Saturday, June 6th, 2026
2026 State Track and Field Championships
A banner day
Minster girls finish runner-up; Rose sweeps hurdles
By Joe Schatz
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
The Minster girls track and field team pose with the Division V state runner-up trophy.
COLUMBUS - While Columbus Grove ended day two of the state track meet on top of both the boys and girls D-V podiums, area athletes from all over showcased why the region is considered one of the best. Minster's girls team ended the night in second place with 44 points, 15 ½ behind the Bulldogs, but many individuals earned their nights on the podium.
"We don't count numbers, we're not looking at anything like that. It's just about how many events can you compete at in June, and we'll see to maximize everyone," said Minster coach Jessie Magoto, whose team finished ninth a year ago. "Someone mentioned it to me but I tried to say 'we're just competing and when we get to the end of the day, we'll see where we're at but the team did really well with that."
It was the Celina girls that opened the afternoon in the Div-III 4x800 finals. The team of Sophia Gudorf, Claire Huwer, Jenalee Dameron and Elle Miesse placed 12th in the event with a time of 9:46.70.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Johnny Pohlman finished second in the Division IV long jump.
Coldwater sophomore Johnny Pohlman took home some hardware after his mark of 22 feet, 1 ¾ inches was good enough for second in the D-IV long jump, just under two inches behind Adena's Joey Francis. Pohlman joins teammates Ava Schmitmeyer (girls pole vault) and Jonah Gruss (boys high jump) as Cavaliers who climbed the podium in field events, after Schmitmeyer and Gruss competed yesterday.
"I worked the whole year for this," said Pohlman. "I didn't get the result I wanted, but I got up there, so it was good."
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Aidan Rose is all smiles after winning the Division IV 300-meter hurdles at the Jesse Owens State Track and Field Championships. Rose had won the 110 hurdles earlier in the day.
More Coldwater success followed as the Division IV running finals began. Aidan Rose found himself on top of the podium in the boys 110-hurdles, as his final push was enough to edge out Shenandoah's Baxton Barnett by .01 seconds, with Rose's final time officially set at 14.27.
The Coldwater junior did not take long to reappear on the podium as part of the 4x200 team with Pohlman, Gruss, and Austin Uhlenhake. The quartet finished the race with a 1:29.55 mark which earned them seventh. Rose then closed out his day with another win, this time in the 300 hurdles with a time of 37.30. He out-dueled Barnett again, who finished with a time of 37.61.
"It was great," said Rose. "I came in wanting to win but not expecting to. It was my last race of the year so I just really went all out, pushed, trusted my step and got the championship."
Audrey Alig kept the Cavs success up in the 800 meter run. The junior finished at 2:15.69 and in third, ahead of teammate Lana Kaiser in tenth with a mark of 2:21.22. Claire Bertke rounded out Coldwater's day on the track with her eighth-place finish in the 200-dash, and she crossed the line at 25:93.
Minster senior Riley Hagens was just a walk away in the D-V girls pole vault, and her height of 11 feet placed her fourth. Marion Local's Mykenna Wilkins finished 10th at a height of 10 feet. Hagen's teammate Jakob Davis got on the podium for shot put, with a distance of 57-4 ½ to earn fourth place.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Minster's Jakob Davis placed fourth in the Division V shot put.
Also in the field, New Bremen's Mary Rindler leapt 16-11 in the D-V long jump to earn seventh place, while New Knoxville's Kinely Rutschilling finished 14th at 15-09 in her sophomore season.
In D-V girls discus, Avery Albers represented the Rangers well with a throw of 110-6 to place 15th, while Emma Hueker of Minster finished 17th at 105-8. The D-III discus saw St. Marys' Carter Verbryke's effort of 137-3 earn him 16th place.
With the D-IV running finals and the D-V throwing finals out of the way, it was time for Marion Local, Minster, St. Henry and Fort Recovery to take to the track for the D-V running finals.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Minster's Molly Brame (5) heads to the finish line en route to winning the Division V 100-meter hurdles.
