Photos by Kim North Shadyside’s Nathan Booth, right, wins the Ohio Division III 110-meter high hurdles Friday night during the state track and field championships at the University of Dayton.

DAYTON — For the second year in a row, the Ohio Division III state champion in the 110-meter high hurdles resides in Belmont County.

Shadyside senior Nathan Booth claimed his title Friday night during the 116th annual state track and field championships inside Welcome Stadium on the campus of the University of Dayton. Bellaire’s Mayson Sochor won the title in 2023 but couldn’t compete this season due to a broken leg suffered in basketball season.

The Tigers’ timber-topper ran a 14.30-seconds to edge out Lowellville’s Michael Ballone who timed out in 14.56. Booth’s brother, Dylan, finished eighth in 15.75.

“It felt amazing,” Nathan said after receiving his Gold medal atop the awards podium. “There are no words to describe it, really.

“This might have been my best start of my career in the biggest race of my career,” he added.

“I led from the start and felt good going over every hurdle.”

Entered with the top qualifying time from Thursday’s preliminaries, Booth led from the start in achieving his season-long goal. He was 11th as a junior.

“This definitely feels better than last year,” Booth admitted. “A lot better.”

He also said it was nice to be able to run his final high school race with his brother.

“It’s amazing because he’s been out all year with a back injury, so I didn’t get to run with him as much as we had planned, but it was really neat to run together in our final race — the state finals.”

Dylan echoed the sentiment.

“It was cool. I loved it,” he said. “It’s my first time placing at state, so it feels good with the way my season went with the back injury.”

Shenandoah’s Braxton Barnett finished third at 14.72.

Union Local’s Johnny Sabinski was a double medal winner again.

Last year he was second in the shot put and fourth in the discus. He reversed those trends Friday when he took second in the discus with a toss of 173-feet, 6-inches in the morning.

A few hours later the University of Louisville recruit placed third in the shot put with a heave of 56-7.

He finished behind Creston Norwayne’s Dillon Morlock in the discus and behind Morlock and his cousin, Brandt Morlock, in the shot. Dillon Morlock, a Michigan State University recruit, is now a three-time discus champ and back-to-back shot put titlist.

“Competing against one of the best in the nation, finishing second isn’t too bad,” Sabinski said. “I’m grateful for it.”

His podium-producing throw was his only one that counted in the finals as he fouled on his first and third attempt.

“I knew it was my last three throws of my high school career and I was trying too hard,” Sabinski said. “The second (throw) got me on the podium, thank God. I was a little worried there for a minute.”

When asked if there was any pressure on him after his girlfriend — Caldwell’s Gwyn Lori — won the girls’ Division III state shot put crown on Thursday, he quickly replied, “No because she is a stud.”

Sabinski did say that being the third time at state’s did allow him to relax a little.

“The first two years were a little nerve-racking. This year I was more chilled. I know most everyone now, so it was a lot of fun.”

Steubenville Catholic junior Andrew Rohde came up a little short of his goal in the boys’ 1,600-meter run. He ran a personal-best 4:13.33 but couldn’t catch Ottawa Hills’ Riley Nixon who won in 4:12.70.

The Crusaders’ junior was second after one lap, third after two and fourth entering the bell lap before making his move.

“My coach and I came up with a plan to go out hard and finish even harder,” Rohde explained of the race strategy. “The winner is really talented and he ran a fast for the first two laps and I knew my legs would be feeling it, but there’s no race that you don’t want to go all out in.

“I made my move with about 300 meters left and it ended up paying off,” he added. “I didn’t have quite enough to catch him (Nixon) but that’s why I have next year.”

Although he came up short, he’s already looking forward to next season.

Martins Ferry’s Carter Bennett soared over 13-feet in the pole vault but failed to reach the podium in a deep and talented field that saw the winner go 15-4, the runner up reaching 15-even and another eight clear 14-feet.

In Division II action, St. Clairsville’s Ava Crum placed eighth in the girls’ pole vault with a leap of 11-feet, a personal best.

Qualifying for Saturday’s finals was teammate Emma Henry with a time of 12.30 in the 100-meter dash.

The Red Devils’ Ben Shields will compete in the boys’ 3,200-meter finals today.

St. Clairsville’s Perry Patrone placed 13th in the shot put with a toss of 50-5.25. The Red Devils’ 4×800 relay also placed 13th in 8:10.79.

Steubenville’s Sabria Jones qualified for today’s finals in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in times of 12.45 and 24.87, respectively. The WVU recruit also ran a leg on Big Red’s 4×100 relay that qualified for the finals in a clocking of 49.57. Laila Reed, Sarah Allen and Aniyah Warner complete the foursome.

Big Red’s Savion Faulks qualified in the 300-meter low hurdles in 38.51.

Martins Ferry’s Allana Williams and Barnesville’s Mara Bethel will both run in the girls’ 800-meter finals today.

Friday was a tough day for Buckeye Local senior Brynn McKeever. The Marshall University recruit just missed qualifying for the 100 and 400 with ninth-place finishes in both. Her 400 time of 58:12 was a personal best. She was 11th in the 200.