West Liberty-Salem’s track and field teams picked up another boost of momentum before the postseason Thursday after sweeping the Ohio Heritage Conference championship at Mechanicsburg High School.
The Tiger girls ran away with the OHC North division title after winning 13 of 17 events and scoring 204 points.
Fairbanks was runner-up with 143 points, Mechanicsburg was third with 86 points, West Jefferson was fourth with 50 points, Northeastern was fifth with 21 points and Triad took sixth with 16 points.
The OHC boys North division title came down to the final event of the evening with the 1,600 relay. WL-Salem was leading by eight points and was able to hold on to win 156-152 over Fairbanks. Mechanicsburg came in third with 112 points, Northeastern finished fourth with 44 points, West Jefferson was fifth with 36 points and Triad came in sixth with 20 points.
Highlighting WL-Salem’s girls performance were the 800 and 1,600 relay teams. Both set new OHC records after the 3,200 relay set a league record on Monday.
The 800 relay of Kaylee LeVan, Grace Estes, Madison Bahan and Emily Hollar won with a record time of 1:46.1, while the 1,600 relay of Katelyn Stapleton, Bahan, Estes and Hollar won with a record time of 4:04.2.
Also claiming individual OHC North titles were Megan Adams int he 1,600 (5:11.7) and 3,200 (11:34.2), Hollar in the 200 (26.1) and 400 (58.9), Estes in the 100 (13.0), Stapleton in the 800 (2:18.9), LeVan in the long jump (16-2 1/2), Selena Weaver in the shot put (34-4 3/4) and the 400 relay team (51.8).
Runner-up finishes came from Bahan in the 400 (1:00.8), Addison McAuley in the 800 (2:28.02) and Ashley Yoder in the 3,200 (11:50.06).
Placing third were Yoder in the 1,600 (5:13.3), Sophia Hardwick in the 100 hurdles (18.5) and Claire Longshore in the 300 hurdles (50.3), while fourth-place finishes came from LeVan in the 100 (13.4), Mallory Bostick in the 200 (28.3) and Kenzie Bahan in the shot put (28-7). Hardwick added a fifth-place finish in the 300 hurdles (53.1).
Dylan Lauck sparked the WL-Salem boys with OHC North title wins in the 1,600 (4:26.6) and 3,200 (9:53.08).
Coming in second were Isaac Brown in the 400 (52.9) and 800 (2:06.3), Josh Spinner in the 1,600 (4:35.3), Tate Yoder in the 3,200 (9:59.8), Tyler Douthwaite in the pole vault (10-6) and the 400 relay of Trevor Berry, Dylan Glunt, Jace Wade and Isaiah McGill (45.4).
Placing third were Wade in the 200 (23.4), Logan Phillips in the 400 (53.7), Owen Harrison in the 800 (2:10.9), Garrett Richardson in the 100 hurdles (17.1), Andrew Kimball in the 300 hurdles (42.4), Hayden King in the discus (104-10), the 800 relay of Glunt, Kimball, Cooper Havens and Gabe McGill (1:38.06) and the 1,600 relay of Brown, Phillips, Isiah McGill and Kimball (3:47.6).
Taking fourth were Wade in the 100 (11.3), Phillips in the 100 hurdles (17.2) and Dawson Jenkins in the pole vault (9-6), while fifth-place efforts were added by Glunt in the 200 (24.3) and Richardson in the 300 hurdles (44.8).
For Triad’s boys, Tyler Gross placed second in the discus (114-8), Joe Ferguson was third in the 800 (2:12.8) and Maison Johnson took fourth in the discus (102-6).
The Cardinal girls had one placer on Thursday with Cayla Eaton, who placed second in the 300 hurdles (50.02).
WL-Salem’s girls and Triad start the postseason Tuesday at the Division III district prelims at Piqua High School. WL-Salem’s boys compete in the Division II district prelims on Thursday at Graham.