St. Clairsville senior Karl Kain soars over the bar during a meet earlier this season. Kain added the regional title to his pole vault resume on Thursday at Muskingum University when he cleared 13-ft-8 to win and advance to the state meet next week in Columbus.

NEW CONCORD — Several area athletes have put the start of summer vacation on hold for another week.

The Division II regional track and field championship opened Thursday evening at the remodeled Muskingum University facility.

Only a handful of events were contested as finals during the first day of competition and already five individuals and a relay teams are headed for next weekend’s OHSAA State Track and Field Championship Meet at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

The regional meet concludes on Saturday with remaining field events and running finals.

St. Clairsville, which is one of the teams to watch for a team title on Saturday, is headed back to Columbus in at least two events.

The Red Devils flexed their muscle at the pole vault pit.

Senior Karl Kain earned himself a return trip to the state meet and will enter as a regional champion after soaring over the bar at 13-8.

He will be joined there by classmate Kyle Stoner, who finished right behind Kain with a mark of 13-ft-4.

Senior Grant Swider grabbed the silver medal in the long jump with a solid mark of 21-ft-7.

Union Local junior Johnny Sabinski continued his brilliant season in the discus circle by winning the Division II regional title.

Sabinski — an All-Ohioan a season ago — will be headed back to the state meet in the platter event after he launched the disc to a mark of 180-ft-8. He was five feet better than his nearest competitor.

Barnesville put forth a strong run in the 4×800 to grab the silver medal and advance to state meet.

The Shamrocks quartet consisted of Logan Dodd, Julian Becerra, Conner Starr and Connor Warrington. The team clocked an 8:18.43.

The lone female from the area to assure herself a trip to state is Buckeye Local junior Pam Kandrach. She qualified fourth in the shot put with a mark of 37-3 1/4.