Results from Division III Regional Meet in Heath and Division I Regional Meet in Amhurst

Richland County athletes took one step toward realizing their state meet dreams on Wednesday as the first day of the Division III regional meet in Heath and Division I regional meet in Amhurst took place.

Let's find out how some area athletes performed.

Lucas senior Shelby Grover picked up right where she left off last week at the district meet with a solid Day 1 at regionals on Wednesday. Grover posted the best 100-meter hurdle preliminary time with a 14.48 while also going No. 1 in the 300-meter hurdles with a 44.50. Her time in the 100 hurdles broke her own school record yet again.

Grover did punch her ticket to the state tournament in the high jump where she took second place with a leap of 5-feet-3. It is the first time Grover advanced to state in the high jump as she will look to become a four-event qualifier on Friday as she competes in the long jump and in the finals of both hurdle events.

The Crestview Cougars also saw three individuals qualify for state as Noah Stuart is moving on in the discus with a throw of 171-01 which was good for runner-up honors.

Liam Kuhn won the regional championship in the pole vault with a jump of 13-04.00 while Shawn Bailey took third with a 13-00.00 leap as both will move on to state next week.

The Crestview 4x400 relay team had a solid Day 1 taking the top qualifying spot with a 3:29.51. Adison Reymer, Malachi Spoerr, Logan Friges and Caden Cunningham will look to punch their ticket to state in the finals on Friday. Lucas' 4x400 relay team took the eighth qualifying spot with a 3:36.17 as Jadon Walter, Gavin Bichsel, Zach Diehl and Logan Toms hope to have a big day on Friday to advance to state.

Crestview's Hayden Kuhn ran the fifth-fastest prelim time with a 15.59 in the 110 hurdles while Adison Reymer took fourth in the 100 dash prelims with an 11.07. Jace Hill grabbed the final qualifying spot in the 300 hurdles taking eighth with a 42.23 while Reymer is also advancing to Day 2 in the 200 dash with a 44.23, third fastest on the day.

The 4x200 relay team of Emily Weaver, Emma Aumend, Olivia Grant and Devon Hickey had a solid Day 1 with a 1:51.13 to take the fourth-best qualifying spot. The 4x800 relay team of Cooper Brockway, Cole Ramsey, Max Durbin and Logan Friges took eighth overall in the event with an 8:31.99.

Plymouth's Caiden Allen had a nice Day 1 as he ran the 100-meter dash in 11.06 to take the fifth-best qualifying time at regionals. He also joined Gavin McClary, Layne Bushey and Riley Ramey in the 4x100 as the group took the second-best qualifying spot. Ramey was also fourth-best in the 200 dash prelims with a 22.70.

St. Peter's Peyton Bodnar was the third-fastest 400-meter dash runner on Wednesday with a 50.74 and will run in Friday's finals.

The Top 4 finishes in Friday's finals will advance to state next week.

It was a tough day for Richland County athletes during Day 1 of the Division I regional meet at Amhurst on Wednesday.

But they are still alive and have a chance to make it out to state with some special performances at Friday's finals.

Mansfield Senior's Keontez Bradley advanced to the finals in the 200-meter dash with the third-best preliminary time with a 22.58 while also running the seventh-fastest time in the 100 at 11.56. The Tygers' 4x100 relay team ran the ninth-fastest time with a 43.44 in the prelims.

Mansfield Senior's Aaron Thornton took one step toward a state berth. His 39.83 in the 300-meter hurdles was the second-fastest prelim time and he has a real shot at a regional championship sitting less than a second behind the fastest time.

Madison's Nevaeh Lewis ran the seventh-fastest prelim time in the 100-meter dash with a 13.21 and the ninth-fastest with a 26.96 in the 200 while the Rams posted the sixth-fastest prelim time in the 4x100 relay with a 50.60 to advance to the finals.

Lexington's Latrell Hughes went quick in the 400 with a 49.87 to give himself a solid chance at moving on to the state meet. Lex's 4x400 team went 3:24.32 to take the fourth-best prelim time and put them in a position to move on as well.

The Top 4 finishes in Friday's finals will advance to state next week.