COLUMBUS - Western Reserve senior Darren Johnson's second day at the 2011 State Track and Field Championships has already been more successful than his first day.

Johnson defended his high jump title, by winning the event again in Division II with a jump of 6-feet, 8-inches. Johnson said his goal was to reach seven feet, but he failed on his three attempts.

After failing to place in the long jump on Friday, Johnson seems to be back on track. He still has to run the 200 and 400 later on Saturday.

Here's how some other athletes have fared early on Day 2 of the 2011 State Track and Field Championships at Jesse Memorial Owens Stadium:

Division II

Boys discus - Junior Michael Ebert (Perkins) 4th place, 162-11.

Girls long jump - Sophomore Brittany Gates (Keystone) 11th place, 16-03.25.

Girls shot put - Junior Amelia Strickler (Bay) 14th place, 37-00.


Division III

Girls 400 - Senior Ashten Robson (Western Reserve) 5th place, 58.75.

COLUMBUS - It was a successful day for senior Demar Adcock and the Sandusky Blue Streaks at the 2011 State Track and Field Championships at Jesse Memorial Stadium.

Adcock qualified for Saturday's finals in the 100 and 200, and also was part of the 40 relay team along with juniors Marquis Winston, Steve Sanders and Chester Dixie who qualified with a time of 42.49.

Adcock said he satisfied other than a bad start in the 200.

"I felt like I was jogging at the start, then I just turned it on," said Adcock who ran a 21.57 in the 200.

Adcock added that the 400 relay team has good shot to do well in the finals if they clean up their hand-offs.

"I'm pretty tired," Adcock said. "But I'm happy my teammates are down here to run with me."

Here are some other notables who qualified for the finals on Saturday:

Division I

300 Hurdles - Junior Pete Lancione (Avon Lake) 39.13

Division II

110 Hurdles - Senior Devin Bermudez (Perkins) 14.68

300 Hurdles - Bermudez (Perkins) 38.07

Friday night was a big night for a couple of teams trying to take control of their conference.

In Sandusky, the Edison Chargers took on the Perkins Pirates. Both teams came into the game with 7-1 records in the Sandusky Bay Conference.

The Chargers erased 40-32 deficit early in the fourth quarter to defeat the Pirates 47-44.



Edison's seniors made the difference down the stretch as Mike Yost and Ryan Reber came up with huge plays on both ends of the floor.

With 21 seconds left, Yost score on an offensive rebound to put the Chargers up by one.

On the Pirates next possession, Brandon Smith drove to the basket for the go-ahead score, but Reber stepped in to take a charge to preserve the win.

The Chargers now own the tie-breaker and control their own destiny to win the SBC for the second time in three years.

In another marquee matchup, the Avon Eagles took on the Bay Rockets in a battle of top West Shore Conference teams.

John Urwin scored a game-high 25 points, but R.J. Kauffman (20 points) and Claude Gray (21 points) were too much as the Eagles won 69-61.



The Eagles now are 9-3 overall and 6-1 in the WSC and have control of the conference.

It's been a rough week for Bay, who were 8-1 and 4-1 in the WSC before the week began, but lost to Rocky River last Tuesday and followed that with its loss to Avon.

Both teams were picked to finish in the top of the conference, but it looks like Bay might need some luck if they are going to catch the Eagles.

The teams will meet in the regular-season finale on Feb. 25th, and if Avon stumbles it could be for the conference title.

The 2010 OHSAA Track and Field Championships, held at Jesse Memorial Stadium on June 4-5, in Columbus turned out to be a pretty successful for a few of our area athletes.
On Day 1, Keystone senior Corry Sprouse shocked a lot of people, including myself by winning the boys high jump competition in Division II.
I wasn't shocked because I didn't think he was capable of winning. I was shocked because it was the first time that Sprouse, who will play football for Notre Dame College, participated on the track team.
He ended up winning with a jump of 22 feet, 9 inches, narrowly defeating Edison senior Brady Gelvin, who jumped 22-8 1/2.
The fact that Sprouse won a state title in his first year of track was a pretty amazing feat for anyone.
Day 1 also saw the end of Perkins senior Matt Hoty's reign as shot put champion. Hoty, who will attend the University of Tennessee, came in as the two-time Division II champion and was defeated by Pemberville senior Justin Welch.
Hoty threw a record distance of 62-9 3/4, but Welch threw a 62-11 3/4 on the final throw of the day to win the title.
Hoty had to battle a fractured right wrist during the season, which might played a part why he didn't win for a third consecutive time.
Regardless, two first place and a second place finish at state is still a very impressive accomplishment for Hoty.
Day 2 at the state track meet belong to the Southview Saints.
The school had three state placers in Division I in their final appearance as a high school. Next year Southview and Admiral King will join forces to form the Lorain High Titans.
The highest finisher for the Saints was sophomore Christian Nogueras, who took third in the long jump with a distance of 22-9 3/4.
Sophomore Melody Farris finished fifth in 100 hurdles with a school record time of 43.91, while junior Shanique Ogle took sixth place in the shot put with a throw of 40-11.
Southview might be gone, but those athletes will always have those memories forever.
Lorain County got its second state champion of the weekend from Elyria Catholic senior Marty Coolidge.
Coolidge won the 3200 with a time of 9:03.11, which set the record at Owens Stadium, defeating Bay junior Michael Brajdic.
The victory was a long time coming for Coolidge, who finished third in 2008 and second in 2009 in the 3200.
Other notable placers were Vermilion sophomore Emily Cunningham, who took second in the 200 with a time of 24.93 and fifth in the 100. It was Cunningham's second trip in a row to the state track meet.
Edison's 400 relay of Seth Battle, Dylan Howard, Gelvin and Mike Yost almost came home with the gold.
The Chargers ran 42.58 but lost to Columbus Bishop Hartley, who finished first with a time of 42.57. The race was the most exciting of the weekend, unfortunately Edison fell a little short.
Overall the weekend went well. It was a long couple of days, but I got to watch some very special athletes give some very special performances on the biggest stage of the track season.