For each event, the top four finishers in the finals heat qualified for the regional meet, the last step before punching a ticket to the state meet in Columbus on the first weekend of June.
Not only did Clermont County have qualifiers in 64 events, but also there were 19 first-place finishers among those 64.
In Division III, the Williamsburg girls’ track and field team won their district meet, qualifying them to move on to regionals as a team.
Clermont County has three Division I schools that competed in their district meet at Mason High School. Each of those three schools, Glen Este, Amelia and Milford, had qualifiers for the regional meet with two of those schools having event winners.
From Glen Este, their long distance expert Steven Stoffel won both the 800-meter and 1600-meter run. Stoffel’s time in the 800 was 1:55.86, a full two seconds faster than his time at the Fort Ancient Valley Conference Championships a week ago. And in the 1600, Stoffel ran a 4:25.20.
Milford’s sprinter extraordinaire, Savanna Termuhlen qualified in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Her 100-meter time of 12.52 seconds was good enough to put her in fourth place, but her 200-meter dash time of 25.23 was good enough to win the event outright. Also, according the Milford Athletics website, her run was a school record.
Finally, Madison Terry of Amelia qualified for the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:06.85, which put her in third place.
In Division II, six Clermont County schools accounted for qualifiers in 31 events, highlighted by nine first-place finishers.
Bethel led the way as far as individual district champions with five, New Richmond had two and Batavia and Goshen both had one.
Bethel’s Lauren Stacy swept both throwing events, winning the discus and the shot put. Stacy’s shot put throw was 38-feet-5.5 inches and her discus was 122-feet-7 inches.
The Bethel boys’ team had three event winners, two of which came from Erik Shinkle in the 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Shinkle ran the 110 hurdles in 15.45 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 40.54 seconds.
Bethel’s final district championship came in the form of the 4×400-meter relay team of Jason Adams, Ryan Rees, Matt Small and Shinkle. The four-man team ran their relay in 3:32.99, just under two seconds faster than their nearest competitors.
Other Bethel regional qualifiers were Carolin Baker and Dakota Sicurella in the 100-meter hurdles. Baker ran a 16.37 and Sicurella ran a 17.27 to finish in third and fourth place, respectively. Taylor Atkins finished second in the pole vault with a 5-foot-2 inch clearance.
The final Bethel qualifiers was Ryan Rees in the pole vault and Matt Small in the long jump and high jump. Rees finished in fourth place with an 11-foot-6 inch clearance and Small finished second in both events.
The Bethel boys finished third as a team behind North College Hill and Wyoming.
The New Richmond girls event winner was the 4×400-meter relay team made up of Sarah Glenn, Mikaela Rupp, Sarah Shoemaker and Olivia Behymer with a time of 4:04.83.
Behymer and Shoemaker also qualified for the 400-meter dash in second and third place with times of 59.60 and 61.18.
The Lady Lions 4×200 and 4×800 relays also advanced to the regional meet by virtue of a fourth-place (1:50.67) and third-place (10:16.15) finish.
Other regional qualifiers for the New Rihcmond girls include Hannah Hall in the high jump with a fourth-place finish and a high jump of 5-feet and Aly Skaggs with a third-place finish in the pole vault.
For the New Richmond boys’ team, Aaron Pollard was a district champion in the pole vault with a high clearance of 12-feet-6 inches. Pollard will be joined at the regional meet by teammate Alex Ariapad who finished third in the 1600-meter run.
Goshen had four individuals qualify for the regional tournament, highlighted by district champion Tiera Martinelli who won the pole vault with a high clearance of 9-feet-6 inches. Her teammate, Brittany Clark will also be at the regional meet thanks to her fourth-place finish in the 3200-meter run.
On the boys side for Goshen, Calvin Phillips and Darren Wiley will represent the Warriors for their efforts in the throwing events. Phillips came in second in the shot put and third in the discus throw and Wiley finished fourth in the discus to secure his spot.
Batavia had qualifiers in three events with the most impressive being Josh Moon’s district championship in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:38.29. Nick Dierks who qualified in both the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles will join Moon at the regional meet.
Finally in Division II, Clermont Northeastern had regional qualifiers in four events. In the relays, the 4×100-meter girls’ relay team finished fourth while the 4×100 and 4×200 boys’ relay teams finished second. The only individual qualifying for regionals was Phil Sanft who came in third in the pole vault.
In Division III, Williamsburg’s dominance has become the norm with the Wildcats sending a plethora of athletes forward to the regional meet.
On the girls’ team, which won the district championship, Gabby Press won the pole vault and Elizabeth Meisberger swept the throwing events to take home three individual district championships.
Other qualifiers include Ashley Jermer in the 100-meter dash, Lindsey Smith in the 800- and 1600-meter runs, Alexis Donthnier and Shannon Dewey in the high jump, and Caley Pringle in the pole vault. The girls’ 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams also qualified.
On the boys’ side, the Wildcats had district champions in Clayton Scheidler in the long jump. Scheidler set a district meet record with a jump of 22-feet-7 inches. He also qualified in the 100-meter dash.
Corey Stith won the 300 hurdles outright, but also qualified in the 110-meter hurdles.
Other Wildcats regional qualifiers are Ryan Boggs in the 400-meter dash, Lee Brandon in the pole vault and 110-meter hurdles, Brandon Ilg in the pole vault and Michael Posey in both shot put and discus.
The Wildcats’ 4×100 relay team also qualified.
Lastly, Felicity also had a set of regional qualifiers led by two-time district champion Arica Stutz. Stutz won both the high jump and 100-meter hurdles to move on to regionals. She will be joined there by teammates Crissy Pasclow (1600-meter run) and Megan Obermeyer (discus).
The Division I and II regional meets will be held at the University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium beginning on Wednesday, May 23 and finishing up on the 26. The Division III meet will also begin on the 23rd at Troy Memorial Stadium and finish up on finish up on the 25th.