Oak Hill High School

The OHTF Lady Eagles and Golden Eagles competed Saturday in the Hoosier State Relays Indoor Track & Field State Championships at the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The event features the Top 24 ranked athletes and relays in 11 different events. OHTF completed in the "Small School Division" which is comprised of schools in Football Classes 1a-2a-3a. Coming off Spring Break it was not easy for OHTF competing against many programs who have yet to go on break. After finishing 3rd and 16th respectively last year entering break it was an uphill battle this time around. With that said the OHTF Athletes still managed to earn 3 1st Team All State Podium Medals, set 4 New Program Records, grab 13 Top 20 Finishes, as well as record 11 Top 10 Program All Time Marks. Golden Eagle Sophomore Jalen Scott led the way with a 5th Place finish in the 60 Meter Dash. Scott had already set a New Program Record in the qualifying rounds earning his 2nd HSR State Finals appearance but then clocked back to back New Program Records of 7.03 in the trials and then 7.0 in the final for 5th. His Top 5 finish is the best ever in Program History in the event. The previous best finish was 6th by previous record holders Tahj Johnson and Alec Samuels. Scott's classmate Kyle Brower was the only other Golden Eagle to earn an All State Podium spot also setting a New Program Record in 13-6 to finish 8th in the Pole Vault. Brower had tied the Program Record during the qualifying rounds matching 13-3 set by Gavin Holz, Caiden Lake, and Kyle's older Brother Nate. The Lady Eagles only All State Podium Medal came from Senior Ellie Campbell who medaled for the 2nd straight year in the Long Jump taking 7th overall. Campbell was a 4 event HSR State Qualifier this year helping her surpass Margo Hornocker for most HSR appearances in Program History with 11. Her 7th place medal was also her 4th of her career matching Janae Moffitt for the most All State Performances at the HSR Finals by a Lady Eagle. Campbell's 7th place jump was 17-5.75. A mark good enough for 2nd all time in Program trailing her jump at last year's finals. Campbell took a respectable 14th in the 60 Meter Dash in a quick 8.21, again not breaking her own Program Record but very close. Unfortunately with so many events going on at once Campbell who entered the High Jump seeded in a tie for 3rd or 4th was not able to get properly set before the event and did not record a height. Her previous indoor best of 5-4 would have been good enough for a possible State Runner Up Finish. Other individual performances finishes for OHTF Athletes were Senior Lady Eagle Jennessa Shields taking 15th in the Shot Put, Sophomore Luke Elzinga 20th in the Long Jump, and Senior Drew Elzinga 21st in the 60 Meter Hurdles. Shields was making her 2nd HSR State Finals appearance in the Shot Put making her just 1 of 2 Lady Eagles to compete twice in the event. Her toss Saturday of 34-4.5 was not her indoor best but still very close and still a Top 3 Program All Time Mark. Both Elzinga's were short of their qualifying marks but close and set highly ranked indoor program marks this season. For the 1st time in Program History OHTF qualified all 8 relays for the HSR Finals. Unfortunately none of the relays were able to make the podium. The Lady Eagles 4x400 Meter Relay and 4x200 Meter Relay were the most successful both taking 12th overall just seconds away from earning All State Medals. The 4x2 comprised of Campbell and Senior classmate Cail Bowlin along with Sophomores Lilly Edwards and Kora Pond set a New Program Record in 1:50.51 breaking the record of 1:50.88 which was set last year in a medaling effort. Edwards ad Pond came back in the 4x4 to join Junior Lexi Nuber and Freshman Bri Dailey to record the 4th best time in Program History in 4:19.74. Pond qualified for the HSR Finals in all 4 relays making her the 1st OHTF Athlete to ever earn that honor. Her 6 HSR Finals qualifications in just 2 years ranks her 4th All Time already behind just Campbell, Hornocker, and Danielle Thompson. She is tied with Ireland Dodson, Mollie Gamble, and Moffitt. The two Lady Eagle Distance Relays - 4x800 Meter Relay and Distance Medley Relays finished 23rd in both events. Junior Biruk Travis was joined by Sophomore Quinn Brunner and Freshman Lilly Hunt on both relays while Bowlin competed on the DMR and Freshman Rossi Skinner in the 4x8. Both squads who were undermanned due to Spring Break and Pond specializing in the sprint relays managed to record Top 10 Program All Time Marks. The Golden Eagle's best Relay finish was not the 4x200 Meter Relay but the 17th Place relay did manage to set a New Program record in a time of 1:35.36. The record was set by Seniors Morshown Cotton and Seth David along with Freshman Jesse Zwirn and Scott. The previous record was set in 2019 and was over a second slower. Members of the old record team were Tahj Johnson, Sammy Sommers, Gavin Holz, and Mason McKinney. The best Relay finish came from the DMR taking 13th overall in 11:07 a time that is the 3rd fastest in Program History. Relay members were Seniors Lance Wyrick and Drew Elzinga along with Juniors Caden Myers and Corban Tippey. Wyrick, Myers, and Tippey were all 3 event qualifiers also finishing 15th in the 4x8 and 16th in the 4x4. Both relays set the 4th best times in Program History. Sophomore Eli Leak joined the trio on the 4x8 while Cotton doubled back from the 4x2 to compete on the 4x4. With his 3 events Wyrick moved up the All Time HSR Program List tying him for most appearance in Program History with Sammy Sommers with 10. Tippey also now has 5 HSR qualifications moving into a tie with Trenton Sweet. The distance duo are 2 of 9 Golden Eagle athletes with 5+ career qualifications. OHTF now moves into the outdoor season when they host Maconaquah on Thursday April 10th.