UPDATED with additional results at 5:55 p.m., May 28 (boys 4x200 relay advancing to Friday finals).

Giesige, girls 4x800 relay advance to state

By Cort Reynolds

MARION__The Bluffton High School track and field teams had several athletes compete well on day one of the Div. IV regional meet hosted by Marion Harding on Wednesday, May 27. 

ADVANCING TO STATE
Some events held their finals on Wednesday evening. Top 5 placers and 3 at-large advance to state finals at Ohio State University in Columbus next week.

Pirate junior Tayte Giesige advances to state with sixth place in the long jump finals with a best leap of 21-3.

The Pirate girls 4x800 relay team of Phoebe Edwards-Leeper, Tessa Tarplee, Chloe Nycz and Matthews finished seventh out of 16 in the finals Wednesday evening in 9:44.24. The foursome advance to state and improved on their district time by 14.48.

ADVANCING TO FINALS
Sophomore standout Maelee Miller made it to the Friday finals in the girls 400-meter run with a time of 58.64 to end up third in the 16-runner preliminary heats.

Miller crossed the finish line second in the 100-meter hurdle preliminary heats with a time of 15.47 to also qualify for the 100 finals Friday.  

Pirate senior Kain Wright qualified for the 100-meter dash finals with a time of 10.78 in the preliminary heats Wednesday. He ended up second out of 16 sprinters in the prelims.

The girls 4x200 relay quartet of Gracie Warren, Liliana Fleming, Aubrey Burkholder and Miller finished fourth in the 16-team preliminary heat with a time of 1:47.28 to qualify for the finals Friday at 6:18 p.m.

Freshman Liliana Fleming finished third overall out 16 competitors in the 300-meter hurdle preliminary heats in 46.34, a .21 improvement over her district time. She advanced to the hurdle finals Friday at 7:10 p.m.

The boys 4x400 relay quartet of Kohen Anderson, Wright, Calvin Derstine and Ethan Sprunger finished fourth out of 16 squads in the preliminary heats with a time of 3:24.74. They qualified for the final, which is the last event Friday at 8 p.m.

The boys 4x200 relay quartet of Miller, Navarro, Giesige, Anderson qualified for the final on Friday with a time of 1:31.46.

Pirate Bekah Rehm finished fourth at districts in the pole vault with a top vault of 9-6. She is seeded ninth out of 16 in the PV finals, which will take place Friday at 4:30 p.m.

Junior Nora Matthews is seeded second in the 800-meter finals after posting a time of 2:17.76 in the district final. The 800-meter finals are Friday at 7:20 p.m.

Middle distance standout Matthews is also seeded eighth out of 16 runners in the 1600-meter final event, which will be run Friday at 6:35 p.m.

Most of the finals will be held on Friday, May 29, with running events starting at 6 p.m. Field event finals begin at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

MORE RESULTS

Bluffton junior Owen Scoles came in eighth in the discus finals Wednesday with a best toss of 151-8.