FAIRBORN — For the first time since 2004, the Fairborn boys are champs at their home meet.
The Skyhawks scored 112.5 points, edging second place Beavercreek at the 35th annual Rex Aukerman Classic Relays on Tuesday night at Fairborn High School.
“We ran hard and competed hard, and we stayed in the hunt,” said Fairborn head coach Roy Thobe.
The Fairborn boys had wins in the shot put (Brian Jennings and John Hood) and discus (Jennings and Thomas Eller), the 4x100 meter relay, the 1600 (Jordan Redd in 4:39.64)) and the 3200 (Redd in 10:06).
“As a team we’re getting numbers out,” said Thobe. “I felt like tonight we were more competitive, and we’re fielding the majority of events at meets.”
Beavercreek’s boys won the high jump (11-feet-6-inches), the 4x800 meter relay (8:36) and the pole vault (21-feet).
The Xenia boys, who are progressing strongly under head coach Corey Burnett, finished in sixth place with 38 points. The Bucs won the sprint medley (Jay Richardson, James Sanford, Ben Hutton and Jordan Dodson in 1:37.74) and had a second place finish in the 4x100 relay.
“Overall they did fine. We just want to see improvement every single week,” said Burnett. “We’re trying to get them to put their minds to it and succeed as a team. Like I’ve said before, I’d love to bring the prestige back to the program. It starts with practice, and meets like this make kids believe they can do it.”
In the girls’ meet, Xenia finished third with 89 points. Butler won and Miamisburg finished second.
The Bucs had wins in the long jump (Tasha Taylor and Taylor Patterson in 31-feet-1.5-inches), the 800 (Cidni Latimer in 2:27.20), the 100 (Brittiney Latimer in 12:40), the 4x100 relay (Rochelle Bowen, Taylor, Mari King and Brittiney Latimer in 50.12), the sprint medley (Rochelle Bowen, Taylor, Mari King and Brittiney Latimer in 1:52.62), the 100 dash (Brittiney Latimer in 12.40) and the 4x400 relay and finished second in both the shot put and discus (Natasha Roberts and Itobore Odje).
Taylor Patterson also broke the school record in the pole vault in large part because of the help of pole vault coach Brian Panter.
“We’re still kind of handicapped with some injuries, but I think this is the year that we get to state and make a name for ourselves,” said Xenia girls coach Cedric Tolbert Sr. “We’ve got a strategy to get there. It’s like a chess match.”
Beavercreek’s girls’ team finished first and second in the 3200 meter run, with Sidney Leiher winning (11:40.11) and Emily Robbins finishing second. ‘Creek also won the high jump, and H. Bailey finished second in the 1600 (5:49.44).
Fairborn’s girls’ team finished sixth overall. The Skyhawks had a second place finish in the pole vault and a third place finish in the shuttle relay.
