Waynedale's Jeremy Reber leads area boys track state qualifiers from Norwayne regional

CRESTON — Waynedale’s Jeremy Reber didn’t want to leave anything to chance Friday night at the Division III Norwayne regional boys track meet.

After having a modest time in the prelims of the 300-meter hurdlers earlier in the week, the junior quickly assessed what needed to be fixed and wanted to empty the tank in his final race of the day.

Mission accomplished as Reber went on to clock a personal-record time in winning the event, one of two in which he will compete next week at the state meet.

“It was just pure motivation, I think. I wanted that really bad,” he said. “So, I was going to leave it out there and whatever happens, happens.”

Reber did just that as he seemed to pick up his energy after the first 100 meters, taking the lead by the midway point and then holding off Lowellville’s Michael Ballone on the final straightaway for the victory.

The result was a career-best 39.46, just ahead of Ballone (39.78) — making up for having just the third-fastest time after Wednesday’s regional and earning the final automatic state berth in the 110 hurdles earlier in the day on Friday.

“I really wanted to focus on the middle of the race today, because in prelims I was a little slow in that area,” said Reber, who also was fourth in the 110s in 15.45. “And after the 110s it was some added motivation to get after it.”

Northwestern’s Jacob Wakefield worked his way up to finishing just behind Reber and Ballone, as the senior passed Trinity’s Cameron Corrothers late in the race to advance.

And after missing out of state berths in the high jump and on the 4x200 relay earlier in the day, Wakefield knew it was now or never.

“That was rough in high jump, just an off day, so I put my all my chips in this one,” he said. “I was a little worried, if I got off step a little bit, but it's a sigh of relief to get out.

“I never would've thought about advancing in this event, out of all of them, but I'm happy to move on.”

Rittman’s Tyler Thompson joined Reber in winning two events in Friday’s final day, and teammate Luke Snyder was regional runner-up in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters.

Thompson came out of the gate with two strong throws in the shot put before a mark of 59 feet, 7¾ inches on his final try of the preliminary round, which was more than enough to secure the regional win over McDonald’s Kyle Crown (55-1).

It was a fast start, which also included a heave of 57-11, that the senior knew would be enough to advance to a third straight state meet.

“I started to build up between those first three throws and then wanted to go for it in the finals,” Thompson said. “I fouled a couple (in the finals), but I wasn’t too worried about it. I'm just glad I made it on to next week. I figured 59 would be enough, so I just wanted to push it out in even more.”

Snyder was downright impressive in both of his races on Friday, two days after helping the Rittman 4x800 relay — which also included David Kollin, Devin Bowlby and Bryen Valerio — to a state berth with a second-place finish in 8:18.79.

The freshman battled it out for the second straight week with East Canton’s Brylan Holland. Unlike last week’s district, however, Snyder was unable to hold off Holland despite posting career-best times in both the 1,600 (4:18.56) and 3,200 (9:18.42).

“He out-kicked me today,” Snyder said. “I just have to adjust, come back next week and see what happens. I PR'd in both races, which is good, and I ran hard. That’s all you can ask for.”

In the 3,200, Snyder finished just ahead of Waynedale freshman Jackson Varner (9:49.45) and Tuslaw’s Jack Swartz (9:52.09) as each earned automatic bids to next week’s state meet in Columbus.

Varner and Swartz worked their way out of a pack that formed behind Holland and Snyder throughout the race, with the two local runners putting together strong final miles.

“I just went with the pack and, over the last half mile, I had to hammer it down or I wasn't going to make it,” Varner said. “Honestly, I didn't think I had enough left, but in that last 300 I knew I had to go and gave it all I had.”

Kollin earned the fourth and final qualifying spot in the 800 and, like his fellow locals in the 3,200, dug deep for a kick that was worthy enough not only for his first state appearance in the sport, but a personal-record 1:57.37.

“I knew I needed to run my best race to make it to state, so I just pushed hard to try and get it,” the senior said. “It was an OK, not one of my best, but I think I definitely finished really hard ... I was able to pick it up at the end.”

Rittman finished with 36 points to place fourth overall as a team. Lowellville (58 points) took the team championship, with Waynedale (eighth, 29) and Dalton (22.5) placing in the top 10.

The Bulldogs’ 4x200 was the only relay to qualify for a trip to Columbus on Friday, clocking a season-best 1:31.26 with the group of Sam Tomlinson, Colin Pearson, Cameron Gazboda and Kanoa Hevia.

“I just wanted to win, and we all wanted to go to state,” Hevia said of the group’s race. “We pushed and there was a lot of competition, which helped us PR.”

Dalton senior Quentin Lehman qualified for state on day one action Wednesday with a second-place discus mark of 165-5. Loudonville’s Braden Carr also advanced Wednesday in the pole vault.

At-large berths to state will be announced on Sunday and a full list of all area state qualifiers will be posted on www.the-daily-record.com this weekend.