Kynard wins high jump but can't break record
6/7/2009
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Rogers Erik Kynard defended his state championship in the high jump but was disappointed he could not break the record. <br> <img src=http://www.toledoblade.com/graphics/icons/photo.gif> <font color=red><b>VIEW</b></font>: <a href="/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=TO&Date=20090607&Category=SPORTS12&ArtNo=607009998&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1" target="_blank"> <b>State track and field</b></a> photo gallery
COLUMBUS - Rogers' Erik Kynard arrived at the Division I state track meet at less than full strength.
The defending state high jump champion had been nursing a groin injury for a few weeks leading up to yesterday's competition at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
"I'm 87 percent," said Kynard, rating his rate of recovery from the injury.
A less than perfectly healthy Kynard proved to still be a handful for the rest of the high jump field. The Rams senior cleared 7 feet, 1 inch to secure his second straight state championship.
After making good on all his
attempts up to 7-1, Kynard's fourth and final trip to the state meet came to a close with him failing on three tries at 7-3, which would have set a state meet record.
"I wasn't really happy with my performance today because I really wanted to beat the state meet record," Kynard said.
Still, his effort drew plenty of attention and applause from the crowd on hand.
Southview's Shaun Joplin cleared 6-10 to finish third while Marietta's Cody Westbrook sneaked into second place after clearing 7 feet.
Kynard turned out to be the only Division I competitor from northwest Ohio to come away with a state title during yesterday's meet.
St. John's Jesuit's Cody Riffle missed out on winning the discus title by an inch after producing a career-best effort measuring 191 feet, 1 inch, to help the Titans finish tied for eighth with Hilliard Darby in the team standings with 17 points. Boardman's Corey
Linsley edged out Riffle with a toss of 191-2.
"I had a PR [personal record] and that's really all you can do," Riffle said. "You can't be disappointed about that."
Riffle also came up shy in the shot put, placing third with an effort of 62- 1/2 while Canfield's Dustin Brode claimed victory with a throw measuring 62-11 1/4.
Whitmer's Moise Frisch led the 800 field with 200 meters to go before he was caught and ended up finishing fourth (1:53.32).
"I'm very disappointed," Frisch said. "The plan I came up with didn't fit the race. I wanted to push it with 300 meters to go and I think I pushed myself too early and I tired myself out."
St. John's Kevin Yarnell didn't run the race he planned for the 1600 and crossed the finish line in the sixth spot (4:14.83).
Joplin placed fourth in the long jump with an effort of 22-7 while Cougars teammate Bernard Pinckney ran seventh in the 400 with a time of 48.63.
Gahanna Lincoln won the Division I boys championship with 48 points, edging Cleveland Glenville with 45.
In the girls competition, Anthony Wayne's Ashley Zaper finished seventh in the long jump (17-5 3/4) and eighth in the 100 hurdles (14.86) to play a role in the Generals placing the highest among area schools in the D-I girls team standings. AW finished 11th with 15 1/2 points while Reynoldsburg claimed the team championship with 82 points.
"Our team really expected to do a lot better than we did today," Zaper said.
AW's Erika Schmidt finished fourth in the 200 with a time of 24.95 after finishing second last year with a time of 24.72. Schmidt also ran the anchor leg on the Generals' 800-relay team that finished sixth with a time of 1:42.22. Udoka Okoro helped the Generals' cause by finishing tied for third in the high jump with Hudson's Lauren Piper after clearing 5-6.
Scott's Shatora Lewis came up short of repeating as shot put champion. Her second-best
career effort of 43- 1/2 resulted in a runner-up finish to a 45-5 effort by Harrison's Brittany Wilson-Farley.
Lewis took her first loss of the season in the shot put, and failing to place in the discus, in stride.
"My senior season was great," Lewis said. "It was wonderful and I'm not disappointed."
Bowling Green's Lywanna Melvin was pleased with earning a third-place finish in the discus after producing a throw measuring 132-4.
"I wanted to make it back to state and win a medal," Melvin said. "I was more confident this year."
Rogers' Brianna Scott-Glover placed sixth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 44.39 and Whitmer's Samantha Gwin finished seventh in the 400 with a time of 56.51.
Perrysburg's Cameron Gardner ran sixth in the 200 (25.30) and teammate Kaitlyn Llewellyn finished sixth in the 1600 for the second year in a row. However, she posted a personal-best time of 4:59.29.
"My goal this year was to break five [minutes] and I did," Llewellyn said.
Northview's Meredith Wagner placed sixth in the 3200
(11:00.48).
Contact Donald Emmons at:
demons@theblade.com
or 419-724-6302.