Marissa Rutter was recognized for her dominance on the track by being named Ohio Cardinal Conference Runner of the Year, after earning 49 points in the OCC meet to lead the Mount Vernon Yellow Jackets to a runner up finish.
“Marissa doesn't stop working towards her goals,” Coach Kathy Thayer said. “She pushes herself, listens to coaches, prepares mentally and physically to be her best.”
This was the third straight year they were runners up, this time logging 111 points and trailing Lexington’s 168 points. Ashland was third (104); Madison Comprehensive placed fourth (95), West Holmes was fifth (65); Wooster was sixth (643); New Philadelphia was seventh (47) and Mansfield Senior was eight (6).
“I think it speaks a lot to the program we have built to have the girls finish as OCC Runner-Up for three years in a row,” said Coach Thayer. “These girls have been committed and focused throughout the season. They don't mind putting in the work to get where they are and our team is well-rounded. We earned points across the board from field events, sprinting, and distance races. We have some excellent leaders on the team that have helped guide our freshmen and pushed them in their training. Since it is our last season in this conference, we can leave knowing our girls' team improved to being one of the top teams in the conference.”
Girls’ medal winners:
100 meters: Amaris Middleton had a time of 13.21 for third place.
200 meters: Middleton won the bronze with a time of 26.39.
800 meters: Megan Packard was third with a time of 2:27.56.
1600 meters: Elli Salvucci won bronze with a time of 5:25.14.
3200 meters: Lucy Rush came away with the bronze with a time of 12:10.58.
100 meter hurdles: Rutter won the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 14.83, which was an OCC meet record.
300 meters: Rutter broke the meet record and a 34 year school record with a gold medal winning time of 45.04. This is nearly a two second improvement off her best time.
4x100 meters: The Yellow Jackets won gold with a time of 50.10. The team included Rutter, Nadia Nougi, Savannah Rose and Middleton. This was a season best and close to the school record set last season.
4x200 meters: Mount Vernon had a second place time of 1:47.93. The team was Sydney Statler, Nougi, Rose and Middleton.
4x400 meters: Mount Vernon was second with a time of 4:09.78. The team included Rose, Packard, Statler and Rutter. This was the fastest relay team that Mount Vernon has had since 2008. Rutter ran a 59 second split in the race, and helped them take nine seconds off their season best time.
Pole Vault: Kennedy Howard won the gold with a height of 10 feet, three inches. The sophomore set a personal record with the leap.
Boys’ team:
The Yellow Jackets improved by two places from last season to finish fourth in the OCC meet, with Luke Mullins leading the way with a gold medal discus toss for a personal record.
“The boys' team improved quite a bit from last year,” Thayer said. “Eleven points separated second through sixth place teams last year. This year, we were able to solidly improve from sixth to fourth. The boys had some very nice performances and improvements that helped them grow this season. They are peaking at the right times.”
Lexington won with 162.5 points, followed by Ashland (130); New Philadelphia (121.5); then Madison Comprehensive and West Holmes tied for fifth (52); Wooster in seventh (47) and Mansfield Senior in eighth (16).
Medal winners:
800 meters: Logan Eggert won silver with a time of 1:57.34, setting a personal record and narrowly missing the school record.
110 meter hurdles: Hunter Looney had a time of 15.48 for third place.
4x400 meters: Mount Vernon had a time of 3:27.45 for second place. The team included Cole Wilson, Brady Wiles, Eggert and Ethan Young. This is a second faster than they were last season.
Discus: Mullins won the gold with a toss of 154 feet, four inches. This is a personal record of nine feet for the sophomore.
High Jump: Wiles had a leap of six feet, one inch for the silver medal.
