Pearson smashes LJ record

MINSTER, Ohio — Mara Pearson spent the 2022 season incrementally improving on her own school record.

As a junior, she left incremental in the dust and obliterated her standard.

Pearson skipped the 18-foot range altogether Tuesday as she soared a school-record 19 feet, 0.5 inches, in the long jump for the Fort Recovery High School girls track team as it finished second in a four-team meet at Minster.

The Indian girls totaled 63 points to trail the host Wildcats (110) and finish ahead of St. Henry (53) and Fairlawn (29). The FRHS boys were two points behind St. Henry in third place with 58 while Minster won with 123.

Pearson’s leap Tuesday broke her previous school record, set at last year’s Troy regional, by 1 foot, 4 1/4 inches. She won the event by more than 2 1/2 feet over runner-up Ava Stammen of St. Henry.

The distance would have been good for the state championship last season, as Ashtan Winfrey of Columbus Africentric won the Division III title at 18 feet, 8 3/4 inches. (Pearson was seventh at 17 feet, 3 3/4 inches.)

The only other win for the FRHS girls, who were also first in the 4x200-meter, 4x400 and 4x800 relays, came from Megan Diller in the 800 run in 2 minutes, 36.5 seconds.

Trevor Heitkamp dominated the boys distance races for the Indians, winning the 1,600 run by 20 seconds over teammate Parker Brunswick in 4:39.34 and the 3,200 run in 9:59.26.

Connor Kaikala gave Fort Recovery a sweep of the long jump, winning by nearly a foot at 18 feet, 7 3/4 inches. The Indians also won the 4x100 relay.