh out of 14 teams (39 points). Celina won the team title with 126 points.

Regionals will be held Thursday and Saturday at Piqua.