Oakwood wins state championship in 4x800 relay at OHSAA state track meet

COLUMBUS — The Oakwood High School girls 4x800 relay team had a long wait to return to the top of the podium. It won a Division II state championship in the event in 2022, medaled the last two years and then spent an extended time in the tent waiting for the medal ceremony at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on Friday because of a dispute involving another team in the race.

The inconvenience didn’t seem to bother sophomore Katherine Erwin, juniors Riley Meador and Delaney Cahill and freshman Kaya Asinjo, who accepted their first-place medals with smiles, posing as dozens of cameras near the podium and in the stands focused on them.

The Oakwood team won the race in 9 minutes, 17.18 seconds. That was more than four seconds better than the second-place team from Hathaway Brown.

“It’s so cool because we won three years ago,” Erwin said, ”and then we’ve just been on the podium ever since. It’s really exciting to finally pull it out and get it together."

Erwin’s sister Elizabeth was a freshman on the 2022 relay team that won in 9:14.83. Bella Butler, Emma Almoney and Grace Hartman also ran for that team.

In 2023, the team of Annie Neff-Isom, Delaney Cahill, Elizabeth Erwin and Katy Butler finished fifth (9:24.72). Last year at Welcome Stadium in Dayton, Katherine Erwin, Neff-Isom, Elizabeth Erwin and Cahill finished seventh (9:34.90).

Katherine watched the 2022 team win from the stands.

“It was really inspiring,” she said, “and it’s cool to come back and continue that legacy.”

Credit: David Jablonski

Credit: David Jablonski

In other D-II finals Friday:

• Graham senior Taylor Aldredge placed second in the D-II high jump (5-feet-6) behind Fairfield Union’s Christian Thompson (5-8). Aldredge placed fourth as a junior (5-3) and tied for 10th as a sophomore (5-2).

• Northwestern sophomore Crew Estep placed fourth in the D-II shot put (58-11).

In D-II preliminaries:

• Brookville senior Coy Hyre posted the best times in the 100 (10.44, a D-II state meet record) and 200 (21.51).

Division I: In the 4x800 girls relay finals, Lakota West’s team of Prashi Vatsal, Evelyn Prodoehl, Alyese Caldwell Downing and Kaitlin Kaszubski finished sixth (9:19.15).

• In the 4x800 boys relay finals, Butler’s team of Luke Campbell, Korey Snyder, Brayden Thaxton and Tayven Crump finished third (7:41.46), and Centerville’s team of Daniel Emmert, Tyler Swan, Jagger Noel and Kasem Kaheal finished eighth (7:46.45).