July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
By By RAY COONEY-
PIQUA, Ohio - The Indians are batting 1.000.
Fort Recovery sent two athletes to the regional meet Wednesday. Both earned themselves a trip to Columbus.
Junior Matt Vagedes was the boys pole vault runner-up and senior Holly Stein placed third in the girls shot put at the Division III track and field competition at Piqua. They will each compete at the OHSAA Track and Field State Finals Saturday, June 2.
The top four athletes in each event at the regional meet, which continues Friday, earn state berths.
"Matt did very well today," said FRHS coach Chris Summers. "He switched poles before districts and that really seemed to help out. And he's been working really hard in practice.
"He's had a great deal of improvement since the beginning of the year. ... It was very impressive."
This will mark the third consecutive state trip for Stein, who qualified in the shot put as a sophomore and in both throwing events last season.
"It's always exciting to go back to state again," said Stein. "It's my last year, so I'm pretty sure if I wouldn't have gone I would have been really devastated. I'm excited.
"My throws weren't as good as I wanted them to be ... (but) I still get to go to state, and right now as long as you advance that's the important thing."
The efforts from the two field athletes have Fort Recovery in the top 10 of both the boys and girls standings after day one.
Vagedes' eight points place the Indian boys in a tie for eighth, while Parkway (14) is first and Waynesfield-Goshen (13) sits second.
The six points scored by Stein are good for a tie for ninth in the girls standings. Versailles is in first place with 20, and Marion Local (13) is in second.
Vagedes, who entered as the No. 2 seed, let the field dwindle before he even made an attempt. His strategy was to pass from the starting height of 10 feet all the way up to 12.
He cleared 12 feet, a warm-up vault for him, easily on his first try, then sat back again. By the time he was ready for another attempt, at 13 feet, the field was down to four, meaning all he had to do was clear the bar once to earn a state berth.
The junior did so easily again, soaring over at 13 feet. After needing two attmepts at 13 feet, 4 inches, Vagedes cruised over the bar at 13 feet, 8 inches on his first try, breaking his own school record for the second time in three weeks.
"I'm excited," said Vagedes, who was second only to defending state champion Gray Horn (14 feet, 8 inches) of Waynesfield-Goshen. "That's my (personal record), and I never expected to get to state. I started out this year getting 10 feet, 12 feet."
He and Summers said his fortunes changed when he made the change from a 155-pound pole to a 180. After the switch he broke his own school record with a vault of 13 feet, 6 inches at the Midwest Athletic Conference Championships before pushing it up again Wednesday.
Prior to this season he was the record holder at 12 feet.
"It's awesome. I plan to break (the record) again next year," said Vagedes, who is the first male track and field athlete to qualify for the state finals since Tyler Niekamp finished third in the high jump in 2003. "I just can't begin to explain how I feel."
Stein, who won the district shot put title with a school record toss last week, did enough to earn a state berth on her second throw of the preliminary round. She launched the shot 37 feet, 31/2 inches, which placed her third heading into the finals.
Kathy Dirksen of Marion Local bumped Stein down to fourth place when she sent her final attempt 38 feet, 81/4 inches to leap from fourth to first. But Stein immediately followed with her best throw of the evening to reclaim third place less than an inch ahead of Christine Borchers of Versailles.
Stein's final toss of 37 feet, 83/4 inches put her just ahead of Borchers (37 feet, 8 inches) for third place. Dirksen won the event on her final throw, and Katie Gerhardt of Cedarville was second at 37 feet, 11 inches.
"She didn't have her best, but she battled through it," said Fort Recovery assistant coach Jason Grieshop. "That was good to see out of her. ... She hung in there, she was tough today and she got a throw off that got her on. That's all you can ask for is to move on."
Stein will be among the four Tribe athletes returning to Piqua to compete on the second day of regional action Friday at 5 p.m. Based on district results she is the No. 2 seed in the discus (117 feet, 6 inches), and sophomore teammate Anne Koesters (109 feet, 6 inches) is seeded fourth.
Junior Mindy Vogel is the No. 8 seed in the 800 run, in which she was a state qualifier a year ago, at 2-minutes, 24.95 seconds, and the No. 11 seed in the 1,600 run at 5:36.50. Sophomore Tina Roessner is the No. 9 seed at 12:31.34 in the 3,200 run.
"Friday night, overall, it's going to be a challenge," said Grieshop. "Holly and Annie are sitting well in disc, but there is a whole slew of kids behind them that are capable of throwing a lot, lot better than what they did at district. We're obviously pleased with our ranking coming in, but we know we're going to have to do better than what we did at district if we want to think about moving on to state.
