By JASON STEIN
cnsports@crescent-news.com
OTTAWA - After 34 events in which 10 schools gave it their all, the Western Buckeye League track and field championships ultimately came down to a battle of Celina and Defiance.
But there was room for only one kind of Bulldog on this night and that would be the Defiance-kind as the boys successfully defended their title from the last two years and for the first time in the school's history, the Lady 'Dogs had the biggest bite as they were crowned champions of the WBL.
"It's indescribable ... these girls worked so hard and I'm so proud of them," said head coach Steve Wahl, struggling to speak as he held back emotions. "Every one of them earned it. Every one of them worked so hard and every one of them contributed. We had people all across the board today that really just came through when we needed them most.
"Wow, what can you say," added Wahl. "These girls can, for the rest for their lives, say that they were part of something that no one ever was before and you don't get a lot of opportunities to say that."
Defiance boys head coach Steve Rittenour, in his first year at the helm led Defiance to its third straight title and a conference-leading fourteenth overall.
"I'd like to win by 30 points but this feels great and the kids just did a tremendous job all year," smiled a victorious and somewhat hoarse Rittenour. "They busted their tails all year. This was a total team effort. We scratched and clawed for every point and those are the sweet ones to win. I'm really proud of the kids and they should be really proud of themselves. They really put it all on the line tonight.
"I told them on Wednesday "regardless if you win our lose, make sure you walk away with no regrets' and I think we performed like that today and I'm really proud of them. They did a fantastic job."
The Lady Bulldogs truly used a team effort as they won four events, finished second six times, finished third five times and had six placers finish in the fourth through sixth positions, all of which earned them valuable points. While they failed to score in just two events, there were six different events in which they had multiple placers because of a never-give-up attitude.
"It's huge," lauded Wahl of getting multiple placers on more than once occasion. "Our number twos were awesome today. And our number twos, Megan Vogelsong, Anna Meyer, Kelsey Zipfel, Brooke Lime, and I know I'm missing others ... when they had to beat the team in green (Celina) they got it done event, after event, after event. Man, what a great day all around."
Lauren Fett picked up two wins, one in the 1600 and later in the 800, but perhaps just as key as her victories were, so too were the efforts of Vogelsong and Meyer. Vogelsong passed three runners, including one from Celina, in the 1600 to finish third in the event, while Meyer finished a few seconds ahead of two Celina runners in the 800.
"Those were huge points for both Megan and Anna," remarked Fett, who also finished third in the 3200 with Vogelsong in fifth. "It's people like that ... when everyone else steps up and makes big points like that and that's why we won tonight. Everyone practiced so hard this year and we were so prepared and this was our top goal, to come in here and win this. It feels amazing to be a part of the first team ever to win WBLs, this is awesome."
Mikaela Tolbert also won an individual title when she beat Ottawa-Glandorf's Emily Heitmeyer by more than a second in the 400. Tolbert was also a member of the 3200 relay team, as was Fett, Vogelsong and Meyer, which kick-started the Lady Bulldogs on Wednesday and she ran the opening leg of the final girls' event of the night, the 1600 relay, an event that was run with the title already in hand.
"First of all in the 3200 relay (raced on Wednesday) we knew as soon as we got first that we were off to a great start," began Tolbert on the importance of the relay teams. "For the 800, we knew we had to beat Celina and get the points (Defiance finished second with Celina finishing in third) and again in the 1600 relay ... we were pretty sure we had it before the race but we just wanted to make sure and we went out there and did our job and got it done."
"When the girls won the two mile, that's what wrapped it up," recalled Wahl. "I didn't want to tell them though. I didn't want to jinx it cause I wanted the mile relay to run hard and they really did ... but what a day for all those girls."
The DHS and newly-crowned WBL champion girls did finish strong as they finished second in the 1600 to Ottawa-Glandorf but two spots ahead of Celina.
Wahl wasn't done coaching the girls, however, as they went from athletes to cheerleaders after a brief celebration. As the boys' teams took their places for the pivotal 1600 relay, Wahl had the girls spread out around the track and cheer on the quartet of David Pagan, Aaron Swanson, Travis Spitnale and Aaron Demecs, who needed to beat Celina as DHS trailed them by one point entering the seventeenth and final event.
And boy did they have something to cheer for.
As soon as the starter's gun fired, Pagan sprang out of his blocks with baton in hand. Carrying the baton, the Bulldogs' relay team transferred it among, Swanson, Spitnale and finally Demecs, quickly and cleanly as if the baton itself was the championship.
"The kids just worked so hard," Rittenour said of his 1600 relay team. "I was just hoping for clean hand-offs and Aaron Demecs and all those guys ... I knew if we could just hang on and hopefully beat Celina that we'd have a shot."
All four seemed to extend the lead with Demecs, the senior and anchor of the team, crossing the finish line in front of the noisy Defiance fans, coaches and teammates and more importantly, the third place Celina quartet.
"Everybody stepped it up," exclaimed Demecs. "From our first leg, David Pagan knew what he had to do coming in and he was focused since even before prelims. Same with Swanson and Spitnale, they all knew what they had to do coming in and we all just worked as a team and got it. We made our goal and went after it.
"To be honest this (winning the league championship for the third straight year and as a senior) is probably my biggest moment in sports that I've ever had. Going down in history as a team to three-peat and plus having the 400 record, that was a big goal in the beginning of the season. This is the greatest feeling I've ever had."
