Sunday, May 27, 2001
Boys track highlights
Middletown wins bittersweet title
By John Schutte
Enquirer contributor
The Middletown boys easily won the Division I regional team title at Dayton's Welcome Stadium, but they may have lost their chance at a state title.
The Middies' 4-by-400 relay team was disqualified when anchor Darrell Hunter threw his baton to the ground after finishing the race. The rules say a runner must hand the baton to an official after finishing.
Middletown scored 81 points to win the title. Trotwood Madison (41 points), Princeton (38), Dayton Wayne (37) and Centerville (33) rounded out the top five.
“We've been having problems in the 4-by-400 all year. We dropped the baton in the Wayne and Roosevelt invitationals in races we probably were going to win,” Middletown coach Floyd Horton said.
Middletown got a surprise first-place finish in the shot put from Thomas Paige. Paige improved his personal best with a throw of 55 feet, 7 1/2 inches. He also qualified for state with a fourth-place finish in the discus.
“Every week I'm progressing and every week I've thrown farther than the last,” Paige said.
The Middletown 4-by-100 relay won in 42.44 seconds. Juniors Tyran Thompson, Nasir Ahmad, Dennis Gates and Darrell Hunter combined for the victory.
Hunter finished strong to fend off Dayton Wayne. He made state with second-place finishes in two other events, the 100-meter dash and the long jump.
Thompson won the 200-meter dash and also qualified in the 100 and long jump.
DOUBLE WINNER: St. Xavier's Ryan Busse won both the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs. In the 1,600, Busse was one of the front-runners. He out-kicked Talawanda's Jesse Rhodenbaugh in the final 200 meters.
“I ran with controlled rage today,” Busse said. “I'm feeling more confident with each race.”
The 3,200 played out perfectly for Busse. A slow pace allowed him to make his move with about 1,200 meters remaining. Busse stalked Middletown's Scott See in the final 400 meters and blew by with 100 meters remaining for the win.
“Scott beat me earlier in the year,” Busse said. “I made my move around 100 meters with the intent of surprising him, which I did.”
100-METER DASH: Ian Ruth of Winton Woods went into the finals with the slowest qualifying time but walked away the champion.
“My legs weren't feeling good in the prelims. Today I felt fresh. I got stronger as the race went on and really picked it up in the last 50 meters,” Ruth said.
HIGH JUMP: Lakota East's Erik Reynolds was heads above the rest Saturday afternoon. Reynolds cleared 6-7 to win by 4 inches.
800-METER RUN: Sycamore senior Mark Mecum is looking to improve on last year's 12th-place finish at state. Mecum won the 800 with a time of 1:57.53. Mecum has won all but one race this year, at the Roosevelt Invitational, where he finished fourth.
“I knew most of the field would set the pace around me, so I had to finish strong,” Mecum said.
Boys track results
Sports Stories
Reds 7, Cardinals 2
DAUGHERTY: Reds fans are watching 2003 now
Is it Reese's time at shortstop?
Reds' injury bug hits minors
Definition of desperate? LaRue batting second
Reds box, runs
Boys track highlights
