Action begins at 9:30 a.m. Friday with field events in Division III and the 4×800-meter relay for both boys and girls in Division II.

A total of 26 individuals, three relay teams and one seated athlete will represent OVAC schools. There are no qualifiers in Division I.

DIVISION II

Girls

Martins Ferry’s Alanna Williams has put herself in position for a double this weekend as she competes in the 800- and 1600-meter runs after setting records during last weekend’s regional event at Muskingum University.

The Purple Riders junior has the fastest qualifying time in the 1600 (4-minutes, 50.96-seconds) which is nearly three seconds faster than the next closest runner. Her 2:11.44 in the 800 is the second fastest. Each event is a single race on Saturday with the 1600 taking off at 1:35 p.m. and the 800 just 55 minutes later.

“Alanna keeps impressing more and more each time she runs. Before the regional, she just wanted to qualify in both the 800 and 1600 and ended up as regional champ in both events,” Martins Ferry head coach Greg Steele explained. At this point she feels that she can run both at state.

“Her practices this week have allowed her legs to freshen up enough to win one of her races.”

In addition to her two regional records, Williams has set new marks at the 800 at the Bellaire Relays (2:18.37); in the 1600 at the Dick Dei Classic at Wheeling Park (5:04.91); during the Buckeye 8 Conference Meet in the 800 with a time of 2:13.89; and the Division II District Meet at St. Clairsville when she broke both marks (800–2:14.56 and 1600–5:02.27).

Once the high school season is finished, Williams will begin training for the New Balance Nationals that is being held in Philadelphia June 19 through the 22, according to Steele.

Buckeye Local is represented by Jenna Delvecchio in the 100 Hurdles. She has the third fastest qualifying time of 14.82 seconds and will run in Heat 2, Lane 6 in his preliminary race.

The top two finishers and the next five fastest times in the preliminary races advance to the finals. Not all races have two heats, however.

St. Clairsville’s Ava Crum and Ava Borkoski qualified in the pole vault and high jump, respectively. Crum leaped 10-foot, 8-inches and Borkoski jumped 5-2 to advance from Muskingum University.

Union Local’s Morganne Emory is going in the long jump with a leap of 16-10.25.

Indian Creek’s Trinity Greene qualified in the 100 in 12.77. She is in Heat 1, Lane 8. Teammate Gracie Klinesmith qualified in the long jump. Her distance was 16-11.75.

Beaver Local’s Mallory Miller will run in Heat 2, Lane 7 of the 200-meter dash with a qualifying time of 25.96.

Boys

Barnesville’s Aden Zumock leads this group as he ran to regional titles in the 100 and 200. His 10.87 in the 100 was just 0.02 seconds from beating the old mark of Ryan Grear, while his 22.13 in the 200 is a school record and fifth fastest time. He will run in Heat 2, Lane 5 in both preliminaries.

“I have known what Aden could do since he was a freshman. He really did not start getting recognized until late his sophomore year when he was the 200 district champ,” Barnesville head coach Dylan Rogers said. “At the beginning of his junior year he slipped out of the blocks during a wet meet and hurt his hamstring. Ever since he has been battling with leg issues. Since then we have been prioritizing rest with him because it seemed like every other week, he would pull up.

“So, this year our main focus was to keep him healthy until OVACs. He was able to compete there and was runner up in the 100 meters to the fastest kid in D-III and overall 200 champ.”

Zumock is the back-to-back 100-meter District champ and runner up in the 200. He was the district champ in 200 the previous two seasons.

“Aden has had a long journey to get to this point. Just when he thought he was healthy we would let him race and then he would have another setback,” Rogers explained. “He has been waiting to show the (Ohio) Valley and now the state what he can actually do. This is probably the healthiest he has been since his sophomore year.

“We are all excited to see what he can do against the best in Ohio.”

Zumock was also fourth at the Indoor State in the 60-meter dash this past season.

The Shamrocks’ Eli Messenger qualified in the 300 Hurdles in 40.27. He will run in Heat 2, Lane 7 in the preliminaries.

St. Clairsville’s Brady Blacker will also pull double duty. He will compete in the 4×800 relay, along with Tyler Harris, Landon Capers and Camden Judge. They qualified in a school-record 8:02.43 and will run Friday at 1:45 p.m.

Blacker will then run in the 800 at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. His time was 1:55.59, just shy of a school mark.

East Liverpool has three individual runners and its 4×400 relay team entered. Maddox Roach

Will run the 1600 (4:13.73), while Quintin Conrad competes in the 3200 (7:50.48) and Julius Jones in the 800 (1:54.20) which is the second fastest time.

Those three, along with Meshach Harris, make up the 4×400 (3:25.17). They are in Heat 1, Lane 8.

Beaver Local’s Landon Wheatley jumped 6-2 to qualify in the high jump.

DIVISION III

Girls

This contingent is led by Caldwell’s Gwyn Lori. The University of Louisville signee is the defending champion in the shot put and has the farthest qualifying heave of 45-0.5, which is nearly four inches farther than the next competitor. She also has the second longest throw in the discus at 142-6.

Bellaire’s Alyson Vingia is back for a second consecutive year in the discus. She qualified at 121-7.

River’s Brooke Huffman ran 16.39 to punch her ticket. She is in Heat 2, Lane 8.

Shenandoah’s Alyssa Crum (800, 2:19.96) and Ida Estadt (3200, 11:21.34) also qualified.

Boys

Steubenville Catholic’s Andrew Rohde will run in the 1600 (4:16.69) at 10:05 a.m. Saturday and then return at 11:30 to run the 3200 (9:24.20). The Ohio State University commit finished second in the 1600 last spring in Dayton.

Crusaders’ teammate James McInnis qualified in the high jump at 6-3.

Bellaire’s 4×400 relay team of Manuel Garcia, Kole Gonglik, Landen Perdue and Raekwon Pettigrew will run in Heat 2, Lane 3. They qualified in 3:29.49.

Shenandoah’s Braxton Barnett is back at the state meet in four events for the second straight year. He will run the 300 Hurdles in Heat 1, Lane 4. His qualifying time is 37.71. He is also entered in the 110 Hurdles with a top 5 time of 14.62. He is set for Heat 1, Lane 6. In the field events, Barnett will compete in the long jump where his 22-8.25 is the second longest among entrants. He went 6-4 in the high jump.

The Zeps’ 4×800 relay of Chuck Estadt, Jarrett Wentworth, Emmitt Slevin, Noah McElroy runs Friday at 9:45 a.m. Their time is 8:22.77.

Caldwell’s Ethan Crock (Discus, 143-5) and Wellsville’s Clayten Kersey (LJ, 21-1.75) round out the local entries.

The top 8 finishers earn all-Ohio honors.

Seated Division

Beaver Local’s Savannah Nigh has qualified for three events in her wheelchair. She has the fastest times in the 400-meter (1:29.02) and 800 (3:06.72) while her 23.68 in the 100 is second fastest.