by Allen Newbauer
GENEVA – On Friday March 7th, the Ansonia Tigers track team competed in the OATCCC indoor state championship meet at Spire Institute in Geneva Ohio. Ansonia was in the division 4 section and as a team scored 12 points on the men’s side and 6 points on the women’s side.
The day started off for Ansonia with the Girls long jump with Olivia Creager getting 4th place in Division 4.
Ansonia Jumps and Hurdle coach Craig Riethman had this to say about Olivia Creager’s 4th place finish is long jump. “To come off a long, hard-fought basketball season and rush into the end of the indoor track season must be tough. Olivia Creager was able to do that, earning a qualifying mark to make it to state. In the 1st two weeks of the outdoor track season, I am super proud of how hard Olivia worked on being consistent with her acceleration and sprint technique to be competitive at state. It paid dividends as Olivia was able to set a new indoor school record with a jump of 16 feet 9.25 inches at the state meet. This jump earned her 4th place overall and a spot on the podium with the best D4 long jumpers in Ohio. I was very excited for Olivia to not only join the rest of the Ansonia crew at the state meet but to represent them so well. I’m looking forward to Olivia becoming a leader and carrying this effort over into the outdoor season for her and the rest of our jumpers.”
Ansonia continued the strong showing in the 4×200 meter relay.
Ansonia sprints coach Clint Neal had this to say about the group of 4 guys who made up the 4×200 team.
“It was a fantastic showing for our Tiger athletes at the D4 OATCCC Indoor State Meet. I’m really blown away by their involvement in indoor track. Years ago, we had only one to two athletes participating, and now, fast-forward to now, we had nine athletes representing Ansonia and earning seven podium finishes.
Many of these athletes are also juggling swimming, powerlifting, and basketball along with their schoolwork. Indoor track can be challenging, giving up a weekend day to drive 1.5 to 4.5 hours, especially for an event that lasts only a minute and a half or less is tough. These athletes have shown incredible dedication to their craft, which will pay dividends down the road for themselves and teammates.
Before the 4x200m relay, Cade Shellhaas cleared 14’8″ in vault, and Nate Good, who entered Friday with a vault of 13′, achieved a personal record of 14’4″. Our 4x200m relay team consisting of Cade Shellhaas, Ethan Sparks, Luke Ressler, and Nate Good—finished 9th overall with a new indoor school record of 1:35.83. I’m proud of how they competed, missing the podium by just 0.05 seconds to Marion Local.
Now that the indoor track season has ended, it’s time to refocus on the outdoor season and continue putting in the hard work.
Ansonia had some big indoor track meets during the winter, including going to the University of Michigan to help prepare for the state-level competition.
From start to finish, the meet went well for Ansonia with field events and later into the running events.”
Pole Vault saw continued success with London Reichert grabbing 7th in girls’ division and Nate Good and Cade Shellhaas finishing in 8th and 6th respectively.
Ansonia’s Vaulters under the direction of Steve Shellhaas and his ultimate air pole vault club have set the tone for success at Ansonia track and field. having state level vaulters year in and year out.
The day finished out with some great runs by Ethan Sparks and Bennett Lehman grabbing podium spots and finishing the last event of the night with teammates Luken Longenecker and Gavin Stachler.
Newbauer added, “Ethan is running well right now and he’s totally focused on some big outdoor track goals. Bennett Lehman is not in great running shape yet, but still competed at a high level in the 3200 and 1600, then finished off the night in the 4×400 meter relay.”
“Over the course of the last three years, indoor track has grown at Ansonia in terms of participation and involvement,” said coach Allen Newbauer, who coaches the middle distance and long distance athletes at Ansonia.
“Lots of athletes trained over the winter and we teamed up with Greenville’s distance crew coached by Melissa Riethman a few days a week to make a great group setting which really helped on some tough winter days,” Newbauer said.
“We have a few other athletes including some college athletes working in our group, which makes for a lot of diversity,” he added. “The group setting really helped lead to the success that Bennett, Lehman, Ethan Sparks, Luken Longenecker, and Gavin Stacher had in the indoor season.”
The Ansonia Tigers ended the day with seven podium finishes & five indoor school track records! Congratulations to all participants and tremendous effort! Onto outdoor season!
Long Jump
4th Place – Olivia Creager – 16’9.25” indoor School Record
Pole Vault
7th Place – London Reichert – 9’6”
6th Place – Cade Shellhaas – 14’8”
8th Place – Nate Good – 14’4” PR
1600m
8th Place – Bennett Lehman – 4:29.71 Indoor School Record
800m
7th Place – Ethan Sparks – 2:01.33 Indoor School Record
3200m
4th Place – Bennett Lehman – 9:38.62 Indoor School Record
14th Place – Ethan Sparks 10:39.48
4x200m
9th Place – Cade Shellhaas, Ethan Sparks, Luke Ressler & Nate Good – 1:35.83 Indoor School Record
4x400m
16th Place – Luken Longenecker, Ethan Sparks, Gavin Stachler & Bennett Lehman – 4:00.51
