By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
FOSTORIA — Montpelier’s Braylon Hopper turned in quite a performance at the Division V Regional Track and Field Meet held Thursday and Saturday, May 28 and 30 at Fostoria High School.
The junior sprinter made his presence known after sweeping both the 100 and 200 meter regional dash titles and being among several area individuals and relay state qualifiers who now set their sights at the state track meet which gets underway Thursday afternoon at Jesse Owens Track Facility in Columbus.
Hopper was clocked at 11.05 seconds in the finals following an impressive 10.95 seconds in the semifinal on Thursday. In the 200, he was timed in 22.01 seconds.
Montpelier’s Bria Friend qualified in three different events. Friend finished runner-up in the long jump with a leap of 17-5¼, thus breaking her previous school record of 17-2¼, established earlier this season.
The Lady Locos’ senior standout was also runner-up in the 100 (12.68) and 200 (25.77) meter dashes.
Three other area individuals, Ty Leppelmeier of Edgerton, Eli Dickmann of Edon and Kharleigh Kitchen of Montpelier, qualified in two different events.
Leppelmeier finished third in both the discus (171-10) and shot put (55-8). Dickmann was fourth in the 300 hurdles (39.72) and sixth in the 110 hurdles (14.97). Kitchen was fourth in the 100 hurdles (15.89) and sixth in the 300 hurdles (47.09).
Other area individuals advancing to Columbus were Logan Pontious of Montpelier, who was runner-up in the boys’ shot put (56-3¾). Briggs Gallehue of Edon was seventh in the boys’ discus (161-8). Alex Galvin of Pettisville was fifth in the 300 hurdles (39.78) and Talen Reinbolt of North Central was sixth in the pole vault (13-0).
Pettisville’s 3200 relay of Kyle Galvin, Gavin Knierim, Tyler Wilburn and Alex Galvin grabbed the fifth and final state qualifying berth with a time of 8:14.97.
Addison Schang of Fayette just missed qualifying with a sixth-place finish in the 3200 meter run with a time of 11:51.49.
Columbus Grove won both the boys and girls regional team titles.
BOYS TEAM SCORES
1. Columbus Grove 70, 2. Allen East 42, 3. Convoy Crestview 36, 4. St. Henry 35, T5. Carey 32, Lucas 32, T7. Montpelier 28, New Bremen 28, 9. Pandora-Gilboa 26, T10. Minster 25, Cardinal Stritch 25, 19. Edgerton 12, T23. Edon 10, T26. Pettisville 8, T34. North Central 3.
GIRLS TEAM SCORES
1. Columbus Grove 84, 2. Minster 71, 3. St. Henry 42, 4. Ottawa Hills 33, T5. Kalida 32, Montpelier 32, 7. Antwerp 31, T8. Delphos St. Johns 29, Riverdale 29, 10. Van Buren 22, T33. Fayette 3.