2026 Track & Field State Coverage

 

Senior Kaitlyn Reese and sophomore Alyse Brediger both scored in four events to lead Avon to its first girls track and field state championship.

 

Avon scored 68 team points. Hilliard Davidson was second with 61 and Mason third with 58.

 

Reese was runner-up in the 1600m, third in the 800m and fourth in the 3200m. She also ran a leg on Avon’s 4x800m relay team that finished second. Brediger was runner-up in the 400m, fourth in the 100m, fifth in the 200m and ran on the third-place 4x200m relay.

 

Lily Hamilton (second place, shot put) and Kenzie Kiesel (third place, discus) added 14 points to Avon’s team total.

 

Hilliard Davidson hurdler Anna Wile closed out her career with a pair of state record breaking performances. She won her second straight title in the 100m hurdles in a Division I state record time of 13.24, just 0.01 ahead of New Albany’s Ric’Keya White, and later won the 300m hurdles in another Division I state record time of 40.70.

 

Huber Heights Wayne’s boys team won its second straight state championship, and fourth overall, with 55 points. Gahanna Lincoln (47 points) was second and Beavercreek (36) was third.

 

Senior Key’shawn Garrett led the Wayne contingent, winning both the 100m (10.49) and 200m (21.10) and running legs on the third-place 4x200m relay team and fourth-place 4x100m relay team. Junior Keng Martin placed second in the 110m hurdles and third in the 300m hurdles and joined Garrett on the 4x100m and 4x200m relays. Other top finishers for Wayne were senior Semarion Sroufe (sixth, 100m) and sophomore Ryder Penrod (sixth, 110m hurdles); Sroufe also ran on the 4x100m and 4x200m relays. 

 

Cincinnati St. Xavier senior Dom Ellis completed the distance triple crown, winning both the 1600m (4:10.37) and 3200m (9:10.04). He began the school year by winning the individual state title at the Division I cross country championships, and is just the third Division I boy to claim a distance triple crown since 1993.

 

Dayton Chaminade Julienne junior Claire Downer placed in the top three in four different events to lead the Eagles to their first girls track and field state championship.

 

Chaminade Julienne finished atop the podium with 44 points. Sunbury Big Walnut was second with 40 and Massillon Perry third with 33.

 

Downer and junior Cloie Williams combined to score 43 of Chaminade Julienne’s 44 points. Downer was second in the 300m hurdles, high jump and long jump and third in the 100m hurdles, while Williams was second in the 100m and fourth in the 200m. Junior Sydney Haywood (eighth, 100m) also contributed to Chaminade Julienne’s point total.

 

Massillon Perry senior Emerson Karrenbauer scored in four different events, winning the 100m (11.85), finishing second in the 200m and running legs on the first-place 4x100m relay and fourth-place 4x200m relay. 

 

One Division II girls state record was broken: Loveland’s 4x800m relay team of Delaney Cilley, Brynleigh Scherman, Emma Todd, Caroline Murnan set a new standard of 9:05.14.

 

The Division II boys meet featured co-champions as Sunbury Big Walnut and New Philadelphia both finished with 41 points. Avon was third with 39.

 

Big Walnut junior Jamier Brown won the 200m in a Division II state record 20.91 and the 100m in 10.42, just 0.07 off the state record time he ran at the regional tournament. Brown also ran a leg on Big Walnut’s state record setting 4x100m relay team; the foursome of Brown, Braydan Giesler, Jaxen Elliott and Dexter Chhuom posted a time of 41.53.

 

Big Walnut sophomore Chase Bergsten also finished first in the 110m hurdles (14.39).

 

While Big Walnut scored most of its points in the sprints, New Philadelphia found success in the distance and field events. Wyatt Lendon and Alec Adelman finished first and fourth, respectively, in the 1600m, while Marcus Adelman was first in the 3200m. Lendon and Alec Adelman teamed with Kyle Beaber and Kevin Smith to place fourth in the 4x800m relay. In the field events, New Philadelphia’s Jaxson Rice and Mitchell Miller were third and seventh, respectively, in the high jump, and Cade Jones took fifth in the pole vault.

 

Third-place Avon boasted three individual state champions, all in the field events. Senior Maximus Hauck won both the discus (180-10) and shot put (63-00.50), and senior Jackson Hughes was first in the long jump (23-05.50).

 

Three other Division II state records were set: Columbus Beechcroft’s Nehemiah Mills in the 400m (46.41), Lexington’s Latrell Hughes in the 800m (1:49.46), and Amherst Steele’s 4x200m relay team of Carter Boone, Julius Donald, Gaige Patton and Ben Thompson posted a state-record time of 1:25.98 in the semifinals.

