MAY 27, 2011 - TROY
In the opening night of the regional track meet on Wednesday, Covington qualified Sam Christian for state in the discus and the 4x800 meter relay team for state with a third place finish.

The Buccaneers had another big day in day two of the regional meet as Lane White stamped his ticket to state in the 400 meter dash. The freshman took fourth in a time of 51.11, the exact same time he ran in the preliminaries.

But it was close for White as he had to outlast Robert Goettemoeller of St. Henry and Elliott Westerbeck of New Bremen down the stretch to qualify for state.

"When I came around the curve I had to take a peak to see where they were at," White explained. "I knew it would be close."

But White had more than enough kick in the final 50 meters to keep his adversaries behind him, something that impressed Westerbeck as the two congratulated each other on a hard-fought race.

"Do you always go slower and kick it in over the last 100 meters?" Westerbeck asked White as he shook his hand while the two headed toward the medal stand. "I know I was ahead of you coming around the turn, but you just turned it on, man."

White just shook nodded his head to indicate his answer and smiled as he thanked Westerbeck for a classy compliment from an opponent.

Covington wasn't so fortunate in the boy's and girl's 800 meter run as Tara Snipes and Tyler Fickert both fell just short of state by taking fifth.

For Snipes, it was an inspiring effort as she was in a deadly dual with Haley Cochran of Mechanicsburg down the stretch.

The two runners were deadlocked coming around the turn and traded turns taking the lead as they headed for the finish line.

With Cochran gaining the upper hand in the final few yards, Snipes showed the heart of a champion by diving head first across the finish line.

It wasn't enough as Cochran finished just 0.11 ahead of Snipes for the final spot at the state meet.

Fickert was in a similar situation coming around the final turn for home in the boy's 800 meter run, but couldn't match the kick of Hamilton Badin's Kevin Keating in the final 20 yards.

Still, both runners laid everything on the line in their attempts to make it to state.

The boy's 4x100 meter relay team found a spot on the podium, but failed to qualify for state with an eighth place finish. The team of Alex Baskerville, Isaiah Winston, Jake Bitner and A.J. Ouellette finished in a time of 45.04.

The 4x400 meter relay team had the same results, taking eighth in the time of 3:31.70. The team consisted of A.J. Ouellette, Isaiah Winston, Lane White and Dustin Fickert.

By Rob Kiser - Piqua Daily Call

MAY 25, 2011 - TROY
Willy Hoffert and Sam Christian are a shining example of hard-work being rewarded.

As a result, Hoffert will finish his prep athletic career at the state track and field meet next week and Christian will make the trip to state for the first time.

Nothing was going to stop Christianin matching older brother Ben, who competed in the state meet a year ago in the shot put.

He threw a PR of 154-4 to finish second in the discus at the Troy Division III regional meet Wednesday.

“That (Ben making it to state last year) was a big motivatin for me,” Sam said.

And even when he suffered a serious shoulder injury in a football playoff game in November, he wasn’t going to be denied.

“That’s what I thought about when I had the injury,” Christian said. “I was worried about track.”

But, he has been strong as ever all spring — and he uncorked a PR in his final throw in the prelims Wednesday to secure the state berth.

“I knew it as soon as I let it go,” Christian said. “I knew it was a good one. Once I hit that throw, it was like a weight off my shoulders. I am hoping to throw around 160 next week.”

Now, he has a chance to top his brother Friday — when he goes for a second state berth in the shot put.

“I don’t know if he (Ben) knows yet,” Ben said with a smile as he waited to receive his award. “Definitely (he was going to let him know about it.)”

Hoffert has been a leader for the Covington distance runners, in both track and cross country the last four years — and has reaped the awards his senior year.

After running in the state cross country meet, he teamed with Dustin Fickert, Isaiah Winston and Lane White to finish third in 3,200 relay and advance to state.

“It feels great,” Hoffert said. “We didn’t put this team together until late in the year. We were missing one guy and Isaiah (Winston) has given us that.”

The foursome first ran together at the Covington Invitational three weeks ago. Last week, they won district.

“I wasn’t expecting to go to state,” Winston said. “But, I wasn’t even on the 4x800 relay team at the start of the season.”

But, it was evident once he joined the team, they could be pretty special.

“We knew we were pretty good,” Hoffert said. “But, regionals is so tough. You just never know.”

White, a freshman, ran the anchor leg, moving up to third and holding that spot.

“I thought I ran terrible,” White, who always has high expectations, said. “I was just trying to hold on the last lap.”

And they can take pride in making sure Hoffert’s final race is as the state meet.

“Of course,” Fickert said. “We wanted to do that for him.”