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Lions’ Stewart defies illness, grabs 3,200 title

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By Michael Cooper, Staff Writer 11:23 PM Saturday, May 21, 2011

ST. PARIS — Kevin Stewart knows the 3,200 meter run is his bread and butter.

After two days of being sick, the Emmanuel Christian Academy junior opted out of running the 1,600 to stay fresh for the 3,200 and his decision paid off.

Stewart won the 3,200 in a time of 10 minutes, 19.45 seconds at the Division III district track and field championships at Graham High School on Saturday.

“I tried going out hard,” said Stewart. “My coach wanted me to break (10 minutes). I got an early lead and kept that lead, but by the sixth lap running by yourself gets kind of hard, so I slowed down and tried to finish.”

It was the first district title in track and field for Stewart, who qualified for the D-III state meet last spring at Mechanicsburg. He also won a district title in cross country last fall.

“This year I want to get on the podium, if not compete for a title,” Stewart said.

Stewart said the decision to run just the two-mile was an easy one.

“No matter what, I was going to run the two-mile,” Stewart said. “Right now, the mile is going pretty fast at state. Next week, I’m just going to go out as fast as I can and stay with the leaders like I did last year.”

Russia’s Luke Pohlman won the mile in 4:20. West Liberty-Salem’s Colin Wilson (4:35.65) and Ryan Meister (4:37.05) finished second and third, respectively, to qualify for regional. Wilson also placed third in the 3,200 (10:32.94).

The top four individuals and relay teams in each event advanced to the D-III regional at Troy on Wednesday and Friday.

After watching the race, Stewart’s decision was more than justified.

“I would’ve been dead tired,” Stewart said.

West Liberty-Salem finished third as a team with 74 points. Anna won the meet with 112, followed by Covington (84.3 points).

The Tigers’ 1,600 relay team of Michael Mack, Noah Lawson, Anthony Allen and Michael Yoder won in 3:29.13. The group also finished second in both the 400 relay (44.4) and the 800 relay (1:32.26).

“We worked hard all season and it finally paid off for us,” Mack said. “We intend to go further. We’re not done yet.”

Mack was second in the 300 hurdles (40.42), while Allen was third in the high jump (6-0). Meister also placed second in the 800 (2:02.13).

Triad’s lone qualifier, Aaron Yoe, finished second in the 200 in 23.08. He’s the first Cardinals sprinter to advance to regionals since Matt Bailey in 2004.

“I just didn’t want to not make it my senior year,” Yoe said.

“(Coach Payton Printz) told me to run the first 100 as fast as I run the second 100 and that’s what I did. I just tried to keep up with the leaders.”

In the girls’ meet, WLS finished fifth as a team with 53 points. Hannah Ropp was first in the long jump (15-1.25) and tied for second in the pole vault (9-6).

Sarah Murphy was third in the 100 hurdles (16.42) and fourth in the 300 hurdles (48.76). Teammate Meghan Vogel was fourth in the 3,200 (12:04.65).

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0635, mcooper@coxohio.com or on Twitter @SNS_Wizard.

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