It was a successful weekend in Columbus for the local athletes who advanced to the OHSAA State track meet on the campus of The Ohio State University.

Troy senior Stephen Jones and sophomore Morgan Gigandet both finished third overall in their individual races, while Tippecanoe senior Mitchell Poynter ran to a second place finish in his final high school race of his career.

In all, there were seven events which involved local athletes from Tippecanoe, Troy and Greenon.

In the Division One boys race, Troy senior Jones had the best final lap of all of the finalists, as he finished the 3200 race third overall in Ohio with a time of 9:01.94. Coming down the stretch, Jones ran the final lap in 1:02.06 which was two seconds faster than anyone in the race, giving him the chance to reach the top three.

Winning the event was Andrew Jordan of Watkins Memorial with a new state record of 8:54.96, breaking the previous record by .08 seconds. CJ Ambrosio from St. Ignatius was second overall with Jones third.

Also in the D1 boys’ race, Tipp’s Poynter fell just short of winning a state championship, as he finished as the state runner-up with a time of 4:12.42, less than one second better than the next three finishers. Gavin Gaynor from Hudson won the state title with a time of 4:09.24, as he ran a final-lap best 57.54 which was three seconds faster than anyone else, and turned out to be the margin of victory.

Also with a third place finish was Gigandet in the Division One 3200 girls’ race. The sophomore finished the race with a time of 10:46.11, edging out Solon’s Louiza Wise for third overall.

India Johnson from Hillard Davidson won the race with a time of 10:29.80, a comfortable margin over second place Felicia Pasadyn of Brunswick.

Finishing sixth overall in the D1 girls’ shot put was Troy senior Kelsey Walters, as she threw 41’9.75” as she threw that distance on her fifth and final toss. She qualified through the prelims to advance to the top eight, then broke 40’ every time, only to fall short. Gianna Dipippo from Mayfield won the state title with a throw of 44’11”.

Titley stepped up in the D2 girls 800 meter run, as she ran a PR time of 2:16.91, which placed her ninth overall in the event. The Tipp freshman saved her best for last, just missing the podium. Jonathan Alder junior Aziza Ayoub won the state meet with a time of 2:09.76.

Also from Tippecanoe, the 4x8 relay team of Titley, Makenzie Dietz, Katie Taylor and Jillian Brown finished 14^th overall with a time of 9:47.17 and that group of Red Devils consists of a sophomore and three freshmen.

Greenon senior Rachel Stute also qualified for the state meet in the D2 girls’ 400 meter dash, and she finished tenth overall in the prelims, with the top eight advancing to the finals. Stute ran a 58.11 on the day.