High caliber track and field competition wasn't limited to in-state bounds on Saturday, as a collection of Ohio-based athletes made their way to neighboring Pennsylvania for the annual Kevin Dare Invitational.
Kevin Dare, hosted at Penn State University, is considered one of the Keystone's top early season meets and the 2022 edition turned out to be no exception.
National level performances were produced throughout the course of the day, including a variety by Ohioans who came back to the homeland with event victories in hand.
Karson Martino clocked 8.49 for a decisive win in the 60m hurdles finals, a mark which stands as his new high school PR. This effort followed his prelims leading 8.59 in Heat 2.
Martino, a sophomore, also ran very competitively in the 200m timed finals with an 8th place finish overall via his 23.32 mark from Section 9.
Ohio natives Camden Bentley and Marissa Saunders led the way on the women's side of the hurdles event going 1-2 in 8.63 and 8.82, respectively.
Bentley, who's taken on an active race schedule in the early portion of the '22 campaign, kept her undefeated 60H record in tact. She also won meet titles at Findlay and Tiffin in December. In total, she's six for six in the event when also building in her preliminary round work.
At Kevin Dare, she led the introductory round in 8.82 following her win in Heat 1. Saunders had the second best mark of the prelims with her 8.90 1st place showing in Heat 2.
Bentley's success wasn't limited to the hurdles, however. The junior also won the 200 meter event due to her personal best time of 25.53 in Section 12.
In field event action, Alex Smith leaped 23-4 to secure the long jump triumph. Smith, a senior, also won the LJ title at the Chieftain Rust Buster last month with a 24-0.5 performance, a mark that stands as the state's best to this point in the season and No. 2 nationally.
Big thanks to our friends from PennTrackXC for the bonus coverage. Watch below the 1st place finishes by Martino and Bentley courtesy of site editor Dan Beck.
Meet Coverage
Men's 60m Hurdles Finals
Women's 60m Hurdles Finals
Women's 200m Section 12