Girls Track and Field | Wingate wins again: Norwayne star dominates at Div. II regional meet

AUSTINTOWN — The goal for Jaylee Wingate coming into Saturday’s 800-meter run was a simple one — get the lead early and close it out.

Those plans quickly changed, however, when the Norwayne junior found herself in third place heading into the final lap.

Wingate calmly closed in the two leaders, however, passing in the outside lane, to win the race and cap off a pair of individual wins in helping the Bobcats take runner-up honors at the Youngstown Division II Regional.

And despite being behind Woodridge’s Izzy Best and Tuslaw’s Malena Cybak with 400 meters to go, Wingate knew that she was right where she wanted to be.

“My goal was to get out fast and be in the lead for the break-in, but I saw I was right on pace for a 2:08,” Wingate said. “They were going on that same pace, but I knew that Izzy had already run the mile and I could get her. The only one I was worried about was Malena, because she had fresh legs.”

That early lead by Best quickly changed after Cybak made a move with 200 meter left with Wingate still trailing.

As the trio headed into the final straightaway, though, Wingate made her move and cruised past both Cybak and Best before finishing in a regional-record time of 2:11.88.

“I knew I could catch them,” Wingate said. “I tried not to kill myself on the third 200, because then I would've died in the end. I had the confidence to catch them from behind, that's what I like to do.”

Cybak finished second in 2:13.33, followed by Best (2:13.86).

“I kind of expected to have to make a move within the last 250 meters and I did that,” Cybak said. “In that last 100, I knew it was going to be a tight race. I will admit that I think I should've kicked a little harder down the 100, because you have to expect that kind of kick when you're running against people this good.

“It's another learning lesson to take to state. But I made it there and that was the goal for today.”

The win comes on the heels of Wingate’s impressive 1,600-meter victory earlier in the day in 4:54.57 — 0.08 seconds faster than her area-record time set earlier this season.

“I wanted to get both of them,” she said of her two individual victories. “This is what I've trained for, the double, and that's how I hope it goes at state. I wanted to show that I could do both and I'm not just defined by one event.”

Wingate later anchored the Bobcats 4x400 relay team to a third-place finish in 4:02.81 with teammates Lacy Hess, Elise Uhler and Shelby Vaughn — a late-season add to the team.

The finish was enough to help Norwayne end the day with 64 points, just four off of team champion Woodridge, as the ’Cats took home their fifth team trophy in the last seven seasons.

“It's so exciting,” said Hess, who also was fifth individually in the 400. “Last year we really struggled here, because I know the competition is really good here, but knowing that we have chances now at state, is so motivational. It's the kind of drive we need to do well down there.”

Along with the third-place showing in the 4x4, both Allison Morlock and Annabel Stanley were third in the discus and 3,200, respectively, while the 4x1 unit locked up the fourth — and final — qualifying spot for the OHSAA State Championships, which open next Friday at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Morlock found herself outside of the top four heading into the finals before recording a personal-record mark of 118-feet-6 on her second-to-last throw of the day to make her a double-qualifier for the state meet after finishing second in the shot put earlier in the week.

“I barely made it into finals. I just needed to clear my head and just throw,” the junior said. “I knew I was going to have to throw 118 or 120 to get in, but I was struggling a little bit. But then I hit that 118 and I was like, 'Oh, thank goodness.'”

Triway’s Maddie Kline also competed in the discus competition Saturday and just missed the finals, placing 10th with a 106-3.

Like Morlock, Stanley will also be making her state track debut. The 11th grader came out and established the pace with eventual champ Bella Graham of Marlington early on before crossing in 11:25.85.

“Coach was telling me to stay within 2 seconds of her in the first 200 and then progressively go back behind her,” Stanley said. “I honestly just wanted to try and see how close I could get to her because she's obviously a great runner. I knew if I had stayed within a little bit of her, I could hopefully get to state.”

Ella Wigel of Triway also ran in the 3,200, crossing in 15th (12:59.09).

Norwayne’s 4x1 team of Sydney Emler, Ellen Henslee, Uhler and Vaughn combined to clock a 50.91 for the fourth automatic state berth. Triway was fifth in 51.06.

“We've run a 50 before, so we knew we could do it, but just to do it here and make it out is amazing,” Uhler said. “I really just had to focus on my race. You have to pull your mind together and say, 'No, this is my race and I'm going to run as hard as I can for my team.'”

For Vaughn, who came into the race after running in the 4x2 group that just missed qualifying with a sixth-place finish, it was a second chance at a state trip.

“It was very important, because our 4x1 is our race and I knew I had to run even faster than the 4x2,” she said. “We definitely had to push ourselves to get into that place. That's what we focused on, instead of the time.”

The Bobcats won’t be alone, as Triway’s Kalie Campbell also qualified for state in Saturday’s action. Campbell struggled to break 16 feet the entire day until her final attempt landed her with a mark of 16-6½ — good for third overall and a return trip to Columbus.

And while it wasn’t the day that Campbell expected, the junior is excited to see what she can do next weekend.

“I was happy, but I was still frustrated because I can do better than that,” she said. “My steps were kind of off. I don't know, I just got in my head, I guess.

“It gives me some confidence for next week, knowing that I can do more. I'm just going to go in and give it my all, try and do my best.”

Chippewa’s Tristan Nash also made it onto the podium with a seventh-place finish, clearing 15-10, while both Norwayne’s Kendra Berger (13th, 8-4) and Chippewa’s Izzy Lattea (14th, 7-0) took part in the pole vault.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Girls Track and Field: Norwayne's Wingate wins twice at regionals