ST. CLAIRSVILLE - All five classes have now officially begun the journey toward an Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Track and Field Championship.
The 2A and 4A classes got into the act Tuesday afternoon at Red Devil Stadium and completed the field in nine events for Saturday's title runs.
The 3A and 5A members will reconvene in the Belmont County seat this afternoon with remaining field events set to begin at 4 p.m. and running at 5 p.m. The 1A meet will also wrap up today at Shadyside's Fleming Field.
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ON THE TRACK — Catholic Central’s Doug Maslowski was the top qualifier in the 110 hurdles in Class 2A Tuesday at the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Track Championships at St. Clairsville.
-- Mike Palmer
Steubenville and St. Clairsville appear primed to wage an all-out battle on Saturday after qualifying action in Class 4A.
The defending champion in 3A Red Devils and Big Red, which has been chasing Wheeling Park in the big-school field, both paced two events in the qualifying round.
Big Red Freshman dandy Malik Richmond led the long jump field with a mark of 20-11.
Fact Box
OVAC Track and Field Championship
(at St. Clairsville Red Devil Stadium)
Class 2A
Girls
4x800 - Linsly, 10:54.58; River, 10:54.91; Caldwell, 11:00.98.
100M HH - Rigaud (SCC), 16.13; McCullough (Riv), 16.43; Bucon (WCC), 16.89.
High Jump - Price (Tor), 5-0; Imhoff (Riv), 4-6; Bowman (Tor), 4-6.
Shot Put - Rigaud (SCC), 31-2; Johnson (Riv), 29-1; Engle (SCC), 28-8.
4x200 - Steubenville Central, 1:49.38; Clay-Battelle, 1:51.55; Wheeling Central, 1:54.76.
100M - McCullough (Riv), 13.08; Zapolnik (SCC), 13.18; Rush (CB), 13.41.
3200M - Tollett (Shady), 11:22.01; Furr (Cald), 12:20.14; Sailing (Cald), 12:38.23.
400M - Hall (CB), 61.87; Custer (CB), 65.52; Radcliff (Cald), 65.60.
Pole Vault - No qualifiers.
Boys
110M HH - Maslowski (SCC), 15.41; Dull (Shady), 15.58; Brown (Lins), 19.20.
Pole Vault - Scott (WCC), 14-0.
Long Jump -Maslowski (SCC), 20-2 1/2; Necessary (Riv), 19-5 1/4; Ross (Tor), 18-0.
4x800 - Linsly, 8:53.03; Caldwell, 8:54.93; Steubenville Central, 8:55.30.
4x200 - Linsly, 1:34.96; River, 1:37.39; Clay-Battelle, 1:37.70.
Discus - Thompson (Tor), 128-7; Bednar (SCC), 117-9; Tharp (Riv), 116-1.
400M - Abrams (Cald), 50.59; Stephens (Lins), 51.59; Tolley (CB), 53.17.
100M - Maslowski (SCC), 11.60; Swaniger (CB), 11.79; Fallon (SCC), 11.83.
3200M - Niswonger (Cald), 10:17.41; Statler (CB), 10:19.59; Hunt (SCC), 11:16.51.
Class 4A
Girls
Shot Put - Robinson (StC), 43-0 3/4; Clark (OG), 33-9; Patton (UL), 30-10 1/2.
4x800 - Weir, 10:12.89; Oak Glen, 10:25.89; St. Clairsville, 10:43.22.
100M HH - Borsch (Ed), 16.38; Demus (Steub), 16.40; Macon (Steub), 17.06.
High Jump - Pollock (Ed), 4-10; Crane (OG), 4-8; Rector (BL), 4-8.
100M - Tran (Ed), 13.15; Ware (Steub), 13.18; Peterson (HC) 13.22.
4x200 - Steubenville, 1:47.99; Edison, 1:48.13; Meadowbrook, 1:50.41.
3200M - Mastrantoni (Weir), 11:53.80; Chambers (OG), 12:04.88; Hannan (StC), 12:23.63.
400M - Phillips (Steub), 61.07; Elder (Steub), 61.65; Pollock (Ed), 62.86.
Pole Vault - Kemp (UL), 9-6; Carpenter (Ed), 8-0; Janczraek (Meadow), 7-0.
Boys
110M HH - Jones (UL), 16.28; Nodianos (Steub), 16.29; Pham (Ed), 16.96.
100M - Piergallini (BL), 10.86; Brown (St. C.), 11.17; Murray (Steub), 11.36.
