It was another action-packed edition of the annual Steve Roth Relays Thursday at Case Field in Washington, with over 30 schools and 1,000 track and field athletes taking part in the meet.
The hosting Washington Demons were led by another victory for Micah Rees. The senior made his outdoor season debut by claiming the 1,600-meter run in the Class A division with a time of just under 4 minutes 34 seconds. The former state qualifier was also second in the 3,200 meters. Fellow senior Alec Ulin had a fifth-place finish in the 200 meters, while sophomore Josh Anderson set new meet records in the 101 and 201-meter wheelchair runs.
Washington relay teams stayed busy at the Steve Roth Relays. The Demons were third in Class A in the sprint medley; fourth in the distance medley; and fifth in the 4-by-400-meters. Washington was also fifth in Class A in the 4-by-800 on their way to a fifth-place finish in the division in team scoring.
The Demons’ junior varsity team also competed in the Class C division, where senior Kael Malichky was fifth in the 1,600, as was junior Lucas Zahs in the shot put and the distance medley team.
The team champions in Class C were the Columbus Wildcats, who finished a hefty 43 points clear of second-place Danville. Columbus had a winner in seven different events, including two athletes who won multiple times.
Senior Kaden Amigon was the Class C champion in the 100-meter dash, clocking in at 11.25 seconds, and in the long jump, hitting a top mark of 19 feet two inches. Amigon also was runner-up in the 200 by less than one-tenth of a second but helped the Wildcats win the 4-by-100 relay alongside freshman Lamar Ceant and juniors Juan Chairez and Johnathan Miranda with a time of just under 46 seconds.
Like Amigon, senior Russell Coil started his outdoor senior season by following up state medals with victories at Case Field. Coil took the shot put title in Class C with a top toss of 48 feet one inch and won the discus toss at just over 141 feet. Junior Markel Zapiensz was also third for Columbus in the shot put.
Sophomore Alexander Rees brought home a title in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.93 seconds, with Ceant one spot behind him. The other win for the Wildcats came from the shuttle hurdles relay team of Rees, Ceant, Miranda and freshman Cade Storm, which had a time of one minute 10 seconds.
Storm would be third in the 400 hurdles, with Rees in fifth, while Chairez was fourth in the 200 and senior Damian Vergara took bronze in the 400. Junior Ty Muniz finished third in the 1,600 and fifth in the 3,200 for the ‘Cats, while senior teammate Cael Phillips was top-four in both races as well. Columbus got a fourth-place finish from their 4-by-400 relay and 4-by-800 relays.
On their way to a fourth-place finish in Class C as a team, Winfield-Mount Union had four individual winners. Sheaden Adams was the 400-meter champion in 55.24 seconds, while fellow junior Kohlby Newsom needed just over two minutes six seconds to win the 800.
Wolves senior Gabe Hemsworth crossed the finish line in nearly one minute flat to win the 400 hurdles, while junior Jake Edwards was the high jump champ in Class C by clearing five feet 10 inches.
WMU also had a winning sprint medly relay team, as freshman August Gieselman joined seniors Abram Edwards, Ty Scorpil and Jarit Tapia to post a time of one minute 42 seconds. Winfield was runner-up in the 4-by-400 and 4-by-800, while senior Cole Milks was third in the long jump.
The top finish for WACO came from junior Louden Huisenga, who placed second in the high jump. Warriors senior Chase Waterhouse was third in the discus, as was junior Clayton Miller in the 200 meters. Along with junior Isaac Rich finishing fifth in the 100, WACO took third in the sprint medley and fourth in the 4-by-200.
Highland was led by an eighth-place finish from junior Cayden Day in the 200. In addition a fourth-place medal in the shuttle hurdles, Keota’s best individual finish came from freshman Jack Greiner, who was seventh in the 800.