Here's what to watch at the state track meet for Ashland County

DAYTON – Let the party begin.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) will host a three-day state track meet this year in Dayton, Thursday through Saturday (May 30-June 1). Ashland County will have its share of athletes and teams competing at Welcome Stadium over the course of three days. Here are the main scenarios to pay particular attention to throughout the national competition.

Hurdles will take center stage

Ashland hurdlers Braydon Martin (middle) and Jayden Goings (right) will both compete in the OHSAA Division I state track and field meet. Martin will run in the 300 hurdles and Goings in the 110 hurdles.

Ashland County will be well represented in the hurdle department in Dayton.

The Ashland Arrows duo of Jayden Goings and Braydon Martin have been present all outdoor season. Goings qualified in the 110 hurdles (4th at regionals) in Division I, while Martin, this year’s Ohio Cardinal Conference champion in the 300 hurdles, made state in the 300 hurdles (4th at regionals). Both are coming off personal bests in their events, as Martin clocked a 38.04 in the 300 and Goings set a 14.47 in the 110.

More:Ashland’s Jayden Goings and Braydon Martin stand side by side, taking one obstacle at a time

Goings and Martin will also team up with Ayden Behrendsen and Jacob Holbrook in the 4×200 relay. Also add the 4×400 relay to Goings’ schedule, where he will run with Behrendsen, Tyler Sauder and Gavin Hoffman.

Black River will have its share of hurdles to watch, as seniors Braylon Oneal and Olivia Todd make their first appearance at the Division III state meet.

Oneal, the Lorain County conference and district champion in the 300 hurdles, will compete in its bread-and-butter race in the state. Oneal finished second in the 300 hurdles at regionals. Also look for Oneal in the 4×100 relay, where he will be alongside Seth Gaspari, Aden Macfarlane and Stephan Kozopas. This group broke the school record at the district competition in Norwegian with a time of 43.29.

More:Mapleton and Black River Produce Multiple Regional Qualifiers at District Track and Field Meet

Todd, district champion in the 100 hurdles two years in a row, will compete in the 100 and 300 hurdles. She finished third in both regional events. South Central senior Grace Lamoreaux will be making her third trip to state in the 100 hurdles (Division III regional champion) and she will also compete in the 300 hurdles, where she placed fourth at the regional meet. She will be joined by Firelands Conference contender Madison Smith of New London as she competes in the 100 hurdles.

Numerous events on the ground

The on-field events will be where most of the action will take place in Dayton.

Crestview’s Wade Bolin and Liam Kuhn will be big players in their Division III events. Bolin won everything there during his senior year, in both the discus and shot put. He won Firelands Conference, district and region titles this year in the discus and shot put. At the regional championships, he threw 178 feet, 4 inches in the discus for the title and 58 feet in the shot put. A state title could be within Bolin’s reach.

Kuhn, an All-Ohioan (6th place) last year in the pole vault as a freshman, has a chance to finish higher on the podium in Dayton. On his way to state, Kuhn won district and regional titles in the pole vault.

Loudonville’s Braden Carr (11th at last year’s state meet) and Mapleton’s Hayden Kidney will join Kuhn in the pole vault. On the girls pole vault side, there will be Adalyn Tipton of Hillsdale and Zoey Bungard of Black River.

Northwestern will see Emily Thompson compete in the shot put and Jule Stoller in the high jump.

South Central’s Angela Williams will be making her fourth trip to the Division III state meet overall, as she will compete in the long jump for the fourth time. She won a medal last year in juniors (8th place), and a higher place on the podium could be reserved for her. Williams will also run the 400 meters, as she has twice been a state qualifier in the 200 meters during her career.

Distance runners to watch

Reese Landis of New London, Tess Shultz of Loudonville and Isaik Schoch of Mapleton will all be in contention for a medal (top eight) in their respective distance events.

Landis, a senior, will be one of the top favorites to win the Division III state title in the 3200. The 3200 field will consist of Landis, the defending state champion to Caleigh Richards of Maplewood, runner-up in Last year’s report to Rebecca from Heartland Christian. Kaitlyn Carr of Geiss and Smithville.

Shultz will compete in the 3,200, but her best event might be the 1,600, where she was All-Ohioan last year (4th place) as a junior.

Schoch finished 12th in the 1,600 at the state meet last year, and he will look to make the podium in his senior year.