Olentangy’s Chayla Rankin leads the field en route to picking up first-place points in the 100-meter hurdles at Friday’s Delaware County Invitational at Olentangy Orange. Rankin won the event in 15.45 seconds.
Ben Stroup | The Gazette
The area’s best track & field athletes were in action Friday, all in one place, battling for bragging rights at the Delaware County Invitational in Lewis Center.
Host Olentangy Orange took top honors on the boys’ side, winning with 146 points. Olentangy was second with 119 while Big Walnut smoothed out the top three with 113. Other team scores included Olentangy Liberty (97), Delaware Hayes (76), Buckeye Valley (55) and Olentangy Berlin (36).
In girls’ action, Liberty won the team title with 149.5 points while Orange and Olentangy rounded out the top three with respective team totals of 110 and 100. Delaware (88), Big Walnut (81), Buckeye Valley (60.5) and Olentangy Berlin (48) had their fair share of highlights, too.
Olentangy’s Chayla Rankin made the most noise, winning not one, not two, but three individual events. On the track, she swept the two hurdle races, winning the 100 hurdles in 15.45 seconds and the 300 hurdles in 46.54 seconds — both personal bests. In the field, meanwhile, she won the high jump with an effort of 5-06.
Other multi-event winners included the Patriots’ Sophia Sampson, who won the 100 (12.22 seconds) and 400 (58.82 seconds); and the Pioneers’ Brooke Chapman, who took top honors in the 800 (2:20.43) and 1,600 (5:15.15).
Buckeye Valley’s Grace Daily won the 200 (25.44 seconds), Liberty’s Elena Aldrink won the 3,200 (11:22.84), Big Walnut’s Autumn Newman won the shot put (38-05.5), BW’s Natalie Vrancken won the discus (125-05.5), Liberty’s Lillian Engler won the pole vault (10-06) and the Patriots’ Lila Bendick won the long jump (17-03.25).
Hayes’ Tania Miles, Madie Gladden, Abrianna Hite and Malaya Sowell teamed up to win the 4×100 (48.04 seconds); Liberty’s Kennedy Elfers, Natalie Nichols, Eva Mackan and Sampson won the 4×200 (1:42.39); Orange’s Savanna Shaw, Chapman, Maddie Sharp and Mairin O’Brien joined forces to win the 4×400 (4:04.99); and the Patriots’ Aldrink, Hannah Spires, Julia Bockenstette and Bridget Snider won the 4×800 (9:31.64).
On the boys’ side, Big Walnut’s Justin Gneiting swept the hurdle events while Olentangy’s CJ Sanna won both throwing events.
Sanna took top honors in the shot put with a throw of 58-09 before winning the discus with a toss of 192-04. Gneiting, meanwhile, picked up first-place points in the 110- and 300-meter hurdles with respective efforts of 14.88 and 40.38 seconds.
Other standouts included Hayes’ Chaz Sakala, who won the 100 (10.87 seconds); Orange’s Nick Robinson, who won the 200 (22 seconds); the Pioneers’ Nick Herubin, who won the 400 (50.12 seconds); Olentangy’s Hugh Jacobsmeyer, who won the 800 (1:53.75); Orange’s Saketh Rudraraju, who won the 1,600 (4:15.01); and Big Walnut’s Eli Lengl, who won the 3,200 (9:35.34).
In the field, Liberty’s Nate Hollingsworth cleared 6-09 to win the high jump, the Patriots’ Jacob Weaver won the pole vault with an effort of 14-06 and Orange’s Levi Davis won the long jump with a leap of 21-0.25.
Finally, as for the relays, BW’s Logan Lang, Nate Snead, Dexter Chhuom and Hunter Bergsten won the 4×100 (43.07 seconds); Liberty’s Cayden Kocher, Julian King, James Brickner and Adam Zaremski won the 4×200 (1:30.31); Orange’s Nick Herubin Matthew Schroff, Rudraraju and Robinson won the 4×400 (3:23.89); and Olentangy’s Roman Corbett, Elijah Moore, Parker Reed and Jacobsmeyer won the 4×800 (8:00.26).
