Staff photo / Brad Emerine McDonald senior Brody Rupe yells encouragement to fellow senior Eli Street during the 4x800-meter relay Friday in the Division III state meet in Westerville. The duo was joined by senior Greg Dickson and sophomore Caleb Dimitrovich and placed third in 8:00.73.

COLUMBUS — Ryan Henry had competed at state as a freshman, but this time he seemed a bit more nervous.

But the McDonald junior worked his way through it with his top throw in the Division III boys shot put event Friday at Westerville North sailing 57 feet, 11 1/2 inches. That put him in second place entering the finals and that’s where he finished.

“It was kind of a relief to get one out there like that because it put me in pretty good position to finish in the top three or five places,” Henry said. “But even then, there were some nerves because there were a lot of capable guys out there who could hit a big one at any point in the finals.

“I mean, if you look at the throws in Division II, we compare favorably. I usually am nervous before any big meet to begin with. Then we missed last year (due to COVID-19) and so I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

Newton Local’s Dawson Hildebrand won with a 60-9 1/2. The top-eight scored and reached the podium.

Henry’s personal-best is a 60-2, which he set in the district meet at Springfield.

Henry will compete today in the discus, where he will be joined by teammate and classmate Dante Mediati. Henry had the top regional throw of anyone in field.

“Ryan is a pretty amazing young man,” coach Lou Domitrovich said. “He’ll tell you he’s nervous, but you’d never know it watching him. He’s pretty calm and collected I think. Today, maybe he had a little nerves but he was able to rise to the occasion. Although he competed at state in the shot put as a freshman, this is his first time at state in the discus, but he’ll have a buddy there to help him. They steady each other down.”

“Having Dante there competing in the same field is a plus,” Henry said. “It clears my mind just having a partner. We’ve worked hard together all year.”

The Blue Devils finished third in the boys 4×800-meter relay, as Brody Rupe, Caleb Domitrovich, Eli Street and Greg Dickson finished in 8:00.73. Canton Central Catholic (7:58.39) won.

“It was a 13-second PR and really the first time all year that we had a chance to load it up and run with strong competition,” coach Domitrovich said. “They far exceeded anyone’s expectations today.”

“We ran our best race we have all year, by far,” Rupe said. “It was the most exciting race of the year for us. I can’t believe we pulled it off. It was amazing. We were second at regional and third at state.”

“Brody handed to me in great position and I just tried to hold my spot,” Caleb Domitrovich said. “That’s what relays are all about, maintaining position or moving up.”

Also in Division III boys shot put, Springfield senior Coleson Kertesz placed fifth with a 55-11. He also will be seeking another medal today in the discus.

In the Division II meet at Pickerington North, the Poland boys’ 4×800 relay of sophomore Noah Huda, senior Mason Matiste, sophomore Logan Flament and junior Andrew Biggs placed fifth in 8:05.04. That’s pretty good considering the quartet placed fifth in the region last week at Austintown Fitch. The top four in each region earned automatic berths to state and the top two times in the state which didn’t place in the top four earned wild-card bids.

“I’m really proud of these guys because they did far better than most people expected,” coach Gabby Massey said. “They went from fifth at regional to on the podium and fifth at state. It shows you how ultra hot our region is.

Staff photo / Brad Emerine Girard’s Dominic Malito competes in the long jump Friday during the Division II state meet. Malito placed 7th with a distance of 21-7 3/4.

“It was just really exciting for them to even get the opportunity to compete again and they made the most of it.”

The Bulldogs are hoping that paves the way for today’s action, as senior Halle Sebest and Flament will compete in their respective 3200s after each earned wild-card berths. They will be joined by Jackie Grisdale and Biggs in their respective 800s.

In other DII finals Friday, Salem’s Jax Booth and Girard’s Dominic Malito placed in the boys long jump. Booth was fourth (22-4) and Malito placed seventh (21-7 3/4).

“It was a rough day with all the fouls, but I still got into the finals and placed,” Malito said. “My jumps were OK and pretty long, maybe a 23 out there, but I just didn’t get onto the board. I went back a foot, then foot-and-a-half and then two feet just to get a jump in there and that got me to the finals and then I fouled all three times there. It was frustrating.”

Also placing were Garfield’s Riley LaPorte (second, 55-10 1/2) and Lakeview’s Charles Pawlosky (third, 55-7) in the shot put. On the girls’ side, Salem’s Kyla Jamison (fifth, 131-7) and Garfield’s Grace Edwards (seventh, 123-8) placed in discus.

In the Division I meet at Hilliard Darby, the Boardman boys had two placers.

Senior Jonah Bacho was eighth in the shot put (54-10) and senior Michael Beckwith was sixth in the shot put seated wheelchair division (12-2 1/4).