With about a lap and a quarter to go in the 3200 meters last Friday at the OHSAA Division III State Track and Field Championships at Welcome Stadium in Dayton, Whiteoak junior Landon Eyre decided to pick up the pace and left his competitors behind on the way to an individual state championship — the first in the school’s history.

It was a big day all around for Highland County. Eyre also claimed third place in 1600 meters, Whiteoak senior Weston Blair captured sixth place in the 800 meters and Fairfield’s Remi Moon reached the medalists’ podium with an eighth place finish in the high jump.

Coming down the home straight away in the 3200 meters with a little more than one lap to go, Eyre and two others — Covington senior Asher Long and Belpre’s Blake Rodgers — had separated from the pack. Eyre was running third when he decided it was time to make a move and easily outdistanced the other two, finished in a school record time of 9:10.07.

The Division III state record in the event of 9:05.43 was set by Chad Johnson of Colonel Crawford in 2018.

Long finished more than four a seconds behind Eyre to take second place in a time of 9:14.85 and Rodgers finished third in 9:17.00.

As a team, the Wildcats finished tied for seventh in the state with 19 points.

Eyre also finished third in a closely contested 1600 meters race in a time of 4:14.87. The winner was Ottawa Hills senior Riley Nixon in 4:12.70 and the runner-up was Steubenville Catholic Central junior Andrew Rohde in a time of 4:13.33.

One of Eyre’s teammates, Wildcat senior Weston Blair, finished sixth in the 800 meters in a time of 1:56.12. It was an even tighter race than the 1600 meters. The winner of the race was Lancaster Fisher Catholic senior Jack Gentile in a time of 1:54.80. North Adams sophomore Bean Hester took third place in a time of 1:55.46.

Whiteoak also had the 4 x 800-meter relay team of Landon Eyre, Weston Blair, and sophomores Keegan Eyre and Sawyer Blair make it to the state meet. They finished 14th out of 18 teams in 8:26.33. The final and eighth spot on the placers podium went to Lincoln View in a time of 8:10.39. The winning time of 8:00.50 came from Lancaster Fisher Catholic.

Fairfield’s Remi Moon, just a freshman, found her way to the podium by placing eighth in the high jump with a leap of 5’2. The event was won by Sandy Valley senior Lexi Tucci with a jump of 5’6.

Fairfield senior Faith Donley also made it to the state meet. She finished 17th in a time of 1:00.36. She ran a time of 58.84 at the regional. On Friday, Donley did not qualify for the finals. The time for the the last finals spot in event was 59.94.