By Fred Kroner
St. Joseph eighth-grader Lance Retz concluded his junior high track and field career on Saturday (May 21) as a state champion.
One day after Retz finished third in the IESA Class 3A 1,600-meter race (4 minutes, 55.81 seconds), he won a virtual photo finish to claim top honors in the 800 meters.
Retz’s time was 2:09.72. Runner-up Jacob Barth, from Auburn, (who won the 1,600 meters) was timed in 2:09.75.
The top eight in every state event earned medals.
Two other St. Joseph eighth-graders narrowly missed a medal.
Claiming 10th place were Tim Blackburn-Kelley in the high jump (5 feet, 6 inches) and Brennan Oleynichak in the discus (74 feet, 3 inches).
Retz scored 16 points for St. Joseph, which secured a tie for 10th place in Class 3A. In all, 49 eighth-grade boys’ teams scored points at state.
St. Joseph’s seventh-grade boys had two state-medalists and they were in the same event.
Teammates Willis Canamore and Cam Wagner finished third and fourth, respectively, in the discus.
Canamore’s best toss was 120 feet, 8 inches. Wagner’s top throw was 117 feet, 10 inches.
Both athletes also competed in the shot put.
Wagner took 10th (36 feet, 4 inches) and Canamore was 23rd (30 feet, 5 ¼ inches).
The top eight in every state event earned medals.
St. Joseph had one other seventh-grade entry at state.
The 1,600-meter relay unit of Brayden Waller, Canamore, Tyler Hess and Waylon Jones were timed in 4:16.90 and wound up in 10th place.
With a point total of 11, St. Joseph tied for 18th place. A total of 51 seventh-grade teams tallied points at state.