Three area athletes battled it out in the first ever D-V girls 100-dash to open the stage, with Minster's Molly Brame claiming top spot after crossing the finish line at 14.96. Grace Moeller from Marion Local was fifth with St. Henry's Karlee Buschur one spot behind.
"I love those girls so much," said Brame of Buschur and Moeller. "We're really good friends, and we see each other at almost every meet. Every meet, Karlee and Grace are there, and we have fun before the race. I'll miss running with them next year."
Later, the Redskins claimed third in the girls 4x200 race with the team of Evelyn Gast, Karlee Baumer, Kylie Buschur and Karlee Buschur. They crossed the line at 1:43.50, which was three tenths quicker than their qualifying time.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Cole Kaiser (5) leans at the finish line to edge out Buckeye Central's Colin Perry (4) to win the Division V 100-meter dash.
Cole Kaiser of St. Henry found himself on top of the podium in the boys 100 dash after posting a time of 11.33 to avenge his second-place finish a year ago. Kaiser then turned around and teamed up with Owen Lefeld, Zach Heath and Will Gerlach to take third in the 4x200 with a time of 1:27.07.
"It's really hard," said Kaiser of the near 20-minute turnaround. "I really wanted to win (the 100) last year as a sophomore, but I'm super grateful for today."
Marion Local's team of Cale Nagel, Nathan Winner, Mason Jones and Oliver Huelsman captured ninth in the race after finishing at the 1:31 mark.
With the 1,600 up next, Claire Bohman of Minster used a late push to secure third place with a time of 5:09.23. It was two seconds quicker than her qualifying time.
It did not take long for St. Henry to be back on the track, as the Redskins placed ninth in the girls 4x100 with a time of 50.31. It was the team of Brooklyn Kunk, Karlee Baumer, Emma Watercutter and Evelyn Gast that got the job done.
The boys 4x100 saw both Marion Local and Ft. Recovery compete on opposite lanes of the track. The Flyers' all senior team of Nagel, Jones, Moeller and Owen Kemper earned sixth with a time of 43.83, while the Indians' Troy Post, Isaac Roessner, Caleb Smith and Reid Willmann crossed at 44 seconds in ninth.
It was once again time for the Wildcats to find some late success. Joanna Topp got third in the 800 at 2:15.79, while Tyler Bergman got 12th in the boys race at just under 12 seconds. St. Henry's Zach Heath was the best area finisher and nearly gutted out first place, but just fell into second at 1:54.67.
That left the 4x400 race, and with the Minster girls looking to secure a team podium finish, the squad of Sophia Dirksen, Brynn Bornhorst, Brame and Topp aided the effort with a second-pace finish at 3:59.53.
St. Henry's quartet of Rylie Buschur, Karlee Baumer, Shaylee Lefeld and Karlee Buschur was just behind the Wildcats in third with a time of 3:59.90.
The final race, the boys 4x400, proved to be a shocker as ninth-seeded New Bremen clawed their way into second place. The team was led by Jacob Kelly, with Luke Long, Jett Jellison and Joel Lozier getting the final push for second.
"This meant a lot to this squad, coming into it ninth what can you really expect?" said Long. "We all knew we could do it, this is the first 400 I ran since districts. But these guys ran one of the best races they could have run."
In the day's earlier D-III semifinals, Celina earned two berths to today's final meet. The 100-meter hurdles was first up. Celina freshman Alison Hemmelgarn earned a chance at tomorrow's final with her second-fastest time of 14.58.
With the hurdles gone, Maddie Rammel qualified for the 100-dash with a time of 12.46 in her first state event appearance. Elle Miesse will join them in running the 1,600 final.
The Bulldogs will start their day early as Brenna Korte and Rachel Rammel will compete in the long jump starting at 9:30 a.m. At the same time, Gracyn Harris will compete in the pole vault. Celina's Zaden Rolfes will compete in the Division II pole vault starting at noon.
