NORTH ROBINSON - They are so good at passing the baton, you wonder if they’ll ever pass the torch to another team.
Competing at home, the Colonel Crawford girls won their sixth straight Division III district track and field championship Friday night, a streak built largely – at least recently – on the strength of their relay teams.
This marked the second straight year the Eagles swept all four relays – the 4x100, the 4x200, the 4x400 and the 4x800. Including 2022, they have won 10 of the 12 district relay races over the past three years.
“You have to have kids who are unselfish, who want to win relays,” Crawford coach Preston Foy said. “They want to be part of a ‘team,’ and that’s the culture we have here at Colonel Crawford.
“Most of the kids are three-sport athletes. All the coaches share athletes; we all work together. We know the best way to get to state is to ‘team up.’”
Kicking things off Wednesday was the victorious 4x8 team of sophomores Brynn Bruner and Rylinn Edgington, junior Olivia Hardy and senior Cece Chase (9:44.06).
The three sprint relays followed suit Friday. The 4x1 of juniors Mira Holt and Gabby Roston and seniors Ayla McKibben and Hailey Slagle won in 50.69. The 4x2 of Hardy, Holt and the McKibben twins, Ayla and Lynae, won in 1:47.61. And the 4x4 of Roston, Holt, Chase and Hardy won in 4:07.4.
In all, nine girls, including four seniors, had a hand in those four relay wins as Crawford out-distanced runner-up South Central in the team standings by a 146-118.5 margin.
“Track is not black and white,” Foy said. “You can’t just look at times. There’s different strengths on different legs. Who comes out of the blocks better? Who takes a handoff better? Who runs the curves better?
“Over the years, we’ve proved we have an idea of where to put these kids in the right spots to succeed.”
It’s more than an idea. It’s a winning formula they should patent.
“We push each other every day in the workouts,” Roston said. “We have people who can run any spot (in a relay). We trust each other and get along really well. If something bad happens, we pick each other up.
“Our coaches have it down. They know when we have to run farther or faster (in the exchange zone) or when we should get the baton. The coaches tell us to do something and we do it because we trust them.”
Roston, who won the pole vault on Wednesday with a personal best height of 11-8, runs third leg on both of her relays. She hands the baton to Slagle in the 4x100 and to Holt in the 400.
“I’ve been handing off to Mira since eighth grade … we’re best friends,” Roston said. “I trust she’s going to be in the right spot (jn the exchange zone). Me and Hailey just started handoffs this year. She trusts me to get the (baton) to her and I trust her to finish.”
Also winning titles for Crawford and headed to the Heath regional with all top four finishers were Slagle in the 100 (13.2), Chase in the 800 (2:23.34) and senior Niyah Shipman in the high jump (5-2). All three also finished runner-up in other events.
Slagle was second in the 200, Chase in the 1,600 and Shipman in the long jump, although she did set a PR by two inches, leaping 17-0.75.
“Right now we’re just watching how much we’re working, so I’m right where I need to be to peak at the end of the year,” said Shipman, who was a state runner-up in the high jump in 2022. “I didn’t run this year. I’m just focusing on my jumps.
“It would be nice to jump our school record of 5-6¼, just because of some of the setbacks I’ve had this year with a hip injury. I’m trying to build back up so I can qualify for state. That’s all I’m really hoping for.”
As another impressive display of their depth, Crawford had double regional qualifiers in three events – Slagle and Alya McKibben in the 200, Hardy and Lynae McKibben in the 400 and Chase and Edgington in the 1,600.
On the boys side, it was déjà vu for Crawford senior Trevor Vogt. His best event is the 110 high hurdles, but this year and last he got disqualified in the prelims for knocking a hurdle into the path of another hurdler. And in both cases he rebounded to win the 300s, this year in 41.86.
Crawford also won the 4x100 (44.08) en route to 84 points and third place in the boys standings behind Seneca East (128) and Crestview (106).
The other Crawford County champ Friday was Wynford junior Anthony Evans in the 400 (51.70).
In Wednesday’s action, Buckeye Central junior Corbin Bloomfield sprang 22 feet – his best by 10 inches – to set the meet record in the long jump. The previous mark was 21-9.75, set by Crawford’s Owen Adams in 2015.
“I jumped 21-1 on my fourth and fifth jump, so I went to my sixth jump and my coach said ‘Go for it,’” said Bloomfield, who also qualified for regionals in the 400. “He said to put everything on the line, so that’s what I did. I got mentally well and went for it.”
Now he’s taking aim at the school record of 22-5.
“I’d like to hit 22-5, but I think 22-6 would be fantastic,” Bloomfield said. “I’ve got to be mentally ready.”
After his Crawford athletes put on another show on their home oval, Foy paid tribute to who he felt was the meet’s unsung hero.
“I wanted to thank (Crawford athletic director) Jake Bruner and meet management for all they did,” Foy said. “It freed me up to do my job, which is to coach. He does all of the organizing; gets all of the help. It’s been really beneficial to our kids so our staff can coach instead of worrying about running the meet.”
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