N10 meet to feature top area talent

Through the cold, the rain, cancellations and the wind, all the training and preparation has led up to a big postseason as the N10 league meet begins tonight at 4 p.m. at Carey High School.Carey has been setting all kinds of records across its athletic programs this school year. The track and field program has been no exception to that.Elysa Holsinger broke her own school record at the Liberty-Benton Invitational that was held on May 2. It was in the 300 hurdles with a time of 46.16 seconds (previous 46.33). The junior took first at that meet in the event. She also competes in the 4x200 relay, and competes in the 100 hurdles as well. Holsinger placed 12th last season at the state meet in the 300m hurdles.Freshman Ema Ritter, one of their long distance runners, has been having a successful season. She has had three first-place finishes in the 800, including a personal best of 2:29.47 and is a member of the 4x200 team.Lastly, there is Bella Phoenix. She hit her personal best in shot put 31-10 at the Ada Invitational that was held on May 9. Bella also participates in the 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams.On the boys side, there are four this season that are making a splash. First is Tripp Phoenix, who went to the state meet last season in both the 100 and high jump. This season, Tripp has had a personal best in the 100 at the Waynesfield-Goshen Invitational with a time of 10.92 seconds, and in the high jump, has stayed consistently at 6-0. Last season at the N10 meet, he took first in high jump with a height of 6-8.25. He is a member of the 4x100 relay team that set a new record at the Douglas J. Mowrey Invitational, with a time of 44.74 seconds.Additional Blue Devils to watch for are Lincoln Ritter, Mace Puckett and Landyn Miller. Ritter took first at Waynefield-Goshen Invite with a time of 40.29 seconds in the 300 hurdles, and set a personal best in the 110 hurdles this season at the Stache Dash on April 17 with a time of 15.29 seconds.Puckett threw his personal best in discus with a distance of 140-04 at the W-G Tiger Invitational, and is a member of the 4x200 and 4x100 relay teams.Miller went to regionals last season in the 800 run and took eighth with a time of 2:02.17. This season he has placed first three out of four times in the 800 run and will be one to watch in the relay races.Another school that has had repeated success in the track and field realm is Upper Sandusky. The standouts for this season include Franklin Arnold and Ashton Clark for the boys, with Shiloh Shasteen, Jocelyn Leightey, and Arielle O'Flaherty for the girls.Arnold has taken first four out of five times in the 800 this season. He earned a personal best of 1:59.47 at the North Union Virg Rankin Invitational on April 17. On the girls side for distance is Leightey. The junior has had nothing less than first place finishes in the six meets that she has competed in the 800. Leightey has set a personal record of 2:27.04 at the Royer Invitational. Last season, she finished second in the N10 in the 800. Additionally, she ran the 1,600 this season, and has taken first three out of five times, and hit a personal best of 5:24.43 at the North Union Virg Rankin Invitational.Clark is the standout for the Rams in pole vault. He has placed first six out of seven times this season and hit a personal best of 14-0 at the Royer Invitational that was held on May 1. Last season at the N10, he took fifth place, but during the summer put Upper Sandusky on the map by competing in the New Balance Nationals Outdoor and brought home 16th place with a height of 12-5.5. Clark qualified for regionals last season as well.Another stand out pole vaulter for the Rams is Shasteen. She took second last year at the N10, with a height of 9-6 and this season hit the same height at the Jon Ramsey Invitational that was held on May 8.In the sprints, O'Flaherty has finished first three out of five meets in the 200, and that includes a new personal record of 26.77 seconds from the Swankhouse Invitational that was on April 25. She had two first place finishes this season in the 400 as well, and has a best time of 1:01.27 from the Royer Invitational.For Mohawk, a relay to watch is the 4x800, which consists of Jett Loesser, Phoenix Nally, Myer Kirian, and Kolton Wood. The small but mighty team took first at the Ada Invitational. It was the first time that Loesser had ran after coming back from injury this season. Loesser took fifth last season in the N10 and qualified for regionals last season in the 800 run and set his personal best of 2:02.71.As for Buckeye Central, there are two to be on the lookout for in Collin Perry and Sophia Martin. Perry has participated in a variety of events this season, but his standout events are in the 100, high jump and long jump. He took first place at the Hopewell-Loudon Invite in the 100 with a time of 11.42 seconds, but hit his PR at the Bob Valentine Invitational of 11.25 seconds. In high jump, he has taken first place three times, and has a personal best of 6-2, which he got at the Crawford County Meet. Last season, he finished fourth in long jump and fifth in high jump at N10.Martin went to regionals last year in the 800, where she finished tenth with a time of 2:29.14. This season, she took second in the 400 at the Bob Valentine Invitational with a time of 1:04.55, and has ran the 800 three times. At the N10 meet last season, she came in fourth place with a time of 2:32.58 in the 800.Rounding out the area's standouts are from Seneca East. One familiar name is Ethan Shultz. He took fourth last season in the 100 but has set a new record of 11.35 seconds. He is also a member of the 4x100 relay team. Shultz attended regionals last season in long jump and pole vault. While he has competed in the long jump this season, he hasn't returned to pole vault.This season, Brett Martin is throwing for the Tigers. He went to state last season in discus with a qualifying distance of 150-11. This season, he took first in a dual meet against Upper Sandusky with a distance of 151-5. In shot put, he set a new personal record of 47-10 at the same meet.Freshman Jaron Depinet - is making a splash in the high and long jump. Depinet set a new record for himself of 6-0 at the John Ramsey Invitational in high jump, while hitting a 20-0.5 at the Pirate Invitational in long jump. A girl to watch out for from SE is Aubrey Ritzler who has set herself some new records in the 800 with a time of 2:27.44 from the Pirate Invitational. In the 1,600, she took second at the Pirate Invitational with a time of 5:17.32, and in the 3,200 she took second at the Stache Dash with a time of 11:36.11.