Wheelersburg won the big school division with 88.5 points to Waverly's 82.
Not only did the Lady Indians win the small school, division, but actually was able to beat out the big school division champions from Wheelersburg to take home overall high point honors.
“I think that's the first time that has happened,” said Valley girls' coach Ellen Shope. “Usually Wheelersburg wins the big division and the overall, so to actually come out and win overall is pretty awesome.”
The Lady Indians also had the high-point medalist on the their squad in the person of Courtnie Merritt. Merritt won both the high and long jumps on Tuesday and added to her total on Wednesday. Merritt took home top honors in the 200m dash, and was also on the first-place 4x100m relay team to end with 32 1/2 points for the meet.
“I just want to thank God for my ability,” said Merritt. “We worked really hard for the SOC so to come out and win it's great.”
In the SOC II girls meet, it was Wheelersburg taking home the crown by edging out Waverly by 6.5 points. Wheelersburg did win not a single event in the two-day affair, but the second, third and fourth places started to add up for the Lady Pirates as they took home the hardware for the SOC II.
“It was a total team effort,” said Wheelersburg girls' coach Paul Boll. “We had a lot of girls pick up points. We did this without winning any first-place event. We pick up points anywhere we can.
“I want to congratulate Waverly for coming down and their girls really excelled in this. They really made it tough on us.”
Wheelersburg's Sarah Ruggles came in third in the 3200-meter run. The Lady Pirates relay team came in second in the 4x400m relay team, which helped them edge the Lady Tigers. Wheelersburg also placed third in the 4x 800m relay event. Olivia Cole added a third place finish in the 200m dash. Brittany Warner finished fifth in the girls 100m hurdles.
In the boys small school division, South Webster dominated, scoring 80 points with Notre Dame coming in a distant second with 28 points.
The Jeeps gained second place points from Danny Castle in the 100m dash and third-place honors in the 200m dash and the Jeeps also took second place in the 4 x 800m relay finishing just half a second short of first place.
Michael Kennedy finished second in the 400m dash. Eric Wiseman placed fourth in the 1600m run and Josh Linkous cashed in with a first place finish in the 3200m run.
“I thought our field event people set the tone last night,” said South Webster coach John Grimm. “The kids came out and ran really well this evening and were fortunate enough to win.”
In the SOC II boys meet, the Pirates were not to be outdone by their female counterparts as they also beat out the Waverly squad by 6 1/2.
But the high point for the Pirates on the night was a new SOC meet record in the 4 x200m relay. The team of Jordan Shankwiler, Matt Jenkins, Craig Stamper, and Caleb Brown ran it the relay in 1:53.3.
Besides the top finish the 4 x 200m relay the same four young men took top honors in the 4 x 100m relay.
Eli Gerlach took second place in the 800m run and Jacob Ruggles took home third place in the 3200m run. Nathan Fannin placed fourth in 400m dash. Chris Pyles placed third in 300m hurdles and Kevin LaFramboise placed fourth in the 300m hurdles.
There were co-high point medalist in the boys meet, both from Wheelersburg as Craig Stamper and Nathan Fannin shared the honors.
“The team came out and really stepped up and fought through some adversity,” said Fannin.
Stamper echoed his sentiment saying, “It was really the whole team. It came down to the 4 by 4 to be co-medalist, and it was a good team effort.”
BRET BEVENS can be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 243.
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