Central A & M cashed in at the IESA Class A State Meet last weekend, capturing three state titles, while last year’s big area winner, Okaw Valley, claimed one more state title and other standouts from the Shelby Area displayed their talents at varying degrees.

Central A & M 7th Lady Raiders claimed a share of the 7A Girls State Championship with 36 points, sparked by the 4x400 relay team (Sarah Bailey, Kaitlyn Corzine, Taylor Adcock, Mikaela Cole and alternate Allie Heaton) winning a state title (4:30.64) and one of their members, Kailtyn Corzine winning a state title in the 800 meters (2:238.39), a second place in the 100 meter high hurdles (16.81) and a fourth place in the long jump (15-2).

Meanwhile, Olivia Herzog, Okaw Valley’s two-event State Champion from last year (shot put, discus), repeated her title in the shot (37-01) for her second straight state title. Herzog came close to repeating in the discus, as well. She finished third (101-02).

Herzog’s cousin, Walker Herzog (OV), who was also a two-event State Champion last year (800, 1600), also came close to a double-repeat. He finished second in the 800 run (2:12.46) and second in the 1600 run (4:53.64). He was nipped at the wire in the mile, by just 64 hundredths of a second.

The other state title in the Shelby Area came from a Sigel St. Michael athlete. Alyssa Platz (Sigel) won the 7A Girls shot put State Championship with a throw of 30 feet, 11.75 inches.

Several other Shelby Area athletes turned in Elite Eight finishes.

Jenny Bullock, a three-event state qualifier from Windsor, had a 4th place finish in the 7A Girls 100 meter dash (13.89), had a 10th place finish in the 200 meter dash (28.43) and a 6th place finish in the long jump (14-11.5).

In the 8A Girls hurdles, four Shelby Area athletes battled each other, besides the other state qualifiers, for a medal. Last year’s 7A state champion was Madison Renfro (CAM). She raced against Breanna Strauch and Bailey Doty of Beecher City and Blythe Laue of Windsor.

Doty had the fastest time in the prelim (17.19), followed by Strauch (17.21), Renfro (17.49) and Laue (17.49). In the semis, Strauch ran 4th (16.84), Doty 6th (17.0), Renfro 8th (17.09) and Laue 12th (17.71). In the finals, Renfro won the area battle and finished in third place (16.99), Strauch finished with a state-6th (17.02) and Doty a state-8th (17.34), while Laue missed the finals and finished 12th.

Janie Howse (CAM), Olivia Herzog’s chief area competitor in the weight events, also finished in the Elite Eight this year, again, taking 5th in the discus (97-8) and 12th in the shot (28-4.25). Bailey, a member of the CAM state champion 7A 4x4, also took 6th in the quarter (1:04.87). Alex Snyder (CAM) was distance demon at State, placing 7th in the 7A boys 800 meters (2;22.76) and 4th in the mile (5:09.33).

Jacob Pfeiffer, a two-event qualifier from Windsor, placed 5th in the 7A boys high jump (5-2), while a pair of Stew-Stras weight men also made their state trip pay. Justin Fulk placed 7th in the shot put (36-6.5) and 19th in the discus (94-10), while teammate Jason Fry also claimed a 7th place, throwing 105-10 in the discus.

Andy Cole, a repeat state performer from Windsor, placed 8th in the 8A boys state quarter (57.04). Seth Kline of Neoga, a repeat qualifier, took 6th in the hurdles (17.29) and 10th in the shot put (39-6.5). Adam Probst of Sigel scored state-2nd in the 8A boys high jump (5-9),

Alex Baumgarten of Stew-Stras, another state-repeater, earned a 6th place finish in the 8A long jump (18-1.75), while T.J. Roy of Neoga followed in 8th (17-9.5). Baumgarten’s teammate, Wade Mathis, repeat qualifier, scored a 3rd place finish in the 8A shot (44-2).

IESA 7A Girls team results: T1. Central A&M 36, 19. Sigel 10, 23. Windsor 8

IESA 7A Girls area results: 100 dash-4. Jenny Bullock (W) 13.89; 200 dash-10. Bullock (W) 28.43; 400 dash-6. Sarah Bailey (CAM) 1:04.87, 19. Hannah Robinson (OV) 1:09.36, 27. Shelby Dash (OV) 1:10.94; 800 run-1. Kaitlyn Corzine (CAM) 2;28.39; 1600 run-13. Taylor Adcock (CAM) 6:03.25, 14. Mikaela Cole (CAM) 6:05.24; Hurdles-2. Corzine (CAM) 17.33, 18. Ashlyn Nickerson (OV) 18.67, 28. Bailey (CAM) 19.64; 4x2 relay-16. Stew-Stras (Ashley Probst, Kelsie Walden, Lorene Gentry, Brittany Wheat) 2:02.31, 20. Central A&M 2:03.87; 4x4 relay-1. Central A&M (Sarah Bailey, Kaitlyn Corzine, Taylor Adcock, Mikaela Cole, Allie Heaton) 4:30.64, 13. Okaw Valley 4:48.42; High jump-20. Erin Walk (Sigel) 4-2; Long jump-4. Corzine (CAM) 15-2, 6. Bullock (W) 14-11.5, 19. Ashley Probst (SS) 13-7.25; Shot put-1. Alyssa Platz (Sigel) 30-11.75; Discus-15. Genny Stringer (CAM) 73-9, 28. Stephanie Roderick (NEO) 64-1, 29. Micah Seibert (NEO) 62-4