Oak Harbor’s boys and Otsego’s girls put together total team efforts to bring home new hardware from the Northern Buckeye Conference track and field championships.
The Rockets won 10 events to run away with the boys team title in their first year in the league, while the Knights used their depth to win their first NBC girls crown on a windy Saturday at the Rossford Athletic Complex.
“These athletes have done an amazing job trying to plan for this time of the season,” Oak Harbor coach Andy Augsburger said. “They’ve been training really hard, lifting really hard. I’ve been really, really happy with the way that they’ve been doing things.”
Oak Harbor finished with 182.5 points, while Eastwood (119.5) and Lake (94) were second and third, respectively, in the boys team standings. Otsego’s girls won with 133 points to edge Eastwood (117) and Oak Harbor (112.33).
“It’s our first title since like 1992 as a team in girls track and field, which is huge,” Otsego coach Chad McClory said. “But it’s not me.
“Phenomenal support staff with our coaches, and the kids, they came out and performed. They competed. … I love these kids, I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
Oak Harbor junior Tyler Thompson and sophomore Wyatt Augsburger were the lone individuals to win all four of their events. The duo did so in convincing fashion.
Thompson torched the field in the 100-meter dash in a meet-record time of 10.95 seconds, breaking the mark of 10.99 by Otsego’s Cole Gorski in 2014. Thompson won the 200 in 22.45, just five-hundredths of a second off Gorski’s meet record.
Thompson joined Garry Brooks, Carson Ridener, and Blake Nickel in winning the 800 relay in a meet-record time of 1:31.26. Otsego’s 2014 team, which included Gorski, had the previous best mark of 1:31.41. Augsburger, Brooks, Nickels, and Thompson finished first in the 400 relay in 43.75.
“It was pretty exciting,” Thompson said. “I came out here, the records I knew were beatable. I broke one of them [individually], and the other one I tried my best, but came a little short. It’s all good, though.
“We have a pretty young team, we’re all going to be back next year hoping to break it again. Just trying to better ourselves every week.”
Augsburger, who shared boys running athlete of the meet honors with Thompson, won the 110 hurdles in 15.05 and the 300 hurdles in 40.14. He teamed with Ridener, Nickel, and Bodee Miller to win the 1,600 relay in 3:32.85.
Ridener (51.29 in the 400), Evan Hall (53-11 in the shot put), and Travis Bouyer (143-7 in the discus) rounded out Oak Harbor’s boys victories.
Otsego’s girls team had two multi-event winners. Freshman Molly Kramer won the 100 hurdles in 15.79 and the 300 hurdles in 46.92, while junior Brooke Simon took the shot put (38-6.5) and discus (131-0).
“It definitely feels really good considering I had a tough time last year,” said Simon, who earned girls field athlete of the meet honors. “I faced some adversity through it and I didn’t end up doing as well as I wanted to.
“But, thankfully, I kind of just got myself out there. I was able to push through and take two titles, which feels amazing.”
Maumee’s Lucas Polkinghorn shattered a meet record en route to winning two field events. The Panthers’ junior soared to a 23-5 in the long jump to break the meet record of 22-4 by Eastwood’s Devin Snowden in 2012.
Polkinghorn’s top mark came on his last jump when he already had the league title secured.
“My last jump, I just figured I’d go all out, see what happened, and it just ended up really well,” Polkinghorn said. “It was really emotional for the long jump because I’ve just been working at it all year. I just had a phenomenal jump today.”
Polkinghorn, who was named the boys field athlete of the meet, also won the high jump with a 6-4.
In the girls meet, Lake senior Brianna Braatz darted to three victories in being named girls athlete of the year and running athlete of the meet. She took the 100 in 12.73, then teamed up with Kennedy Eckman, Vayda Delventhal, and Lauren Parsons to win the 800 relay in 1:50.62 and the 400 relay in 51.39.
“It’s really nice because that’s more of a team effort, so it’s good to know we all want it as much as the next person,” Braatz said of the relay wins.
Otsego’s Nathan Strahm won the boys 800 in 2:00.52, while teammate Wesley Kellermeier took the 3,200 in 10:21.81. Lake’s Luke Steep earned the 1,600 title in 4:43.35; the Flyers’ 3,200 relay team of Steep, Figgy Garcia, Micah Balsmeyer, and Connor McClellan won in 8:25.88; and Eastwood’s Cullen Shank earned a victory in the pole vault with a 14-0 to round out the boys’ champions.
For Lake’s girls team, Delventhal won the long jump with an 18-0, and Savannah Little the 400 in 58.36. Genoa’s Lillian Frias defended her high jump title with a 5-5.
Eastwood’s 3,200 relay team of Amelia Ward, Leah Emch, Haley Sponaugle, and Camille Foos won in 10:13.66. Emch (5:36.63 in the 1,600) and Sponaugle (12:13.69 in the 3,200) also earned individual titles.
Oak Harbor picked up three victories, including Andrea Winke in the pole vault (9-6) and Kennedy Slates in the 800 (2:28.19). The Rockets’ 1,600 relay team of Olivia May, Effie Schulte, Slates, and Olivia Cherry won in 4:13.27.
Rossford’s Mia DeBortoli won the 200 in 25.88.
Eastwood’s Dayquan Oliver was named the boys athlete of the year.
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