PIQUA – Blanchester senior Regan Ostermeier finished third Thursday in the girls shot put competition at the Region 8 Track & Field Championships at Alexander Stadium.
“It shocked me but then again I was like ‘You deserve this; you’ve worked so hard this year. It was my time’,” said Ostermeier, who will compete in Columbus 9:30 a.m. June 1 in the shadows of Jesse Owens Stadium on the Ohio State University campus.
A pair of Clinton-Massie hurdles had mixed results on Thursday.
Rylee Richardson tied for fourth overall among the 16 runners who competed in the 100-meter hurdle preliminary heats and will run in the finals on Saturday. Richardson clocked 16.062 which was a shade better than 16.066 by the nearest runner. The times were rounded up to 16.07. The next three times from the prelims are 16.11, 16.17 and 16.19.
The top four in each event at the Region 8 meet will advance to the state meet May 31 and June 1.
Richardson, a junior, will run in the Region 8 championship heat of the 100 hurdles at 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Alexander Stadium.
Alec McDonald, also a junior, finished out of the top eight in both of his events on Thursday.
In the 110 hurdles, McDonald struggled late with a couple hurdles and finished in 16.77. The last time to qualify for the finals was 15.92.
In the 300 hurdles, McDonald finished in 42.56 with the final qualifying time at 42.45.
Ostermeier will compete at 11 a.m. Saturday in the girls discus at the Region 8 meet.
In the shot put, Ostermeier was third after her flight at 36-11.25. Following the second flight, Ostermeier was in fourth place.
As the final flight unfolded, the nine competitors struggled to improve on their standing.
As she approached the ring for her second of three throws in the finals, Ostermeier was running out of time to solidify her berth to Columbus.
But as the shot put left her hand for her second attempt, Ostermeier immediately knew this was something special.
“I went up there, I got mad, I got my heart rate going and moved through the ring quick to get that momentum going and then I just took off,” she said. “I knew immediately it all clicked finally.”
The shot put landed 38-0 from the toeboard and put Ostermeier firmly in third place.
“It’s my senior year I said ‘You have to make it to state’ and that’s what my goal was and I did it,” she said.
