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OTTAWA — Last season, as a sophomore, Ottawa-Glandorf’s Emma Hoffman was standing on the awards podium at the Division II state track-and-field meet at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Stadium with a third-place medal in the discus.
Hoffman is hoping to make a return trip to the state meet this season.
At Friday’s Gold Medal Meet at Ottawa-Glandorf High School, Hoffman saved her best throw of the season for her final attempt in the finals of the discus.
Hoffman’s toss of 133 feet, 6 inches in the finals notched her a first-place finish.
After she won the discus, Hoffman went on to win the shot put with a mark of 34-7. Friday’s winning mark in the discus for Hoffman was her seasonal best. Hoffman’s all-time personal best in the discus is 136-5.
Hoffman wants to keep progressing and put herself in a good position, when the postseason tournament begins.
“That’s the end goal. Everybody wants to be able to compete at Jesse Owens (at the state meet),” Hoffman said. “I’m working to do my best every meet and put in 100 percent at every practice, so I’ll be able to meet my goals.
“My goal is to be able to get down there (at the state meet) and compete at my best. There’s a lot of tough competition down there. So, just getting back down there and being able to compete is my biggest goal for this season.”
Hoffman suffered a little setback during the offseason. However, she is not going to let that derail her hopes for another podium finish at the state meet in June.
“I’ve kind of just been getting back into the swing of things. I’ve been dealing with some small injuries,” Hoffman said. “During indoor (winter track season), I was out. So, it feels really good just to get back into the outdoor season. I competed against a lot of good competitors today, that pushed me to throw my best.”
In Friday’s final team results, Ottawa-Glandorf won the girls and boys team titles.
On the girls side, O-G ran away with the team crown, defeating second place Liberty-Benton 169-108. Van Wert (94) and Otsego (56) rounded out the top four squads in the eight-team field.
For the boys, O-G slipped past L-B 96-92, for the team title. Van Buren (83) and Bluffton (72) rounded out the top four teams.
Antrim wins 1,600
For about 1,300 meters of the boys 1,600-meter run Friday, it was a three-man race.
That’s when Bluffton’s Eden Antrim shifted to a higher gear and outkicked the pack, en route to a winning time of 4 minutes, 36.96 seconds.
Van Buren’s Hudson Sendelbach (4:37.10) and O-G’s Ty Rosengarten (4:39.16) finished second and third, respectively.
Rosengarten came back later and won the 3,200 in a time of 10:09.35.
Last season, as a junior, Antrim placed fifth in the 1,600 at the Division III state meet with a time of 4:21.32.
Friday night, it was a quick turnaround for Antrim, especially with the warm weather conditions.
“I got off the four-by-eight (3,200-meter relay) like 40-50 minutes before I did this,” a tired Antrim said with a grin. “I wasn’t feeling the best. So, I was just going to tuck in there and see how I felt. It was a race for survival, maybe.”
Antrim is focused on getting back down to the state meet this season.
“That’s the goal – to try to get back down there,” he said.
Fortman shines in four events
Ottawa-Glandorf senior Alexa Fortman won the 400 in a meet-record time of 56.96 seconds. Fortman won the 800 in 2:14, also a meet record. Fortman was part of the second-place 800 relay (1:46.66) and the winning 1,600 relay (Olivia Fenbert, Corinne Closson, Averie Fox and Fortman). O-G’s 1,600 relay broke the meet record with a time of 4:00.93.
Taber soars to victory
Bluffton’s Brianna Taber placed eighth in the pole vault at last year’s Division III state meet as a junior.
At Friday’s Gold Medal Meet, Taber won the pole vault with a height of 11 feet, which also is her all-time personal best. O-G’s Lily Haselman finished second with a clearance of 10-6.
This season, Taber wants to improve. However, she hasn’t set a goal on a particular height, quite yet.
“I’m kind of like going with the flow,” Taber said with a grin. “Whatever I get, I’m fine with. I just want to get better.”
Ottawa-Glandorf Gold Medal Meet results
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