Tara Karnes qualifies for Division II State shot put
McClain senior Tara Karnes has qualified for the 2014 State Track & Field Championships, as she placed fourth in the New Concord Regionals, Thursday.
Karnes set a new school record in her final throw at district, as she was in fifth place before she made the best throw the McClain has ever had in girls track & field.
"Tara has been working on that mark as a goal of hers all season and really wanted that," MHS girls varsity track coach Lori Jones said.
The distance that qualified her to state was 39-08.00, fourth place at regionals. She passed fifth-place finisher, junior Ashley Reynolds (Indian Valley), who threw a distance of 39-04.00.
Karnes was in seventh place before her final throw.
"I'm so proud of her because she was in seventh place going into her last throw and told herself, 'It was now or never,' and with that, she'll be representing the Lady Tigers at state."
The winner of the shot put event was West Holmes senior Lania Snyder at 42-07.50. In second was Chesapeake senior Jordan Porter at 42-07.00, and in third was Carrollton junior Abbey Wilson at 40-04.00.
Karnes is the first Lady Tiger to qualify for the state championships since 2011.
The new school record throw came from hard work by Karnes and her throwing coach Mike Francis.
"Credit Tara and Coach Francis," Jones said. "They worked together for four years with a hope of accomplishing that goal. It is great that it happened, and we are proud of her.
[[In-content Ad]]
Karnes was a district champion last week with a throw of 38-07.00 in Washington C.H.
Also for Karnes, she'll compete Saturday at regionals in the discus event, where she was also a district champion.
Also at the New Concord Division II Regionals on Thursday (the Top 8 qualified for the regional finals), sophomore Jhaela Coleman qualified for the regional finals in the 100-meter dash with a fifth-place finish in the prelims.
Coleman ran a prelim time of 12.85.
In the 200m dash, Coleman was ninth in the prelims at 26.95.
The MHS boys 4x800m team of Jeremiah Savage, Cody Hardesty, Storm Faulconer and Mikel Pritchard placed 12th with a time of 8:37.04.
In the girls 100m hurdles event, MHS senior McKenzie Figgins was 12th with a time of 17.29.
McClain's boys 4x200m relay team of James Morris, Thomas Schrader, Seth Willman and Alex Hollar finished in 13th place at 1:35.23.
The MHS boys 4x100m relay team of Morris, Schrader, Hollar and Willman were 12th with a time of 46.03.
The New Concord Regionals will continue on Saturday, May 31 at 11:30 a.m.