Knox County athletes aim for state track meet in Dayton

FREDERICKTOWN — He broke the school record in the preliminaries and punched his ticket to state with a spectacular come-from-behind comeback in the finals.

Fredericktown’s Grant Hartley climaxes at just the right time.

Hartley is one of three Freddies who will compete in four events when the Division II state competition begins Friday at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium. He will be joined by teammates Brandon Hogg and Ella Bouton.

A senior, Hartley qualified for his first state meet with a fourth-place finish in the 400 meters at the Lexington regional meet last week. Her time of 49.97 seconds in the final was slightly lower than her preliminary time of 49.92, a school record, but enough to earn the fourth and final state automatic qualifying bid.

“I ran exactly the race I wanted to run. That’s exactly what I wanted to do,” Hartley said Saturday afternoon. “I knew Jonathan Alder’s kid (Cameron Jewell, second) was a little faster, so I stayed right behind him until the very end. I didn’t pass him, but we passed people together.

“I met a child right at the end. That’s all you can ask for going to state.

Brandon Hogg and Ella Bouton of Fredericktown will also make the trip to Dayton this weekend. Hogg finished fourth in the pole vault in Lexington with a jump of 13-8, while Bouton finished fourth in the shot put (39-9.75) and discus (128-2) at the regional meet.

Centerburg’s Greg Beard finished fifth in the 800 in Lexington, but earned one of two at-large bids up for grabs. The senior finished in 1:57.57.

East Knox had two state qualifiers, Hayden Baker and Isabella Grennell. Baker placed fourth in the 200 (22.87) at the Division III Heath Regional, while Grennell placed third in the shot put (36-3.5).

Danville’s Kelsey Hackman also qualified for the Division III state competition. The freshman finished second in the 100 hurdles (4 p.m.) at Heath.

The Division III meet begins Thursday and ends Friday.

Mount Vernon’s Marissa Rutter qualified for the Division I state meet in the 100 hurdles. The senior finished fifth at the Pickerington regional championship in 15:00, but earned an at-large bid.

The Division I preliminaries will be held Friday and the finals are scheduled for Saturday.

RELATED STORIES