The Fairfield Lions boys and girls track and field team advanced five athletes, four boys and one girl, to the Division III State Track and Field Tournament and four of those athletes return for the 2018 season.
Three boys that were a part of the Lions 4×800-meter relay team from last season; Matthew Mangus, Noah Richmond and Brandtson Duffie return to the program to make another run at a state championship in 2018.
Along with their responsibilities as part of the relay team Mangus, Richmond and Duffie competed in the 3200-meter run, 1600-meter run and 800-meter run respectively at the State Tournament and all look to repeat as state qualifiers this year.
Lady Lion Blake Adams qualified for the State Tournament each of the last two years in the ladies shot put event. Adams looks to improve on her 11th place finish in 2017.
Fairfield will hold their first home high school track meet in school history, at their newly completed track and field complex, on Tuesday, March 27, when the host Lynchburg-Clay, Washington and West Union.
With a strong returning core of athletes and a rich tradition of distance running to propel them the Fairfield teams will likely compete for the Southern Hills Athletic Conference league title during the 2018 season.
Fairfield will travel to Hillsboro High School on Thursday, April 19, to take on their cross-county rivals as part of the Hillsboro Invitational.
The Lions and Lady Lions will participate in the SHAC league meet at Lynchburg-Clay High School on Friday, May 11, as they attempt to claim the SHAC title. The teams will travel to Southeastern High School on May 16 to take part in the District meet. If athletes from either team advance they will travel to Fairfield Union High School for the Regional meet on May 23 and the State meet is scheduled to take place June 1 and 2 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of the Ohio State University.
Reach Ryan Applegate at 937-402-2572, or on Twitter @RCApplegate89.
