Lively earns runner-up finish at 2024 Horizon League Indoor Championships

Cierra Lively. (Wright State University photo)
The Wright State track and field teams turned in a multitude of individual performances and reset a pair of Raider record times at the 2024 Horizon League Indoor Championships hosted by Youngstown State.
WSU junior Cierra Lively, a Hillsboro High School alum, earned a second-place finish at the league championships in the high jump event.
According to WSU Athletics, Lively has competed in the high jump in several meets this indoor track and field season. Her finishes include third place (1.60m) at the Wittenberg Tiger Opener; first place (1.67m) at the Marshall Alumni Classic; second place (1.60m) at the 2024 Mastodon Invite; and first place (1.67m) at the Wittenberg Collegiate Invite.
The original press release follows.
Saturday's action was highlighted by a second-place team finish by Emma Johnson, Alycea Lemmon, Mia Wyngarden and Kaitlyn Miller in the women's distance medley with their time of 12:05.24, less than three seconds back of the top time by Milwaukee. The men's distance medley team of Patrick Statzer, Mohammed Bilal, Noah Sharp and Alex McCarty took home a third-place finish in a near-photo finish, with the Raiders clocking in at 10:04.61, less than a second behind the top time of Purdue Fort Wayne (10:04.10) and second-place Youngstown State (10:04.24).
Wright State also saw podium finishes on Saturday from Meredith Goecke, Oliver Murray and Melissa Siler. Goecke cleared 3.52m in the women's pole vault on the way for a seventh-place finish, while Murray cleared 4.43m for a seventh-place finish in the men's pole vault. Melissa Siler finished eighth in the women's pentathlon in the 17-person field with her 3,261 points.
The Raider podiums continued on Sunday, starting early in the day when Cierra Lively grabbed a runner-up finish in the women's high jump with her 1.66m clearance, just 0.03m shy of the top mark. Miller found the podium again with her sixth-place finish in the women's mile after a time of 5:03.59, while Jude Elkins had a sixth-place finish of his own with his time of 8.37 in the men's 60 meter hurdles.
A pair of Raider records were reset, first with Hannah Falknor's time of 7.64 (just 0.20 off the top time) in the women's 60-meter finals to write her name into the record books. Hunter Thompson finished sixth in the men's 400-meter finals with his 49.15 (less than two seconds off the top time) to write his name into the record books as well.
Publisher's note: A free press is critical to having well-informed voters and citizens. While some news organizations opt for paid websites or costly paywalls, The Highland County Press has maintained a free newspaper and website for the last 25 years for our community. If you would like to contribute to this service, it would be greatly appreciated. Donations may be made to: The Highland County Press, P.O. Box 849, Hillsboro, Ohio 45133. Please include "for website" on the memo line.