Beaver Local senior Savannah Nign wears her gold medal after winning the state title in the 400-meter wheelchair race Saturday. She won four medals on the weekend. (Morning Journal/Ron Firth)

COLUMBUS — The 118th OHSAA state track and field meet next year will feature the most state qualifiers ever.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association Board of Directors voted unanimously in January to add two divisions in track and field, expanding from three divisions to five.

Not much has been decided about next year’s schedule, but it looks like the state meet will be held over four days. There is a possibility it could be condensed into three days.

OHSAA is planning on keeping the two at-large berths for each event and each division will be held on back-to-back days so athletes and fans won’t have to be there for three days.

Some of the biggest scheduling concerns are for the district and regional meets. Some sites are expected to host more than one division and there will be talk about moving the schedule into the early afternoon. Then sites will have to figure out parking if school is in session. Plus officials are already stretched thin and what will happen if weather delays meets.

The state track and field meet has had three divisions since 1971.

The move from three divisions to five will result in more state track qualifiers and champions.

The 2025 state track and field meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium this past weekend included 2,168 athletes over three divisions. There were 1,131 boys state qualifiers from 372 schools and 1,037 girls from 342 schools.

After expansion, that will mean more than 3,600 athletes will qualify for the state track and field meet beginning in 2026.

State notes

• The East Liverpool boys have only three runners and one relay team ever score at state. Three have come the last two years.

State placers include Maddox Roach seventh in the 1600-meter run (4:13.13) on Saturday; Julius Jones sixth in the 800 run (1:54.69) last year; and Steve Williams sixth in the 440-yard dash (49.6 seconds) in 1969. The Potters’ 3200 relay team of Quintin Conrad, Brody Vulgamore, Roach and Jones was third (8:55.21) on Friday.

• The Potters are heading to Philadelphia for the New Balance Nationals outdoor track and field championships at Franklin Field, which has hosted the Penn Relays since 1895.

The 3200 relay team will run on June 20, Roach in the mile on June 21 and Jones in the 800 on June 22.

• Salem senior Maggie Hall finished fifth in the Division II girls 1600-meter run Saturday in 4 minutes, 56.24 seconds. It is believed to be the fastest time in Columbiana County history.

Hall’s sister, Carly, also was fifth in the 1600 run in 2019 and 2021. She recently graduated from Youngstown State University and expects to return next season to the YSU track team.

The Salem girls have not had an individual runner finish better than fifth since 2000 when Mary Bauman was third in the 1600 run.

• Junior Gabby Spooner is the first South Range girl or boy to score at state in the long jump. Spooner, a Columbiana transfer, was seventh in the Division III long jump (16-11 1/2).

• South Range senior Emmitt Slabach was third in the Division III boys 1600 run in a school-record 4:12.19.

Only three South Range boys have placed higher — state runner-ups Doug Sullivan in the 1987 100 dash (11.32)., Dan Nemergut in the 2005 3200 run (9:29.8) and Andrew O’Leary in the 2013 400 dash (48.68).

Slabach is the eighth South Range boy to earn a third-place finish at the state track meet.

• Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium is also home to the Ohio State University men’s and women’s soccer teams and track and field teams.

Many first-time state qualifiers were surprised to see a grass field.