Demecs added to his win in the long jump on Wednesday by winning the 400 on Friday as well as anchoring the 1600 relay team but, like the girls, the boys also benefited greatly by having multiple placers on five occurrences and scoring 16 individuals and four relays in all.
"I don't know if it's coaches in general, obviously I'm new as a head coach but I've been around Jerry (Buti) long enough, and it always seems we're the most pessimistic people," said Rittenour. "So the last couple days I've been going through and giving us the lowest points and I think I figured out how every team can beat us. It just is big when that second person places because if that second person keeps working at it and can score ... like for the girls, Amy Spacht was sitting in seventh and throws her last throw and moves up to fourth, and that's what the sport is all about. The kids all year busted their butts at it and that's all you can ask for as a coach. I'm really pleased with them."
Individually Celina's Julie Snyder had the biggest individual impact, scoring victories in the long jump, the 100 hurdles and the 200 to go along with her victory in the high jump on Wednesday.
At Ottawa-Glandorf
Boys Meet
Defiance 114, Celina 111, Wapakoneta 88, Van Wert 57, Ottawa-Glandorf 55, Shawnee 38, St. Marys 25, Elida 20, Kenton 19.
Field Events
High jump - McClintock (W) 6-1; Pagan (D), Kinkley (SM), Crowe (E), Borchers (W), Warren (E). Discus - MCClintock (W) 139-04; Snyder (C), Maag (OG), Knous (SM), Tenhundfeld (E), Green (W).
Running Events
110 hurdles - Croy (O-G) 14.76; Rosengarten (C), Moran (C), Pagan (D), Winters (D), Hoverman (VW). 100 meters - Tindall (VW) 11.17; Bartlett (W), Asonye (D), Crowe (E), Calvelage (VW), Campbell (K). 800 relay - Ottawa-Glandorf 1:32.56; Defiance, St. Marys, Wapakoneta, Celina, Elida. 1600 meters - Violet (LS) 4:26.00; Wiles (D), Flickinger (D), Goodwin (C), Bagley (VW), Webb (W). 400 relay - Wapakoneta 44.21; Van Wert, Elida, Defiance, St. Marys, Kenton. 400 meters - Demecs (D) 50.18; Bellman (O-G), Kinkley (SM), Pagan (D), Tillman (K), Duling (O-G). 300 hurdles - Rosengarten (C) 39.27; Croy (O-G), Swanson (D), Moran (C), Long (W), Fitzgerald (SM). 800 meters - Bittinger (W) 2:00.87; Smith (C), Flickinger (D), Foulkes (C), Brown (D), Walthour (O-G). 200 meters - Tindall (VW) 22.83; LaVergne (K), Bartlett (W), Calvelage (VW), Rosengarten (C), Demecs (D). 3200 meters - Violet (LS) 9:35.88; Wiles (D), Goodwin (C), Holliday (VW), Prater (W), Starnes (C). 1600 relay - Defiance (Pagan, Swanson, Spitnale, Demecs) 3:27.31; Ottawa-Glandorf, Celina, Van Wert, Wapakoneta, Kenton.
Girls Meet
Defiance 135, Celina 120, Ottawa-Glandorf 94, Van Wert 45, St. Marys 36, Shawnee 32, Wapakoneta 28, Elida 18, Kenton 12, Bath 6.
Field Events
Shot put - Phlipot (VW) 40-6; Breland (SM), Osenbaugh (VW), Spacht (D), McKinney (O-G), Schlegel (W). Long jump - Snyder (C) 18-7; Langenkamp (C), Bryant (D), Bruns (O-G), Glenn (LS), Tabler (W). Pole vault - Tabler (W) 11-6; Lucas (W), Humphries (SM), Imm (O-G), Heitkamp (SM), Hellwarth (C).
Running Events
100 hurdles - Snyder (C) 14.72; Lime (D), Hague (C), Basinger (LS), Tabler (W), Moonshower (VW). 100 meters - Langenkamp (C) 12.58; Dietz (SM), Sexton (K), Kaufman (O-G), Schroeder (O-G), Gorman (D). 800 relay - Shawnee 1:46.34; Defiance, Celina, Ottawa-Glandorf, Elida, Kenton. 1600 meters - Fett (D) 5:16.71; Selhorst (O-G), Vogelsong (D), Bloom (K), Taylor (VW), Roth (C). 400 relay - Celina 51.43; Defiance, Ottawa-Glandorf, Elida, Shawnee. 400 meters - Tolbert (D) 58.90; Heitmeyer (O-G), Dietz (SM), Zipfel (D), Laman (LS), Waterman (C). 300 hurdles - Schroeder (O-G) 45.45; Langenkamp (C), Herrett (D), Lime (D), Hague (C), Tabler (W). 800 meters - Fett (D) 2:18.70; Glenn (LS), Lanwehr (O-G), Riethman (VW), Meyer (D), Dorsten (C). 200 meters - Snyder (C) 25.94; Kaufman (O-G), McFadden (E), Dietz (SM), Cooper (LS), Glenn (LS). 3200 meters - Selhorst (O-G) 11:31.57; Roth (C), Fett (D), Taylor (VW), Vogelsong (D), Bloom (K). 1600 relay - Ottawa-Glandorf 4:03.00; Defiance, Elida, Celina, Wapakoneta, Shawnee.