By Marc Tobias
mtobias@dailystandard.com Celina was almost able to make it a sweep in its track and field tri-meet against Van Wert and Lima Central Catholic.
The Lady Bulldogs were able to win relatively easily as they scored 99 team points to outdistance the Cougars by 41 points and Thunderbirds by 82 points.
Van Wert scored 75 points to slip past the Bulldogs' boys squad by 14 points while LCC finished third with 35 points.
Jenna Schmitmeyer was able to pace the Lady Bulldogs by picking up three individual wins.
Schmitmeyer won the 100-meter dash with a time of 13.1 seconds, as well as the 200 and 400 with times of 27.44 and 62.11.
"In general I think our 400 people improved a lot, we had real nice performances from our boys 400 people and our sprinters, because of Jenna Schmitmeyer and her three sprint races, she just does it over and over again," said Celina coach Dan Otten.
Sarah Lange also picked up a pair of victories for the Bulldogs as she won the high jump by edging teammate Betsy Hone with both girls clearing 4-feet, 10 inches. Lange also took home a win in the 100 hurdles with a time of 17.4.
Other Bulldogs picking up victories were Laura Snyder in the pole vault, Brittany Wenning in the 800 and Lindsey Schmitmeyer in the 300 hurdles. Celina also took home victories in the 1600, 800 and 3200 relays.
Other Bulldogs having nice meets were Jen Brackman who placed second in the discus and third in the shot put.
The Lady Bulldogs also received second-place finishes from Kelly Adams in the pole vault, Beth Braun in the 100 hurdles, Wenning in the 1600 and Karlyn Pease in the 300 hurdles.
Van Wert saw nice performances from Winnie Ulbert, who won both the shot and discus, and Kathryn Bagley who won the mile and two-mile races.
The Cougar boys were also led by a strong distance runner in Justin Dickman who also pulled off double victories in the mile and two-mile races.
"I'd say we've been running average today, Celina is running well and LCC has some great sprinters," said Van Wert coach Quinn White.
White added he thinks his Cougars could have a big year, but they still have a lot of work to accomplish their goals.
"We definitely want to compete for the league title, but Defiance and Wapak are very strong, both of them took us down last week. You just never know what will happen in the WBL, there are so many strong teams. I'd say right now we're sitting three or four, but our goal is to compete and go for it."
Celina's Shaun Fent almost caught Dickman in the mile as he finished in second place under a second behind with a time of 4:50.48. Ryan Bellman, meanwhile, finished second in the two-mile for the Bulldogs with a time of 11:01.
"Shaun Fent ran his second-best 1600 ever, he dropped 10 seconds and Ryan had his best 3200 ever and he competed pretty well," Otten said.
Celina had a very strong day in the field events as Carson Willey won the shot with fellow thrower Josh Roth winning the discus. Erik Chapin also picked up a win in the high jump while Andrew Murray won the pole vault.
"Josh Roth has been consistent in the discus and Carson Willey threw a foot and a half farther in the shot put then he's thrown ever and he won it," Otten said. "Our boys field events were pretty good today."
The Bulldogs' only other win came via Grant Riesen in the 400 with a time of 53.29 while Kelly Mallory came in third at 53.98.
"Kelly Mallory just came back from swimming in Florida and ran a 53, his best time by almost a second and a half. We moved Grant Riesen down for a little speed stuff and he ran a good 400," Otten said.
Celina also had a number of second-place finishes, as Andy Ball took second in the long jump, Neil Hoyng in the pole vault and Chapin in the high hurdles.
LCC might have had the boys best individual performance with Eddie Minor who took home wins in the 100 and 200 while anchoring the T-Birds' winning 1600-meter relay team.
"As always, Eddie Minor is our premier runner in the sprints, he's doing fantastic," said LCC coach Jim Morrisey.
Celina returns to track action Tuesday when it travels to Elida. |
