LeFevre, relay set to run today

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Robby LeFevre is headed back to the finals.

This time, he’s got some company.

LeFevre, a Fort Recovery High School sophomore, qualified for the 200-meter dash finals during the OHSAA Division III Track and Field State Final preliminaries Friday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium at Ohio State University.

He also anchored the 4x100 relay team of underclassmen that will also compete for a spot on the podium.

LeFevre, who tied for seventh in the state last year, was seeded 15th heading into the event with a time of 22.77 seconds. He was the runner-up in his heat with a time of 22.23 seconds, one hundredth of a second off his school record, to earn an automatic qualifying spot to the final.

The top two in each heat plus the next five fastest times advance to the finals, which begin today at 9 a.m.

Defending state champion Mason Warnimont of Cory-Rawson is the top seed at 21.94 seconds. LeFevre will be seeded third as he is slated to run at 11:20 a.m.

Fort Recovery’s 4x100 team of Riley Pearson, Jared Timmerman, Brayden Schoen and LeFevre was the only such relay comprised of all underclassmen. The youngsters were seeded 10th in 43.9 seconds. They finished third in their heat with a time of 44.37 seconds, and will be seeded ninth for the 10:20 a.m. final today.

Gamble Montessori posted the fastest prelim time at 43.2 seconds. Purcell Marian is second at 43.44 seconds, and Kalida is third at 43.68 seconds.

Fort Recovery senior Travis Sutter is seeded 13th in the 1,600 run, which competes at 11:20 a.m. today.

The top eight places in each event earn state medals.