By BOB STRICKLEY

PDT Sports Editor

Portsmouth, Minford, Northwest and West all competed in the first day of the Division II District Track and Field Tournament at Oak Hill on Tuesday, while Waverly and Piketon competed in the other half of the District Tournament at Washington Court House Tuesday and Wednesday.

Seven final events were tallied as of Tuesday, three on the girls side and four on the boys, with many local teams and athletes registering high finishes.

In the Boys 4x800-Meter Relay at Oak Hill, Portsmouth’s team of Zach Kammler, Cory Porter, Michael Lawson and Austin Porter finished fourth with a time of 8:41.52.

In the same event, Minford’s relay team of Tyler Evans, Evan Howard, Austin Thompson and Michael Skaggs finished seventh with a time of 9:12.44.

Northwest finished 11th in the 4x800 relay with a time of 9:51.50. Their relay team consisted of Alessandro Fumagalli, Gabe Howard, Lee Wartluft and Linus Schnack.

In the Boys Discus Throw at Oak Hill, Travis Sifford of Northwest finished eighth, Tyler Gaines of Minford finished 14th and Kyle Shonkwiler of Minford finished 16th.

In the boys long jump at Oak Hill, Sean Berry of Minford finished sixth, L.J. Adams of Portsmouth finished seventh, Grant Piguet of Minford finished eighth and Cory Burnworth of Northwest finished ninth.

In Girls Shot Put at Oak Hill, Taylor Slack of Northwest finished 17th.

The Division II District Track and Field Tournament at Oak Hill will continue Friday at 5 p.m.

In the Girls 4x800-Meter Relay at Washington Court House, Piketon’s team of Megan Day, Shaniah Begley, Elisha Manley and Katie Stolzenburg finished seventh with a time of 11:00.99.

Waverly’s team of Emily Maple, Becky Deacon, Shana Parker and Madison McAllister finished ninth in the same event with a time of 11:05.30.

In the Washington Court House Boys 4x800 Meter Relay, Piketon’s team of Kane Dixon, Seth Farmer, Austin Buchanan and Josh Cornett finished second with a time of 8:19.98 while Waverly’s team of Daniel Evory, Beau Barley, Hudson Diener and Willie Bevens finished 10th with a time of 9:05.86.

Piketon’s Whitley Crabtree finished 13th in the Girls High Jump at Washington Court House.

The Boys Long Jump at Washington Court House saw Amin Gilbert of Waverly finish 10th, Cameron Waddell of Piketon finish 16th, Craig McDowell of Piketon finish 19th and Alex Brown of Waverly finish 21st.

In the Girls Shot Put at Washington Court House, Katie Ward of Piketon finished sixth, Lauren Rhoads of Waverly finished seventh, Taylor Rickey of Waverly finished 19 and Kyla Burkitt of Piketon finished 21st.

Washington Court House’s Boys Discus Throw saw the lone first-place finish by an individual local athlete in Waverly’s Dylan Dyke. It’s the latest of what has been a dominant season for Waverly coach Byron Green’s junior.

“He’s stepped up and done very well,” Green said. “We have sent him to some meets Northwest from here to have him face a little tougher competition. He’s backed off the weights a little bit and I think that will help him stay strong for the coming weeks.”

Dyke’s teammate Sam Hensley came in 14th while Piketon’s Aaron Ward and Ryan Accardo had the 15th and 25th best throws, respectively.

Of the local teams competing Tuesday, the Waverly boys held the highest team rank at seventh with more action ahead.

“The kids have done pretty well,” Green said. “We need to keep it up.”

Events continued at Washington Courthouse with more favorable final results for local athletes.

Waverly’s Alex Brown finished second in the Boys 110-Meter Hurdles with a time of 17.01 while Chris Wiget of Waverly finished second in the Boys 100-Meter Dash with a time of 11.55.

“Right now Chris is sitting well with his finishes and Alex is running very strong as well,” Green said.

Wiget also finished sixth in the boys 200-meter dash with a time of 23.63.

Waverly’s boys 4x200-Meter Relay team earned a first place finish with a time of 1:37.53 while Piketon’s boys 4x100-Meter Relay team finished second with a time of 45.76.

Piketon’s boys 4x400-Meter Relay team of Austin Buchanan, Matthew Ly, Kane Dixon and Cameron Waddell finished fourth with a time of 3:35.77 and Waverly’s team of Paul Rickards, Daniel Evory, Willie Bevens and Brock Davis finished seventh with a time of 3:42.45 in the same event.

Piketon’s Craig McDowell finished second in boy Long Jump and teammate Craigen Moore finished seventh in the same event.

The Washington Court House branch of the tournament will resume Saturday at 10 a.m.

Full results from Tuesday’s final events can be found online at Portsmouth-DailyTimes.com under sports.

Oak Hill Location Team Rankings

Women - Team Rankings - 3 Events Scored

1) Chesapeake 18.50

2) The Plains Athens 18

3) Albany Alexander 16

4) Gallipolis Gallia Academy 15

5) Proctorville Fairland 14.50

6) Jackson 14

7) McArthur Vinton County 10

8) Bidwell River Valley 5

9) Ironton Rock Hill 3

10) Pomeroy Meigs 2

11) South Point 1

Men - Team Rankings - 4 Events Scored

1) Gallipolis Gallia Academy 38

2) Proctorville Fairland 25

3) Chesapeake 22

4) The Plains Athens 12

5) McArthur Vinton County 11

Tie-6) Pomeroy Meigs 10

Tie-6) Jackson 10

8) Bidwell River Valley 8

9) Portsmouth 7

Tie-10) Minford 6

Tie-10) Albany Alexander 6

12) McDermott Northwest 1

Washington Court House Team Rankings

Men - Team Rankings - 4 Events Scored

1) Thornville Sheridan 33

2) Circleville 22

3) Chill. Unioto 18

4) Hillsboro 14

Tie-5) Chill. Zane Trace 12

Tie-5) Greenfield McClain 12

7) Waverly 10

8) Piketon 8

Tie-9) Williamsport Westfall 7

Tie-9) Wash. C.H. Washington 7

Tie-11) New Lexington 5

Tie-11) Lancaster Fairfield Union 5

13) Wash. C.H. Miami Trace 3

Women - Team Rankings - 3 Events Scored

Tie-1) Thornville Sheridan 25

Tie-1) Wash. C.H. Washington 25

3) Chill. Zane Trace 12

4) Circle. Logan Elm 11

5) Chill. Unioto 10.50

6) Williamsport Westfall 8

7) Greenfield McClain 7

Tie-8) Circleville 5

Tie-8) Piketon 5

10) Hillsboro 4

11) Wash. C.H. Miami Trace 2.50

12) Waverly 2

Bob Strickley may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 203, or bstrickley@heartlandpublications.com.