COLUMBUS – The Ohio Valley contingent of qualifiers for Friday’s portion of the 119th annual boys and 51st annual girls Ohio High School Athletic Association’s Jesse Owens state track and field championship meet wasn’t as large as in past years, but eight individuals are returning from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University with some extra baggage.

Two of them – Buckeye Local’s Jenna DelVecchio and Martins Ferry’s Alanna Williams – both have gold medals around their necks as Division IV state champions. Something that both seniors have been seeking for four years. They both also made history as Division IV state champions, this being the first year of the expanded five-division format.

Williams, who was a two-time all-Ohioan last spring, became the Purple Riders first female to win a state track title when she captured the 1600-meter run in 4-minutes, 55.17-seconds.

“I just tried to give it my all,” Williams noted. “I wouldn’t let myself get discouraged this time as fast as we went out, but I think I did pretty good.”

Williams led the first lap in 1:11.60 before Huron’s Rylie Towns took the lead for laps 2 and 3 with the Purple Riders ace on her heels. Williams made her move on the backstretch, passing Towns and never looking back in winning by 3.34 seconds.

“I wanted to do better than I did last year, and I did,” she said with a huge smile.

Forty-five minutes later, Williams placed second in the 800-meter run with a clocking of 2:12.62, a mere 1.62 seconds behind Valley View’s Addyson Abner.

DelVecchio, a Youngstown State University signee, was neck-and-neck with Union Local’s Pazeley Whiteley in the 100-meter high hurdles as both competitors seemingly reached the final hurdle in a virtual tie. However, while the Panthers’ senior cleared the timber and sprinted to the finish line in 14.88 seconds, the Jets’ sophomore clipped the obstacle and wound up third in 14.95.

“This feels amazing. The past four years I’ve worked so hard for this moment,” DelVecchio said after receiving her medal. “To be able to end my senior year on a really high note makes everything so much better.”

When asked what the key was, she replied, “to just go out there, attack the first hurdle, get out in front and just keep the momentum.

“I honestly don’t know how close the race was because I was really focused on my lane of the hurdles.”

Whiteley became a two-time all-Ohioan when she took seventh in the 300-meter low hurdles with a time of 45.95.

“I actually rolled my ankle on the fifth one (hurdle) and kind of stumbled, but I still finished pretty good,” she explained. “I’m proud of the way I ran today.”

On the boys side, Bellaire’s Landen Perdue ran a personal best 4:19.43 in the 1600-meter run to place seventh. Union Local junior Connor Bendo, who won the 3200-meter race on Thursday, finished 10th in the 1600.

DIVISION V

Girls

Bellaire’s Alyson Vingia finished her career with a second-place finish in the discus. She hurled the platter 143-feet, 11-inches, coming up seven inches shy of Heartland Christian’s Claire Liposky.

Shadyside’s duo of Kaci Tsoras and Jaylynne Johnson earned spots on the podium. Tsoras soared 10-6 in the pole vault for eight-place, while Johnson ran 15.49 for a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter high hurdles.

Boys

Steubenville Catholic’s James McInnis tied for fifth in the high jump with a leap of 6-4.