“It felt so good to finally be a state champion after making it state all four years,” Brinson said. “It was just really satisfying after all the hard work I put in throughout the years. It was just the best way to end my senior year.”
Brinson, who will compete for Bowling Green in college, also finished second in the shot put (42-10¼).
This was the fourth straight year Brinson qualified for state in the shot put and her third appearance in the discus. She finished second at state in the discus last year (134-5) and third in the shot put (41-1½). As a sophomore, she finished seventh in the shot put (38-10) and 11th in the discus (115-1). As a freshman in 2021, she was 16th in the shot put (33-4¼).
Brinson said the past experiences helped her Thursday.
“I think it just helped me calm the nerves,” she said, “and kind of just go with the flow, being used to this type of environment.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
Brinson wasn’t the only area athlete to win a state championship Thursday in the first track and field finals held in Dayton since 2003.
Coldwater junior Izzy Zahn won a state championship in the long jump (18-7¾). West Liberty-Salem junior Delaney Jones finished fourth (18-2) in the same event, while Russia freshman Hazel Francis finished sixth 17-0¼ and Tri-Village sophomore Adalynn Hines placed eighth (16-8).
Zahn also set a D-III state record with a time of 24.06 seconds in the preliminaries of the 200-meter dash. The previous record (24.19) was set by Candace Longino-thomas, of Gates Mills Gilmour Academy, in 2009.
Zahn will race in the finals of the 100 and 200 on Friday. She had the third-best preliminary time in the 100 (12.09). She’s the defending state champion in the 200.
Division III athletes were the first to compete. The D-II and D-I meets start Friday.
Here is the list of other area athletes who scored in D-III finals on Thursday.
Girls 4x800 relay: Minster’s team of Margaret Hemmelgarn, Maria Niekamp, Annie Hemmelgarn and Chaney Cedarleaf finished third (9 minutes, 20.93 seconds).
• Fort Loramie’s team of Harley Eilerman Camille Borchers Lauren Moore Mylee Shatto placed fifth (9:39.44).
• West Liberty-Salem’s team of Malia Miller, Addison McAuley, Ashley Yoder and Mallory Bostick took sixth (9:39.95).
• Botkins’ team of Grace Gutman, Alaina Mann, Addison Blindauer and Brittany Arnold was seventh (9:40.26).
Boys 4x800 relay: The Minster team of Ryan Halpin, Will Knapke, Nick Prenger and Jack Grieshop placed third (8:01.83).
• The Mechanicsburg team of Beckett Negley, Matthew Westfall, Joshua Porter and Will Negley finished fifth (8:05.03).
• The Legacy Christian team of Ben Rodriguez, Levi Thompson, Wyatt Jackson and Tommy Michael was seventh (8:08.38).
Girls shot put: Arcanum sophomore Faith Wooten took fourth (40-5½).
Boys discus: Marion Local senior Jack Knapke finished second (177 feet, 1 inch).
• Minster senior Charlie Schmiesing took fifth (166-7).
• Versailles junior Leland Bolin placed eighth (158-8).
Girls high jump: Minster junior Adriana Kremer finished second (5-5).
• Troy Christian freshman Elisabeth Waltz placed third (5-5).
• Sidney Lehman Catholic senior Daria Lee was sixth (5-3).
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
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