Eastwood anchor runner Emma Downs crosses the finish line in first place in the 4x100 meter relay during the Northern Buckeye Conference track and field championship meet Saturday at Fostoria Memorial Stadium. The Eastwood relay team finished with a time 51.58. The Eastwood team captured the meet title.
Scott W. Grau | Sentinel-Tribune
FOSTORIA — Eastwood girls track won their 21st straight league title, scoring 167 points to defeat second place Woodmore (145) in the Northern Buckeye Conference meet Saturday.
It took a team mentality and sacrifice to get it done, said Eastwood sophomore Amelia Ward.
“Winning this championship just shows how well we work together,” Ward said. “It’s not all about individual races, it is about putting it together as a team.
“We all start running the same, whether we competed or not, whether we PR’d today or not, it is about how we did as a team together.”
Ward was joined on the 4×800 relay team by senior Addie Young, junior Talia Baum and freshman Leah Emch, winning in 10:33.78 to defeat second place Otsego (10:59.57).
Ward was pleased with how her team performed in 80-plus degree temperatures.
“I thought we ran well today. Yesterday and the weeks before we’ve been practicing getting out in our first block and I think we did that really well today,” Ward said.
“We all tried to get out in the first one and just tried to finish it out in the second one. Hydration is key this week and I think we all worked well to do that, and I think it’s paying off now that we all just ran a pretty solid time.”
The Eagles were fortunate because Woodmore had crossed the finish line first but was disqualified because of a lane discrepancy.
Woodmore was Eastwood’s biggest threat to a team championship and that was a major blow to the Wildcats’ chances of upsetting the Eagles.
Eastwood’s 4×100 relay team, senior Aubrey Haas, juniors Julia Sabo and Emma Downs, and sophomore Saylor King won in 51.58, beating Rossford (52.65).
Emch won the 3200, finishing in 12:07.75 to defeat second place Woodmore sophomore Caydie Buchanan (12:40.95).
Lake sophomore Brianna Braatz won the 100 in 12.95, defeating second place Eastwood junior Emma Downs (13.1) by less than one-fifth of a second.
“It went well, considering we’ve had a bunch of cold meets,” Braatz said. “This is like the first warm one. I’m a slow starter so that wasn’t good, but I recovered, and I was able to finish.”
Braatz was joined on Lake’s championship 4×200 relay team by seniors Ava Ayers and Olivia Hayward and freshman Adeana Cowell, which won 1:50.4. Rossford (1:50.74) was second.
“We ran a real good race,” Cowell said. “I think we pushed hard. and we got that first place. I think as a team we’ve been working hard at it.”
Rossford senior Clare Logan won the 200 in 26.15, defeating second place Braatz (26.48). Logan also won the long jump, reaching 18 feet, 2½ inches to best second place Woodmore junior Macey Bauder (15-6).
Elmwood junior Anna Barber won the discus, throwing a personal record 130-7 to outdistance Eastwood junior Olivia Newsome (125-4).
“I threw well. I wasn’t expecting to do very well today because my first five throws were pretty bad, but I pulled it out on the sixth one,” Barber said. “It feels great. Before my last throw, I was in fourth place, and I moved up all the way to first.”
Eastwood senior Ava Kiefer won the shot put, throwing 37-11½ to defeat second place Barber (36-4¼).
Eastwood junior Julia Sabo won the pole vault, clearing 10 feet to best freshman teammate Kylie Henline, who was runner-up, clearing 9 feet.
