Phillips doesn’t know what his distance would have been.
“I have a feeling it might have been up there with No. 1,” he said.
Instead, Phillips finished third. His best jump was his fourth (22 feet, 11.50 inches). Reading junior Justin Dreyling won the state title with his final jump (23-0.75). St. Clairsville senior Jordan Vincent placed second (22-11.75).
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Phillips wasn’t happy with his finish but tried to look at the bright side.
“It’s better than I did last year,” he said. “I got fifth last year. I came in wanting to win. I’m still blessed to be where I’m at.”
Phillips set a Central Buckeye Conference meet record May 9 with a jump of 23-2.25. He previously had not topped 22-4. He was seeded second at state with a jump of 22-7.75 at the regional meet.
PHOTOS: Day one of state track
Phillips jumped 22-3.75 in his first state appearance last season. Vincent won the state title last season, and Dreyling was fourth, one spot ahead of Phillips.
“I think last year I felt like a small fish in the pond,” Phillips said. “This year I felt I was supposed to be here. I definitely was more in the comfort zone this year.”
Phillips fouled three times at state last year. Last week at the regional meet, he fouled once in the preliminaries and twice in the finals.
“It’s definitely frustrating,” he said. “My steps were good. I moved back four inches. I thought that would get it.”
In other results involving local athletes from the first day of the state meet:
Division I
Springfield junior Dyier Smith qualified for Saturday’s finals in the 110-meter hurdles. His time of 14.34 seconds in the preliminaries ranked sixth.
Division II
Kenton Ridge senior Jamari McDavid qualified for the finals in the 100 and 200.
McDavid had the fourth-best preliminary time in the 100 (12.07). McDavid finished fifth in the 100 last season (12.27). She placed second as a sophomore (12.08).
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In the 200, McDavid will be seeded seventh (25.32). She didn’t qualify for state in the 200 last season but finished eighth as a sophomore (25.41).
McDavid’s busy Saturday starts with the long jump. She won the event as a freshman with a leap of 18-5.75. She finished second the last two seasons.
• The Shawnee 4x800 relay team of Rebecca Penrose, Olivia Warax, Miah Desantis and Grace Holmes placed 13th (10:01.13).
• Northwestern sophomore Adam Riedinger placed 10th in the shot put (50-11.25).
• Kenton Ridge freshman Carson Jones placed 14th in the 400 (51.82).
Division III
• Cedarville senior Devin Gruet advanced to the finals in the 400 with the third-best preliminary time (50.09). Riverdale’s Kyle Evans posted the best time (50.03).
In the same race, West Liberty-Salem junior Raiph Levan also advanced. He had the fourth-best preliminary time (50.25).
“This was Raiph’s best time of the year, which is exactly what you aim for at the state meet,” West Liberty-Salem coach Joe Taylor said. “Raiph’s ability to run a patient race has sort of become his identity. He makes sure he is within striking distance with a half lap to go and then goes all out from there. It’s going to be a close final race, and I know Raiph will be ready to go.”
• Yellow Springs senior Julian Roberts qualified for the finals in the 300 hurdles with the third-best preliminary time (45.27).
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• Cedarville’s 4x400 relay team of Seth Salisbury, Brandon Pollock, Nick Christman and Gruet finished sixth in the preliminaries (3:27.50) and qualified for the finals
• The Cedarville 4x200 relay team of Gruet, Wesley Williams, Pollock and Christman placed 12th in 1:32.61.
• Pollock placed 13th in the 400 (52.09).
• Yellow Springs junior James Browning placed 13th in the high jump (6-0).
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