"As far as the runners go, it's going to take their best. And that's what it should. If you want to get to state, you've got to run your best. ... They can't come in and just be average. They have to be at peak performance Friday."[[In-content Ad]]
Fort Recovery sent two athletes to the regional meet Wednesday. Both earned themselves a trip to Columbus.
Junior Matt Vagedes was the boys pole vault runner-up and senior Holly Stein placed third in the girls shot put at the Division III track and field competition at Piqua. They will each compete at the OHSAA Track and Field State Finals Saturday, June 2.
The top four athletes in each event at the regional meet, which continues Friday, earn state berths.
"Matt did very well today," said FRHS coach Chris Summers. "He switched poles before districts and that really seemed to help out. And he's been working really hard in practice.
"He's had a great deal of improvement since the beginning of the year. ... It was very impressive."
This will mark the third consecutive state trip for Stein, who qualified in the shot put as a sophomore and in both throwing events last season.
"It's always exciting to go back to state again," said Stein. "It's my last year, so I'm pretty sure if I wouldn't have gone I would have been really devastated. I'm excited.
"My throws weren't as good as I wanted them to be ... (but) I still get to go to state, and right now as long as you advance that's the important thing."
The efforts from the two field athletes have Fort Recovery in the top 10 of both the boys and girls standings after day one.
Vagedes' eight points place the Indian boys in a tie for eighth, while Parkway (14) is first and Waynesfield-Goshen (13) sits second.
The six points scored by Stein are good for a tie for ninth in the girls standings. Versailles is in first place with 20, and Marion Local (13) is in second.
Vagedes, who entered as the No. 2 seed, let the field dwindle before he even made an attempt. His strategy was to pass from the starting height of 10 feet all the way up to 12.
He cleared 12 feet, a warm-up vault for him, easily on his first try, then sat back again. By the time he was ready for another attempt, at 13 feet, the field was down to four, meaning all he had to do was clear the bar once to earn a state berth.
The junior did so easily again, soaring over at 13 feet. After needing two attmepts at 13 feet, 4 inches, Vagedes cruised over the bar at 13 feet, 8 inches on his first try, breaking his own school record for the second time in three weeks.
"I'm excited," said Vagedes, who was second only to defending state champion Gray Horn (14 feet, 8 inches) of Waynesfield-Goshen. "That's my (personal record), and I never expected to get to state. I started out this year getting 10 feet, 12 feet."
He and Summers said his fortunes changed when he made the change from a 155-pound pole to a 180. After the switch he broke his own school record with a vault of 13 feet, 6 inches at the Midwest Athletic Conference Championships before pushing it up again Wednesday.
Prior to this season he was the record holder at 12 feet.
"It's awesome. I plan to break (the record) again next year," said Vagedes, who is the first male track and field athlete to qualify for the state finals since Tyler Niekamp finished third in the high jump in 2003. "I just can't begin to explain how I feel."
Stein, who won the district shot put title with a school record toss last week, did enough to earn a state berth on her second throw of the preliminary round. She launched the shot 37 feet, 31/2 inches, which placed her third heading into the finals.
Kathy Dirksen of Marion Local bumped Stein down to fourth place when she sent her final attempt 38 feet, 81/4 inches to leap from fourth to first. But Stein immediately followed with her best throw of the evening to reclaim third place less than an inch ahead of Christine Borchers of Versailles.
Stein's final toss of 37 feet, 83/4 inches put her just ahead of Borchers (37 feet, 8 inches) for third place. Dirksen won the event on her final throw, and Katie Gerhardt of Cedarville was second at 37 feet, 11 inches.
"She didn't have her best, but she battled through it," said Fort Recovery assistant coach Jason Grieshop. "That was good to see out of her. ... She hung in there, she was tough today and she got a throw off that got her on. That's all you can ask for is to move on."
Stein will be among the four Tribe athletes returning to Piqua to compete on the second day of regional action Friday at 5 p.m. Based on district results she is the No. 2 seed in the discus (117 feet, 6 inches), and sophomore teammate Anne Koesters (109 feet, 6 inches) is seeded fourth.
Junior Mindy Vogel is the No. 8 seed in the 800 run, in which she was a state qualifier a year ago, at 2-minutes, 24.95 seconds, and the No. 11 seed in the 1,600 run at 5:36.50. Sophomore Tina Roessner is the No. 9 seed at 12:31.34 in the 3,200 run.
"Friday night, overall, it's going to be a challenge," said Grieshop. "Holly and Annie are sitting well in disc, but there is a whole slew of kids behind them that are capable of throwing a lot, lot better than what they did at district. We're obviously pleased with our ranking coming in, but we know we're going to have to do better than what we did at district if we want to think about moving on to state.
"As far as the runners go, it's going to take their best. And that's what it should. If you want to get to state, you've got to run your best. ... They can't come in and just be average. They have to be at peak performance Friday."[[In-content Ad]]
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