Girls

    Kicking this preview off for the girl's side for Division 3 will be Azure Travis (Woodmore 2024), who will be looking to return to defend her titles one last time in the hurdles (100m Hurdles, 300m Hurdles). Travis, who took third in the 60m Hurdles at the OATCCC D2/3 Indoor State Championships after taking the majority of the winter off to recover from an injury, has regained momentum back into the spotlight once again by remaining undefeated in the hurdles throughout this spring. Despite the steady start to the outdoor season, the Woodmore senior really picked things up leading to this weekend, having thrown down consistent 44.xx - 45.xx performances in the 300m Hurdles since the start of May along with putting up a new personal best in the 100m Hurdles of 14.40 at OHSAA Division District 3 - Gibsonburg. She isn't quite in the clear though for the 300m Hurdles, as there are three others with seed times under 45, Madison McDaniel leading the pack.

Madison McDaniel (Dawson-Bryant 2024) - 44.56
Azure Travis (Woodmore 2024) - 44.75
Rilynn Jones (Allen East 2025) - 44.77
Ariel Heitkamp (Ft. Loramie 2025) - 44.84

    Outside of this however, she is also slated to compete in the 100m Dash and 200m Dash, both events which are looking to be incredibly deep fields this weekend, as the Top-4 seeds are the same names in both events. Along with that, between the four, they have racked up countless victories throughout the season.

Alex Kessen (Del. St. John's 2024) - 12.00 // 24.94
Anna Roessner (Ft. Recovery 2025) 12.13 // 24.83
Delaney Jones (West-Liberty Salem 2025) 11.93 // 24.63
Izzy Zahn (Coldwater 2025) 12.13 // 24.27

     Zahn has been the only one so far who has remained undefeated in at least one of the events, the 200m Dash. Without taking potential relays into consideration, it is possible that all of them will be on essentially fresh legs going into the finals during the evening of Day 2. For Roessner, this will be her first appearance ever at the OHSAA Outdoor Track and Field State Championships. As for Kessen, Jones, and Zahn, they will be making their return to the championships, with Zahn looking to add to her title collection in the 200m Dash from indoors, and even possibly taking down the Division 3 record, which was 24.22 set by Brittany Hocker (Bridgeport 2004) in 2004 at the State Championships.

    The 200m Dash record for the division is not the only one put on notice though, as both the 4x100m and 4x200m relays were almost rewritten by West Liberty-Salem (4x100m, 48.67) and Ft. Loramie (4x200m, 1:43.21) at OHSAA Division 3 Region 12 - Troy. Respectively, the 4x100m record of 48.53 was set by Elgin in 2008, while the 4x200m record of 1:42.07 was set by Steub. Cath. Cent. just a year later. Given that the forecast indicates ideal conditions for the Division 3 finals on Friday, it is possible that we will see the lists get rewritten in a matter of less than an hour.

    Going further up in distance for the 1600m Run, coming into the state meet as the top seed, Kaitlyn Carr (Smithville 2026) is looking to improve upon her 6th place finish last year in the event. She might have clocked her first sub-5-minute performance in the event, but just behind her are also Caleigh Richards (Maplewood 2024), and Tess Schultz (Loudonville 2025), who are both also seeded with sub-5 performances.

Kaitlyn Carr - 4:56.11
Caleigh Richards - 4:58.55
Tess Shultz - 4:59.43

    Not to count anyone out though, there are four that are within striking distance of that top spot on the podium, each of whom set new personal bests at their respective regional championship meets.

Rachael Hoover - 5:01.56
Lilly Schiefer - 5:02.20
Audrey Wade - 5:03.71
Madeline Palmisciano - 5:03.91

    Between this group, Caleigh Richards and Caitlyn Carr are doubling back for the 3200m Run, being the sole sub-11 seeds alongside Rebecca Geiss (Heartland Christian). Richards will be the returning champion from last spring, being separated by Geiss and Carr by less than a total of 3 seconds.

    Switching things up onto the runways and the pits, the Long Jump, Pole Vault, and High Jump are all looking to be very close competitions, with the title potentially being determined by mere inches or even less than that. Without taking into consideration, if applicable, previous personal bests, the Girl's Pole Vault, Katie McFarland (Lehman Cath. 2024), will be coming in as the top seed with a mark of 12-04.00, followed by Annamarie Montle's 12-01.00, along with Colleen Steinmetz (Ansonia 2024) and McKenzie Montgomery (Gibsonburg 2027). Over at the High Jump, the Top-8 spots are all within an inch of each other, with Lexi Tucci (Sandy Valley 2024) and Remi Moon (Lee. Fairfield 2027) as the top seeds.

    Something to note as well, in addition to Moon, there are two other freshman that make up the Top-5 seeds in the High Jump:

Remi Moon (Lee. Fairfield 2027) - 5-04.00
Elisabeth Waltz (Troy Christian 2027) - 5-03.00
Janelle Siegel (Ft. Loramie 2027) - 5-03.00

    Tucci will also be the top seed in the Long Jump with a mark of 18-03.50, with Delaney Jones (West Libert-Salem 2025) just behind with her 18-2.25. Additionally, Alex Kessen, Jameson Pillifant, and Izzy Zahn, and Iniya Charlton will be coming in with seeded marks of over 17-10.00.