Springfield senior “really excited just to see what I can do”

It’s an honor for senior Austin Tyree to be the next big thing on the Springfield High School boys track and field team. Now, he’s the one others measure themselves against.

“Being a marked guy, you realize you have to compete every meet,” said the outstanding hurdler and relay member. “I’ve had a couple rough meets, but I’ve gradually gotten better and getting back to where I was last year. I’m really excited just to see what I can do.”


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What Tyree did at the area’s best regular-season and large-scale meet on Friday was win the 300-meter hurdles (39.11) and place third in the 110 highs (15.63) during the 22nd annual Wayne track and field invitational. That was just part of an noteworthy effort by Springfield-area competitors.

Wayne, getting a super-charged show from senior sprinter Zarik Brown and his four firsts, won the boys team title, 89-63 over runner-up Olentangy Orange. Mason won the 1,600 relay, the final girls running event, and edged runner-up Lakota East 66.33-64 to take the girls team title.

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The event drew 48 teams, many the best in the Southwest and Central (Columbus) districts.

Leading by a couple strides, Tyree tumbled over the 300 hurdles finish as the field closed on him and still managed to win. He is among the state’s leaders in that event, having clocked a 38.50 earlier in the month. He ran a 14.79 in the highs during Thursday’s qualifying, but a stiff head wind slowed all Friday races in the home stretch.

Tyree also ran on Springfield’s 800 relay that placed fifth (1:31.69).

“There’s a lot of competition here,” he said. “It’s almost like a mini state meet.”

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• Northwestern’s trio of outstanding boys throwers delivered on Thursday. Junior Korbin Spencer won the discus (161 feet, 11 inches), while junior Blake Jamison was third (157-11) and senior Adam Riedinger was fifth (154-2).

They traded places in the shot put, with Riedinger second (57-2), Jamison third (54-4) and Spencer fifth (53-4).

That enabled Northwestern to place sixth (31.5 points) among the boys teams. Shawnee was 11th (24 points) and Springfield 13th (21).

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• Shawnee junior Robie Glass gave a glimpse of what to expect in the upcoming postseason. He won the 400 (47.97) and added a third in the 200 (22.13) on Friday. On Thursday, he placed runner-up in the high jump (6-7). He had a single miss at that height, which dropped him to second.

• Catholic Central freshman Mallory Mullen beat the field by more than five inches to win the girls high jump on Thursday (5-6.25).

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• West Liberty-Salem freshman Megan Adams was fourth in the 1,600 (5:07.45). She stayed with the pack for two laps and made a move up in the final 400 in a season-best showing.

“It was great,” she said. “I was glad all the hard work through the season paid off. I really wasn’t sure how I was going to react to all the competition. In the long run this will help me a lot.”

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