Carey's Phoenix, other D-III locals place at state meet

COLUMBUS — Carey's Tripp Phoenix didn't wrap up his track season with a state title, but he did gain some school bragging rights.The sophomore qualified for the Division III state meet in four events and placed in three. No Carey boy has advanced to state in three or more events or placed in more than two in one meet in more than three decades."It means a lot. I'm hoping this kind of sparks a little fuse for the younger kids to come out and do track, and even other high school kids. We have a lot of good athletes, they're fast, they just don't want to run track," Phoenix said."But if they see the stuff (coach) Rick (Baldridge) is trying to do, Rick and (assistant coach) Stan (Stombaugh), this new training program that we're doing is getting us pretty fast," he said. "It's working."Phoenix qualified in the high jump, 100, 4x200 and 4x100, making him the first Carey boy to make it in four events since Joshua Schade in 1993. Schade took third in the 400 (49.74) and eighth in the 200 (23.07) that year.Phoenix didn't finish as high up on the podium, but he got there more times.The sophomore didn't place in Friday's finals of the high jump, but Saturday he ran eighth in the 100 (11.16) and helped Carey claim eighth in the 4x200 (1:31.08) and eighth in the 4x100 (43.81)."It means a lot to me. I love it, it's fun," Phoenix said. "I couldn't ask for a better sport right now. I had a lot of fun."Dalen Walter and Bryce Puckett joined Phoenix on both relays, with Brody Baker helping in the 4x200 and Eli Steen running in the 4x100.Baker also advanced to state in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles.He didn't reach the finals in the shorter race, but crossed the line sixth in Saturday's finals of the 300 hurdles (39.59), giving him two trips to the state podium out of three events this season."It was a blessing. I was injured earlier this season but I was able to recover from that and take it to where I am today in these two events," he said. "It's been a great season, one to remember for me."And like Phoenix, Baker said a lot of the result had to do with the new training program implemented by the coaches."It's a really good look for our program right now. The last two years, our coach switched up how we're training. We're focusing more on speed. He said speed builds endurance and that's really worked," he said."This many people haven't made it to state in so long," Baker said. "For that to happen right after he started doing this new training program, … it just proves that it works."Several other Division III athletes found their way to the podium Saturday.Lakota's Donovan Statham fared the best, claiming fifth in the 400 (49.59).Fellow Raiders Lucas McEwan and King Beard each added a sixth — McEwan in the 110 hurdles (14.84) and Beard in the 200 (22.2).In the girls meet, Calvert's Avery Elchert, Farrah Gaulden, Karris Marinis and Emily Miller ran eighth in the 4x200 (1:45.33).Lakota's Aubrey Vitte nearly placed in two sprints.She took eighth in the 100 (12.48) and finished eight-thousandths of a second out of eighth in the 200.Vitte and Columbus Grove's Allison Thompson were both credited with a time of 25.77 seconds in the final, but Thompson had an official time of 25.761 while Vitte had 25.769.