Dunbar wins 4th straight boys indoor state track title

The Dunbar High School boys track and field team solidified its position as the state’s best indoor program by winning its fourth consecutive combined Divisions II-III boys state championship this past Saturday at the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches championships at the University of Akron’s Stile Field House.

And the Wolverines girls weren’t far behind, placing second as a team in Divisions II-III.

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Dunbar’s boys won just one event, the 4x400-meter relay (3:28.29), but fared well enough in other events to beat team runner-up Warrensville Heights, 46-30. Dunbar senior Keyshawn Jones added seconds in the long jump (22-6.50) and triple jump (42-1.50).

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“What it shows as far as winning a team championship is total team effort,” Dunbar coach Sidney Booker said. “We scored in the field, the relays and open events. We’re well-rounded and we work good together and they’ve got a tradition they think about all the time.”

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Meadowdale senior Wayne Lawrence Jr. won the 400 (48.70). No surprise in that. He was second to since-graduated Tyler Johnson of Stivers in the D-II outdoor state 400 as a sophomore and junior.

Carroll (22) tied for third on the strength of Mike Laughlin’s first in the 3,200 (9:35.38).

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Dunbar’s girls were runner-up to Beachwood, 39-33. Winning for Dunbar were its 4x200 (1:44.56) and 4x400 (4:08.56) relays and Zaquela Alston in the triple jump (35-8.75).

Springfield rode juniors Dyier Smith and Quincy Scott to place third among the D-I boys teams. Smith won the 60 hurdles (7.97) and Scott was first in the long jump (22-10.50). Scott also played fifth in the triple jump (42.9.50).

Pickerington Central (43) won the D-I boys team title.

Area D-I boys dominated the pole vault. Greeneville had the best showing with senior A.J. Frens placing second (15-6) and junior Ryan Trick added a sixth (14-0). Springboro senior Malcolm Melvin was third (14-9) and Centerville junior Colin Jasin fourth (14-9).

Gahanna Lincoln (51) won the girls D-I state team title. Lincoln was second in D-I outdoor last spring and won a D-I outdoor team title in 2015. Centerville junior Kennedy Coker was the only area individual winner, besting the triple jump field (37-1).

Dunbar won the last of its nine boys outdoor team state titles in 2015. That championship season also marked its third outdoor boys state team title in four seasons. Dunbar has won 23 straight Dayton City League boys team championships.

“Hopefully,” Booker said, “this can carry over to the outdoor season.”

The boys and girls spring track and field seasons began on Monday.

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• Cleveland State redshirt junior Nick Corba (Beavercreek) placed second at 184 pounds in last weekend’s at Bloomsburg State (Pa.). Eastern League wrestling championships. Last month Corba was named the Eastern Wrestling League co-wrestler of the week. Corba (23-8) has a shot at landing an at-large NCAA Championships nod on Wednesday. The championships are later this month.

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