Area teams gear up for last SBC meet

For Old Fort, New Riegel, Hopewell-Loudon and Calvert, this is their last track and field meet as members of the Sandusky Bay Conference River Division. They will be moving into the N10 next year."We are ready to compete at a high level at our last SBC meet." Old Fort assistant coach Kevin Dick said. "This is a great league to compete in and it will be bittersweet. It is the last before moving to the N10."Leading the Stockaders this season in speed is Henry Beisner. He already broke his own school record in the 300 hurdles with a time of 40.73 seconds. Beisner took eighth last season in the high jump at the SBC championships. Beisner's PR was 6-5 at the Athletic Boosters Invitational in Fostoria that was held April 25.Another contender to watch from OF is Aidan Chapman. Chapman is part of the 200 and 400, as well as being a part of the 4x200 relay team that broke the school record with a time of 1:32.95. Chapman, Issac Gallagher, Brayden Davis and Aiden Dick make up the 4x200 relay team as well as the 4x400 relay team that will be competing. Aidan Dick competed in the 400 as well, and hit his PR of 51.14 seconds at the same event as Beisner.Additional members from OF on the guys side will be Gallagher who hit a PR of 19-5.5 in the long jump at the Northwood Quad, and Grady Eakin, who PR'd in the discus with 116-5 at the John Ramsey Invitational.Other standouts from the area include Hopewell-Loudon's Aiden Ewald, the Division II Ashland University commit. Ewald had nine first-place finishes in shot put this season. His personal best was 57-11 at the Brad Bauer Memorial Invite on April 17, and his personal best for discus was at the Northwood Quad with a distance of 176-11. He has competed at state and in national events, which has strengthened his throwing might.Calvert's Lukas Stultz hit a season best of 20-6.5 at the Stache Dash in the long jump. Stultz is looking to make trip number three to state this season, and finish on top at the SBC.New Riegel's Cameron Hohman hit personal records this season. In the 3,200, he had a PR of 9:48.26 at the John Ramsey Invitational, earning him a first place finish. He placed second at the SBC meet last season in the same event. Hohman set a PR in the 800 at the Northwood Quad with a time of 2:09.26, and at the same event, PR'd in the 200 with a time of 26.23 seconds.On the girls side, which is made up of mostly sophomores and freshmen, Old Fort's Emma Pump has made a splash. She broke the school record in the 400 with a time of 59.95, and ran in that event, along with 100, 200 and on the 4x100, 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams. Pump joins Adelyn Dick, Carly Fortney and Kailey Haugh. "You put those four together, and they are as good as any in the league in all three of those events," coach Dick said.Additional girls to watch from OF include freshman Ally Quaintance and Adaleigh Laird who are throwers for the Stockaders, and Grace Tackett who is the anchor for the 4x800 relay team, and runs in the 3,200 and 1,600.Other girls from around the area to watch will be Calvert's Emily Miller, who has been dominating the 100, 200, and 400 dashes, taking first place finishes in all three races this season. Miller is the anchor for the 4x100, 4x200, and 4x400, and joins teammates Avery Elchert, Madeline Zeno and Carleigh Meier for those teams.Hopewell-Loudon's Savanna Cook returns this season as well. She's had season bests in the 100 and the 200, and a personal best in the 400 with a time of 1:05.40. Cook competes as well in other events including the 4x100, 4x400, high jump and long jump.For Lakota, it's saying goodbye to familiar faces while seeing new ones including former members of the Toledo Area Athletic Conference Northwood, and next season, Ottawa Hills. Next season, the remaining schools of Lakota, Margaretta, Gibsonburg, SJCC, SMCC, Woodmore and Danbury will be what remains of the SBC and will form the SBC River."We can't worry about what next season looks like," Raiders coach Ashley Allen said. "We don't think in those terms. We prepare our kids to tackle the challenge ahead of them one meet at a time. Right now, we are putting our focus on the SBC event."During the regular season, Lakota had won four out of five invitationals.Perfect way to live up to the motto of the season: We hate to lose."Everyone loves the feeling of winning," Allen said. "Our athletes have been very successful and they felt that feeling. They have also competed in high stakes situations that maybe didn't finish how they wanted to. That's a feeling you hate and you don't want to feel again."A top athlete from the Raiders to watch is King Beard. Beard was named Most Outstanding Male Athlete at the Port Clinton Invitational, and has taken first place finishes in the 100 and 200. Additionally, he joins Brady Tyson, Avery Shilling and Donovan Statham on the 4x400 which could potentially go to state this season. The 4x400 has had four first place finishes out of six. Additional Raiders to keep an eye on include jumpers Jalen Wagner and Nate Grigson. Wagner hit a personal best of 6-2 in the high jump at the Gibsonburg Invitational and has taken first place four out of seven times in the same event during the season. Grigson hit a personal record of 20-10.25 in the long jump at the Patrick Henry Joe Tussing Invitational. Rounding out the boys side is Lucas McEwan. He is still the dominant hurdler for the Raiders, and hasn't slowed down this season. The senior has finished first six times out of six in the 100 hurdles, and has taken first four times out of six in the 300 hurdles. Even though last season was his first back post injury, he is looking to make it back to state, and Allen couldn't be happier for him. "He is the most consistent we have had here at Lakota," Allen said.On the girls side, Lakota's Chloe Foos has been the go-to thrower. Foos set a personal record this season of 109-5 in discus at the Lakota Invitational last month, and hasn't thrown less than 87 feet this season in discus. For shot put, her farthest this season has been 32-6.5, which was at the Margaretta Polar Bear Relays."Lakota is loaded with talent," coach Dick said. "They are the team to beat in the league. After that would be H-L, as they have a nice group of athletes, do great things over there. I look for us to compete well this week, and I think we are in the conversation to be in the top two or three. The girls' side is more balanced, and Hopewell and Danbury have teams. I can't wait to see how far up we can place in this league."Allen sees Old Fort and the Chieftains as their biggest competitors."We look forward to competing with Old Fort," Allen said. "They always bring out the best in our athletes and they have a great coaching staff. Hopewell has some dominant throwers and it's exciting to see the variety of specialty athletes in the league."