 

Dayton Oakwood’s girls team scored in eight different events and scored 52 points to claim the school’s third track and field state championship. Ottawa-Glandorf was second with 41 points, while The Plains Athens was third with 36.

 

All three of Oakwood’s state titles have come since 2021 (2021, 2022, 2026).

 

Leading the way for Oakwood were Mila Gelbart and Addie Kash, who finished first and second in the pole vault, and the 4x800m relay team of Katherine Erwin, Riley Meador, Delaney Cahill and Kaya Asinjo that finished first in a Division III state record time of 9:07.10.

 

Asinjo and Mia Allard placed third and fourth, respectively, in the 400m, Sally Altenburg was fifth in the 300m hurdles and eighth in the 100m hurdles, and Oakwood’s 4x400m relay team took fifth.

 

Ottawa-Glandorf recorded five top-three individual finishes. Alivia Grothause was first in the 100m (12.12) and second in the 200m (25.02), while Emma Heringhaus was second in the 400m. Grothause and Heringhaus were joined by Gracie Lammers and Savannah Recker on the 4x200m relay team that finished second, while the 4x100m relay squad of Lammers, Grothause, Recker and Madeline Liebrecht was third.

 

Athens senior Sophia Szolosi capped off her decorated distance running career by winning the 800m (2:08.82), 1600m (4:48.45) and 3200m (10:17.47). She also ran the anchor leg of Athens’ fifth-place 4x800m relay team. Szolosi’s wins in the 1600m and 3200m secured her the distance triple crown for a second straight year; she finishes her career as a two-time individual cross country champion, three-time state champion in the 3200m and two-time champion in the 1600m.

 

Szolosi joins Minster’s Sunni Olding (2002-03, 2003-04) as the only girls in state history to win the distance triple crown in consecutive school years.

 

Cleveland Glenville won the Division III boys meet with 41 point and claimed its 19th track and field state championship, the most of any school in the state. Since 2021, the Tarblooders have won three state titles (2022, 2023, 2026) and finished runner-up three times (2021, 2024, 2025).

 

Peninsula Woodridge was the Division III boys runner-up with 38 points. Columbus Bishop Hartley was third with 35.

 

Glenville’s Jay’vier Kerr won a pair of events, finishing first in the 400m (46.92) and setting a Division III state record in the long jump with a mark of 24-6. It is tied for the seventh longest jump in state tournament history, regardless of division. He also placed eighth in the 200m.

 

Glenville also scored 14 points in the relays. Its 4x200m relay team finished second, the 4x100m relay team was fourth and the 4x400m relay team took fifth.

 

Runner-up Woodridge was led by Ben Lebay and Xavier Griffiths, who finished first and fourth, respectively, in the 1600m. Griffiths and Atticus Sloan were fourth and seventh, respectively, in the 3200m.

 

Along with Kerr in the long jump, one other new Division III record was set. Shelby’s 4x100m relay team—Brady Bowman, Brayden DeVito, Renner Gano and Gavin Baker—took first in a record-setting 41.30. That time ranks ninth in state tournament history.

 

A dominant performance in the sprints carried Beachwood to the Division IV girls state championship.

 

Beachwood posted 53 points to claim its third girls track and field state title and first since back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018. Huron was second with 31, and Hamler Patrick Henry was third with 29.5.

 

Beachwood sophomore Meena Abdul-Basser won a pair of individual events, finishing first in the 200m (25.16) and 400m (54.77). Her classmate, K’Dyn Harris-Tate, took first in the 100m (12.56) and finished second in the 200m. 

 

Marley Readance took fifth in the 100m and joined Harris-Tate, Abdul-Basser and Kyrsten Ginn on Beachwood’s state-record setting 4x200m relay (1:39.86).

 

One other state record was broken: Cincinnati Summit Country Day’s 4x100m relay team of sophomore Maddy Amend, sophomore Brielle Bryant, freshman Alaina Williams and junior Ama Karikari ran 48.59 to set the new Division IV girls standard.

 

Castalia Margaretta’s boys team scored 44 points to secure the school’s first track and field state championship. Gates Mills Gilmour Academy (40) and Navarre Fairless (38) finished second and third in the Division IV boys standings.

 

Margaretta had just one individual champion, but scored points in seven different events. Senior Jake Bouy cleared 6-6 to win the high jump, and Margaretta’s 4x200m relay and 4x100m relay teams took second and third, respectively. The 4x200m team was Kale Bailey, Carter Luzader, Zack Bouy and Julian Washington; Zack Bouy, Luzader, Bailey and Mason Reinbolt made up the 4x100m team. 

