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West Branch teammates dash to state

AUSTINTOWN — West Branch senior hurdler Ethan Griffith is following teammate Rob Lozier to the state track meet.

Both Warriors advanced with high finishes at the Austintown Division II regional meet Saturday afternoon.

“Oh my gosh,” Griffith said. “It was a shock.”

Lozier won the 300-meter hurdles in 38.86 seconds, while Griffith captured the fourth in the 110-meter hurdles in 15.78 seconds as he captured the final state berth by 4/100ths of a seconds.

“I was in sixth place and had to pass two guys and I did it,” he said. “I don’t know how, but I did.”

Lozier was in the stands cheering for his teammate.

“Halfway through the race, I didn’t know if he was going to make it,” he said. “Then I saw his name pop up.”

Four runners were within 6/100ths of a second for the fourth-place spot.

“I thought I finished fifth or sixth,” Griffith said. “I was waiting for them to put up the fourth spot. When they put my name there, I couldn’t believe it.”

Griffith was fourth at the Salem district last week by 2/100ths of a second.

“Everything was gravy after districts,” he said.

Lozier returns to Columbus as the only West Branch boys hurdler to score at the state track meet when he finished fifth last year.

“I’m still a little sore from Thursday,” Lozier said. “At the beginning of the race, (Woodridge’s Jacob Mally) was way of ahead of me and I said I’ve got to go.”

He got past Mally at the last hurdle for the victory.

“I got a 38.8 today, so I’ve got a lot of work to do,” Lozier said. “I’ve got to get my form down.”

Lozier and Griffith will run in two events at the state meet Friday. They will join Landon Burns and Carson Gossett on the 1600-meter relay team that finished fourth in a season-best 3:26.39.

Meet notes

¯ The Northeastern Buckeye Conference featured two of the top hurdlers in the state — Marlington’s Lane Knoch in Division I and Lozier in Division II.

“Even though it (stinks) losing, it makes me better,” Lozier said. “It helps me in the long run.”

¯ Saturday’s regional finals were run on a time schedule. In honor of Memorial Day, the official clock on the scoreboard was in military time.

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