Track and field: Ottawa-Glandorf girls dominate invitational

BENTON RIDGE – The Ottawa-Glandorf girls track and field team has proven all season, it can score in virtually every event.

At Saturday’s Pat Wagner Memorial Liberty-Benton Invitational, Ottawa-Glandorf did just that, scoring in 16 of the 17 events, en route to the team title.

O-G nearly doubled up second-place Liberty-Benton, 188-96.50, to win the team crown. Kalida (71.50), Columbus Grove (67) and Oak Harbor (62) rounded out the top five squads in the 16-team field.

“It’s amazing across the board. We’re going to score in 16 of 17 events today, with a lot of personal bests,” O-G girls head coach Matt Burwell said. “(We got) one school record, and a few meet records. The girls are running outstanding.”

Burwell points to the depth of his team as the key to its success.

“We were talking about our fourth and fifth runners on our four-by-four (1,600-meter relay) that are running 62, 63 (seconds),” Burwell said. “There are a lot of teams where their No. 1 runners are not that fast. You can look at our four-by-eight (3,200 relay) today, that broke the meet record. … We had our No. 2, 3, 5 and 6 (runners) in there. We’ve ran our top four (runners) only once and got a 9:35 (school record).

“Field events are doing great. We’re trending the right way. I don’t think we’ve peaked yet. Our girls continue to work hard every day.”

O-G began Saturday with a win in the 3,200 relay in a meet-record time of 9 minutes, 42.33 seconds. O-G’s 3,200 relay was comprised of Anna Buddelmeyer, Rose Turnwald, Corinne Closson and Olivia Fenbert.

In the 800 relay, O-G (Delaney Duling, Savannah Recker, Averie Fox and Alexa Fortman) won in a meet-record time of 1:46.10.

O-G’s Alexa Fortman won the 800 in a meet-record time of 2:12.62. Fortman, who was named the invitational’s MVP, also won the 400 in 57.64, just missing the meet record (57.19) she set last season.

“I’m super grateful. We’re trying to finish out the regular season strong,” Fortman said. “Our coaches do a great job of preparing us. Our whole team is a lot stronger this year. We’re excited for the postseason tournament to see what we can do.”

O-G also notched first-place finishes in the 1,600 (Anna Buddelmeyer, 5:31.80), 3,200 (Madelyn Hovest, 12:30.60), 400 relay (Delaney Duling, Savannah Recker, Lily Haselman, Laney Hedrick, 51.19), 1,600 relay (Fenbert, Closson, Rose Turnwald, Fortman, 4:02.61), pole vault (Haselman, 11-6) and long jump (Recker, 17, 1/2).

O-G sophomore Anna Buddelmeyer is competing at a high level in her first year in track. She also runs cross country.

Saturday, Buddelmeyer clocked a personal best in the 1,600 (5:31.80). She picked it up on the final lap and pulled away for the win.

“The last time I ran it, I tried to go out hard the first two laps, then I died out,” Buddelmeyer said. “So, I tried to take it slower the first two (laps), so I could work on speeding up at the end.”

O-G was also crowned the combined team champion.

Rare Grove loss

Losing isn’t something the Columbus Grove boys track and field program is accustomed to.

In fact, except at the state meet, this year’s Columbus Grove boys senior class has never suffered a loss as a team in track and field.

However, at Saturday’s invitational it finally happened.

Columbus Grove finished second to a very strong Oak Harbor team, 127-101. Ottawa-Glandorf (67), Bluffton (63) and Liberty-Benton (62.50) rounded out the top five squads in the 16-team field.

“That’s the first track meet this senior class has ever lost, whether it be a dual, tri, quad or invitational,” longtime Columbus Grove boys head coach Chris Grothaus said. “The only other one they have ever lost is the state track meet. They didn’t have it (a track season) their freshman year, because of COVID. In junior high, they never lost a meet. In high school, they never lost a meet.

“They (Columbus Grove boys team) did know about it (the winning streak). I heard them over there talking about it. But that’s how impressive the senior class is. We won’t be able to replace them. But what they have done, is they have influenced the younger kids.”

This year’s Columbus Grove boys’ success begins with the throwers.

In Saturday’s discus, senior Tadd Koch set both a meet record and school record with a toss of 189 feet, 6 inches. Teammate, senior Lawson Maag, placed third with a mark of 164-10.

Koch will be heading to the University of Findlay next school year to compete in track and field.

Koch said he was not focused on setting any records Saturday. Koch threw 175 feet and notched a first-place finish at Tuesday’s tri-meet against Kalida and Ottawa-Glandorf.

“I was just trying to come in and maybe get a PR (personal record), but the first goal was to win the meet,” Koch said about Saturday’s invite.

Koch said the competition played an integral part in Saturday’s success.

“Overall, this is probably the best field (of throwers) that we will see all year (during the regular season),” Koch said.

Maag, who will be competing in throws at Ohio State next school year, was coming off a throw of 173-10 and a second-place finish at Tuesday’s tri-meet against Ottawa-Glandorf and Kalida.

Maag points to not only the competitiveness between him and Koch, but also the comradery they have.

“It’s been the same my entire high school career,” Maag said. “First, I had Ethan Halker pushing me. Now, with Tadd, every practice is like a meet. We push each other so hard. At practice, it’s always so competitive. I think that’s why we succeed as much as we do.”

At last year’s Division III state meet, Koch placed third in the discus, while Maag came in 10th.

However, not present Saturday at Liberty-Benton for Columbus Grove was senior AJ Schafer, a Division III state-qualifier last season in the shot put.

Schafer, who has a personal best in the shot put of 58-2, was playing in the North-South All-Star football game Saturday. Schafer will be playing football at the next level when he attends Indiana Wesleyan University next school year.

Also scoring big for Columbus Grove on Saturday was junior Luke Ellerbrock, who won the 1,600 and 3,200.

In the 1,600, Ellerbock pulled away in the final lap to clock a winning time of 4:29.11, which was a personal best. Liberty-Benton’s Jackson Hochstettler (4:33.25) and O-G’s Ty Rosengarten (4:35.11) finished second and third, respectively.

Later, in the 3,200, Ellerbrock broke away in the final two laps to notch the victory in 9:46.24. Rosengarten was once again in contention, finishing second (9:49.25). Bluffton’s Erik Nygaard was third (10:03.89).

“I was seeded pretty high in both of them (1,600, 3,200),” Ellerbrock said. “So, I went out there hoping that I could win both of them; and that’s what happened.”

Record 3,200 relay

Both Bluffton and O-G broke the meet record Saturday in the 3,200 relay.

However, Bluffton (Landon Armstrong, Erik Nygaard, Sam Derstine, Eden Antrim) won the 3,200 relay in 8:08.77.

O-G (Masen Vogt, Ethan Metzger, Isaac Macke, Rosengarten) finished a close second (8:11.45).

Armstrong, who placed fourth at last year’s Division III state meet in the 800 (1:55.22), was back in the lineup after being out with an injury. In the 800 Saturday, Armstrong finished second in 2:01.99. Hardin Northern’s Zeb Wilson edged out Armstrong with a winning time of 2:01.22.

“It’s definitely exciting,” Armstrong said about his relay’s performance Saturday. “It kind of shows us where we’re at, because with this being my first race back, we didn’t really know where we’re at.”

Hovest notches 2 wins

Kalida senior thrower Camille Hovest won the shot put (37-3 1/2) and the discus (145-4) Saturday.

O-G junior Emma Hoffman placed second in the discus (135-2) and third in the shot put (35-4).

Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.