ZANESVILLE – Jarrod Smith will be doing double duty again.

Sunday, May 27, 2001

ZANESVILLE – Jarrod Smith will be doing double duty again. But he won’t mind.

Smith, the South Point Pointers senior track standout, earned a state berth in his second event Friday at the Division II regional track meet.

On Wednesday, Smith threw the discus 161-2 to win the event. Friday, he heaved the shot put 55-1 1/2 to place second, just two inches behind Washington Court House’s Mark Bihl.

Chesapeake junior distance runner Ryan Slone also earned a state berth next weekend at Dayton’s Welcome stadium. Slone was fourth in the 800 meter run with his best time of the year at 1:57.89.

Pat Harvey of West Muskingum won with a 1:56.27 time. Next came Tyler Walker of Hillsboro (1:56.91) and Drew Turner of St.Clairsville (1:56.92).

"Slone ran really well. He went down two seconds from what was his best time. They were moving, but he stayed right with them. He showed a lot of courage by taking the lead the first lap. They had a little more left than he did, but he ran a great race," Panthers coach Phil Davis said.

The Panthers 4×400 relay team of Josh Dillon, Adam Roush, Bobby Barbour, and Slone ran seventh at 3:31.0. Michael Hunt’s 42.40 time in the 300 hurdles was seventh.

"Our times went down in the 4×400. You can’t fault the effort. They ran a great race," said Davis.

South Point junior sprinter Donte Pennington joined Smith by qualifying in 100 meter dash.

Pennington’s 11.20 time in the 100 meters was third behind Portsmouth’s Jeremy Hamrick (10.94) and Meadowbrook’s Paul Gabel (11.15).

The Pointers 4×100 relay team ran a 44.60 to place seventh.

The Fairland Lady Dragons Brittani Keeney was fourth in the discus at 113-2 to earn a trip to the state meet. Teammate Jennifer Jones ran a 1:02.80 in the 400 meter dash to place eighth.

Rock Hill junior hurdler Jessica Kerns was the only other area girl to qualify for the state meet. Kerns ran a 15.62 time to place third in the 100 meter hurdles.

Bellaire junior Kacie Vavrek won at 14.70 while Circleville senior Ashley Palmer was second at 15.29.

The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers 4×400 relay team just missed qualifying for the state meet despite setting a new school record with a 4:10.01 time.

Sarah Herman, Adriane Hurley, Ashley Neal, and Christy Lilly broke the old school record they set in the preliminaries on Wednesday.

Barnesville ran a 4:08.9 to take fourth place.

"It’s disappointing for the girls. We only missed it by one step. Lilly ran a 60-split but the girl who got her at the line set a regional record in the 800," Ironton coach Tim Thomas said. "The girls ran at peak form, so you can’t ask for any more than that."

Lilly had her best time in 400 as she set a new school record with a 1:01.32 clocking, but she placed sixth.

"Christy ran well, but everybody runs faster and gets better," said Thomas. "This was a strong region this year. The state champion in cross country got beat in the 3200. It was tough to get out of here."

Hurley, Herman, Neal, and Lilly were sixth in the 4×200 but set another school record with a 1:49.78 time.

South Point’s Deidra Layne was seventh in the 100 meters (13.25)

Ironton’s Erique Bacon also competed in the shot put.

‘I know the kids are disappointed they didn’t make the state meet, but they gave a great effort all year and improved as the season went on. That’s all you can ask for," Ironton coach Greg Cronacher said. "All in all, we had a good season. We had some good performances and we’re a young team."