4x800 - Meadowbrook, 8:47.31; Harrison Central, 8:52.09; Oak Glen, 8:55.88.
Pole Vault - Eaton (St. C.), 12-0; Kemp (UL), 11-6; Jones (UL), 11-6.
Discus - Delekta (OG), 158-4; Lindsay (St. C.), 129-4; Staley (OG), 124-3.
400M - Minger (Ed), 51.10; Spencer (HC), 51.20; Lavender (Steub), 51.3.
Long Jump - Richmond (Steub), 20-11 1/4; Weltner (OG), 20-7; Piergallini (BL), 20-6 3/4.
4x200 - Steubenville, 1:32.37; St. Clairsville, 1:33.40; Harrison Central, 1:33.66.
3200M - Thornburg (StC), 9:52.91; Guy (Meadow), 10:33.41; Collins (Ed), 10:52.12.
Steubenville's crack 4x200 team of Jaquan Lavender, Robert Hayden, Tayari Lavender and Najee Murray posted a 1:32.37, which was more than a second better than the Red Devils.
The Red Devils, meanwhile, were led by senior distance dandy Andy Thornburg, who paced the 3200 meter field in 9:52.91.
Sophomore pole vaulter Michael Eaton soared over 12-feet to lead the vault qualifying.
Union Local's Collin Jones led the 4A field in the high hurdles. He posted a 16.28, which was one hundredth better than Big Red's Joey Nodianos.
Buckeye Local senior speedster Jordan Piergallini showed once again that his effort at last week's Buckeye 8 championship was no fluke.
He led the 4A qualifying with a blistering 10.86, which was just a hundredth off his time from a week ago.
Oak Glen's Ethan Delekta took the first step toward the discus crown by qualifying with the top mark in the competition of all divisions. He twirled the platter to 158-4.
Edison senior Kyle Minger led the way in the 400 in 51.10.
The seemingly wide-open 4A girls field had five schools earn the top mark in an event.
Edison led the way, however, with three top marks in qualifying.
Sophomore Ashley Borsch posted a 16.38 to edge Big Red's Toshchel Demus by two hundredths of a second for the top spot in the high hurdles.
Katelyn Pollock cleared 4-10 for the top high jump spot in the next-to-biggest class, while Nhung Tran ran down the front stretch in 13.15 to lead the 100 meter marks.
Weir High capitalized on the two distance events staged. The Lady Red Riders' 4x800 team of Alexis Virtue, Chantelle Harper, Rachel Marker and Kristen Mastrantoni posted a 10:12.89.
Mastrantoni was also the top 3200 meter runner in the field at 11:53.80.
Steubenville sophomore Paige Phillips ran a lap in 61.07 to lead the 400 dashers. Lady Big Red's 4x200 team of Demus, Phillips, Nyasha Jones and Queen Elder ran two laps in 1:47.99.
St. Clairsville's top qualifier was junior Alyssa Robinson, who set the only female meet record of the day. She prevailed in the shot put with a heave of 43-0, which was nearly four feet further than the previous record, which had stood since 2010.
Class 2A members Linsly and Steubenville Central both demonstrated they could be factors in Saturday's meet.
No one had a better individual day than Steubenville Central's Doug Maslowski. He raced to the top 2A mark in the 100 meters (11.60), the high hurdles (15.41) and the long jump (20-2).
Linsly, which was without the services of senior speedster Ricky Jordan on the opening day, qualified with the top time in the 4x2 and 4x8.
The Cadets' 800 relay team of Chinelo Oparanozie, Jamal Ebanks, Robert Felton and Chris Stephens ran a 1:34.96.
Their 3200 relay team of Luke Miller, Justin Lee, Stan Borrell and Mike Hammond ran eight laps in 8:53.03.
Toronto's Aaron Thompson was the top entrant in the discus with a twirl of 128-7.
The Steubenville Central girls showed they are not going to let the 2A title they've owned for the past four seasons go without a fight.
Monica Rigaud paced the high hurdles in 16.13, while Rachel Rigaud was the top 2A shot putter with a mark of 31-2.
The Lady Crusaders, who won the Division III state title last season, also qualified tops in the 4x200. The team of Monica Rigaud, Michaela Gotta, Taylor Bednar and Taylor Zapolnik ran a 1:49.38 to lead the way.
River, which finished second in the 2A race last season to Steubenville Central, was led by talented junior Cassidy McCullough, who led the 100 meter dash qualifying with a time of 13.08.
Toronto's Emily Price cleared 5-feet to top the high jump field in 2A.
