By SETH STASKEY

Times Leader Sports Editor

A huge step in the post-season puzzle of the Ohio track and field postseason has been accomplished by several area competitors.

Now, however, it really gets challenging.

No fewer than 27 area athletes are making their way to Columbus today to begin preparations for this weekend’s OHSAA State Track and Field Championship, which will open Friday morning Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University.

Division III running will begin at 9:30 a.m. each day and a wave of Division II field events will be held concurrently. Division II running preliminaries begin 1:30 p.m. and the championship races, on Saturday, will begin at 1 p.m. All Division III field events will be held on Friday, starting at noon.

Locally, the bulk of the area entrants are in Division II with representatives from Barnesville, Buckeye Local, St. Clairsville and Union Local.

In Division III, just Bellaire and Shadyside are sending a delegation.

DIVISION II

Barnesville will not be represented in an individual event, but does have a girls relay and two boys relay teams.

Actually, the boys will take part in the first event of the day — the 4×800 — and the last event — the 4×400.

The 3200 relay team turned in an 8:18.43 last week at regional and will run from Lane 3 and is seeded 14th. The team is comprised of Logan Dodd, Conner Starr, Julian Becerra and Connor Warrington. All four are making their debuts at the state track championship.

The 4×4 team, meanwhile, consists of Dodd, Becerra, Warrington and C.J. Hannahs, who spent the bulk of the spring playing for the Shamrocks’ baseball team. He ran indoor season and took part in that state meet and was part of the regional team.

The Shamrocks posted a 3:28.91 and will attempt to qualify from Heat 1, Lane 7 and are seeded 17th.

The Shamrocks’ girls will be on the track just minutes before the boys in their own 1600 meter relay. The team of Lydia Fuchs, Mia Yee, Marah Bethel and Ayla Yater turned in a 4:09.52 and are running from Heat 1, Lane 7.

Buckeye Local is back in the state track meet after a several-year absence. The Panthers will send three individuals in five events.

The only area athlete — in either division or either gender — to qualify in three individual events is junior Brynn McKeever. She’s been coming on all season and turned in season-best times of 12.34, 25.85 and 59.40 last weekend in the regional to advance in the 100, 200 and 400 meter dashes, respectively.

Her 100 meter time is right in the thick of the chase of a medal. She’ll run in Heat 1 Lane 6 and is seeded fourth overall.

In the 200, she’ll attempt to qualify from Heat 1, Lane 2 and in the lap dash, she finds herself in Heat 1, Lane 1.

Junior Pam Kandrach will compete on Saturday in the shot put. She will be third thrower of the competition. She owns a seed mark of 37-3 1/4.

Senior speedster Cai McKeever has developed into the area’s premier 400 meter sprinter. After winning the regional title last Saturday, McKeever finds himself in Heat 1, Lane 5 with a solid 49.69. That is ranked eighth overall entering the state.

St. Clairsville will send the largest delegation.

The Red Devils will be led by junior sprinter Emma Henry, who will take part, individually, in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. After placing in these events a season ago, Henry is looking to move up higher on the podium.

In the 100, Henry is coming off a regional showing in which she ran a blazing 11.91 to pace the field and lead the qualifying entering the state. She will be in Heat 1, Lane 4.

The 24.89 she ran in the 200 last weekend places her in Heat 2, Lane 4, meaning she’s the second seed overall.

Along with her work as an individual, Henry will also run the second leg of the 4×1. She’ll be joined there by Olivia McKeever, Lauren Henry and Laili Dombroski. That quartet advanced from the regional with a 50.95 and will be in Heat 2, Lane 1.

The Red Devils’ boys will do a bulk of their work in the field events. The regional team champions advanced in four of the five field events

Senior Grant Swider, who is embarking on his first state meet, will be in the long jump. He will be the second jumper in the second flight after posting a mark of 21-7 last week. He’s seeded eighth.

Senior Karl Kain is back in the state meet and seeking to improve on last season when he failed to place. He’s the 10th jumper in the pole vault after winning the regional gold with a 13-6 clearance. He is tied for eighth seed.

Joining Kain in the pole vault is senior Kyle Stoner, who is a first-time qualifier. He cleared 13-4 last week and will be the fifth jumper to step onto the runway. He is seeded 12th.

In the throwing circle, junior Perry Patrone returns to the state meet, but he will compete on both days. On Friday, he will compete in the shot put as the 14th seed with a mark of 52-7 3/4. He shifts to the discus on Saturday as the 12th seed with a mark of 161-11. He’ be the seventh thrower of the first flight.

On the track, the Red Devils will attempt to qualify in just one event and that’s the 4×1. The team of Gage Wolfe, Gavin Schoolcraft, Dino Burk and Stoner turned in a 43.46 last week. The Devils are ticketed for Heat 2, Lane 1.

Junior distance ace Ben Shields will compete on Saturday afternoon in the 3200 meter run. He’s been running brilliantly all spring, including last week when he turned in a 9:25.99. He comes in as the third seed, trailing only the runners who defeated him in the regional.

Union Local’s Johnny Sabinski — a two-event All-Ohioan a season ago — comes in to the state meet with more of a target on his back this season.

Sabinski will get things going Friday in the shot put where his regional mark of 56-10 34 is seeded third. He will be the seventh thrower in the second flight.

On Saturday, Sabinski will go after the discus where he comes in as the top seed with a measurement of 180-feet a week ago. He will be the last thrower in the competition in the preliminary round.

Senior standout Josie Goodson has been impressive all season in the 400. She turned in a 58.68 last week and will run in Heat 2, Lane 7 in the qualifying heat.

DIVISION III

Shadyside will enter in four events, all of which are on the track.

Leading the way for the Tigers is junior hurdler Dylan Booth, who will compete in both the high and intermediate hurdles.

Booth posted a 14.78 en route to the regional title last week and is now in Heat 2, Lane 4 as the second seed. In the 300 hurdles, he posted a 40.98 and is ticketed for Heat 1, Lane 7.

Joining him in the highs is his twin brother, Nathan. A returning state qualifier, Nathan posted a 14.85 last week and is the fourth seed in a race where the top four qualifying marks are all within 11 hundredths of a second of one another.

Senior Kooper Chimley qualified in the 400 meter dash. He ran a 50.26 last week and is seeded fifth and will attempt to qualify from Heat 1, Lane 6.

Dylan Booth and Chimley will join up with Mark Waggoner and Isaac Green for the 4×400. The Tigers ran a 3:30.25 to advance. They’re in Heat 2, Lane 1.

Bellaire will send two individuals.

Junior Mayson Sochor returns to the state meet and is seeking his first All-Ohio finish in the 110 high hurdles. Sochor has been coming on in recent weeks. He’s coming off a regional showing in which he ran a personal-best 14.83 to finish second.

He’s seeded third in the state and will run in Heat 2, Lane 6 of the semifinals.

Freshman Allyson Vingia is embarking on her first state meet in the discus. She posted a mark of 120-ft-4 last week and will throw fifth in the first flight.