 

Elsewhere for Margaretta, Bailey took fourth in the long jump, Jace Berg was fourth in the discus and Cole Zang placed fourth in both the 1600m and 3200m.

 

Gilmour Academy used four first-place finishes to accumulate its 40 team points. Junior Nathan Lennon swept the 100m and 200m races, then ran the anchor leg on Gilmour Academy’s first-place 4x100m relay team. He was joined on that relay by freshman Rylan Wiggins and seniors Blake Baskin and Brendan Christensen. Gilmour Academy senior Ethan Stein won the discus with a throw of 191-0.

 

The Division IV boys hurdle races were swept by Coldwater’s Aidan Rose.

 

The Division V state tournament belonged to Columbus Grove, which became just the fifth school all-time to win boys and girls track and field state championships in the same year. 

 

It was the first girls track and field state title for the Columbus Grove girls and the second for the boys (2003).

 

The other schools to sweep the team titles: Dayton Jefferson (Class AA, 1977), Columbus Bishop Hartley (Class AA, 1986), Shelby (Division II, 2003) and Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas (Division III, 2016).

 

Columbus Grove’s girls amassed 59 team points. Minster was second with 44.5 and Oberlin third with 38.

 

Columbus Grove dominated the relays, posting four top-three finishes to account for 32 of its 59 team points. The 4x400m relay team of Jade Roeder, Devanie Pingle, Liv Mayberry and Kendal Palte was first (3:55.56), and that same foursome teamed for a second-place finish in the 4x200m relay. Roeder, Palte, Brynn Halker and Allison Thompson took second in the 4x100m relay, and the 4x800m team of Mayberry, Pingle, Lillian Montgomery and Sarah Kamphuas placed third.

 

Palte claimed Columbus Grove’s other first-place finish, winning the 300m hurdles in 44.79. Also scoring for Columbus Grove were Nicole Nesby (second, shot put), Bree Closson (third, 100m hurdles and eighth, 300m hurdles) and Mayberry (seventh, 800).

 

Elsewhere in the girls meet, Smithville’s Kaitlyn Carr completed the distance triple crown, winning the 1600m (4:57.78) and 3200m (10:52.85) after winning the Division IV cross country individual state title in the fall. Carr finished her career as a two-time cross country state champion (2024, 2025), three-time state champion in the 1600m (2024, 2025, 2026) and two-time state champion in the 3200m (2025, 2026). She won the calendar year triple crown in 2025 and the school year triple crown in 2025-26.

 

Trevon Baxter scored in four events and Gavin Baxter scored in three to lead Columbus Grove’s boys team to its championship. The Bulldogs scored 42.5 points to edge out Ansonia (39) and Fort Loramie (35).

 

Both Trevon and Gavin Baxter placed in the long jump. Trevon won the event with a mark of 22-8.25, while Gavin was fourth with a jump of 22-2.75. Gavin was second in the 110m hurdles, while Trevon was sixth in both the 100m and 200m races.

 

The Baxters were joined by Brody McCluer and Jarrod Holland on the second-place finishing 4x100m relay team. Also scoring for Columbus Grove were Preston Ellerbrock (fifth, high jump) and Caiden Squillante (seventh, 1600m).

 

Runner-up Ansonia was led by junior Bennett Lehman, who won both the 1600m and 3200m to complete the distance triple crown. Lehman won the Division IV cross country state championship in the fall. Lehman’s classmate, Cade Shellhaas, scored in three events for Ansonia: pole vault (second), 300m hurdles (third), and 110m hurdles (fourth).

 

One state record was set in the Division V boys meet. Cincinnati Country Day’s Luke Schnieber cleared 17-5 in the pole vault, which is a new state record across all divisions and the top performance in OHSAA state tournament history. 

 

Massillon Perry senior Ahsha DiPietro swept the three girls seated races, winning the 100m in 22.04, the 400m in 1:17.76, and the 800m in 2:39.50. DiPietro had previously won state titles in the 100m and 400m in 2023. 

 

Massillon Jackson senior Abigail LaPole, the state record holder in the seated shot put, won her third state title in the event with a throw of 21-7.50.

 

For the fourth consecutive year, Garrettsville Garfield’s Conner Hunt swept the boys seated 100m, 400m, and 800m races. His 12 career individual state championships are the most of any boy in OHSAA track and field state tournament history.

 

Hunt finished his career as the state record holder in all three events; he set the 400m (53.69) and 800m (1:54.85) state marks at the 2026 state tournament. 

 

Warren Howland sophomore Kellan Shipman won the boys seated shot put with a throw of 22-5.