Huron - The Tiffin Columbian boys track and field team battled to a hard-earned fourth-place finish in a tightly contested SBC Lake Division championship meet at Huron Memorial Stadium. The Tornadoes amassed 95 points, finishing a mere single point behind third-place Sandusky, while Perkins captured the team title and Bellevue took second.

Columbian’s stellar day on the track was highlighted by two individual SBC champions. Dashawn Russell took home the crown in the 400 meters, sprinting past the competition to finish first with a time of 51.48 seconds. Distance ace Xavier Melick also secured an individual championship, claiming the top spot in the 800 meters in 2:00.58.

Melick and teammate Marcelino Gallardo proved to be a dominant distance duo, piling up massive points across multiple events. In the 1600 meters, Melick crossed the line as the runner-up in 4:40.63, while Gallardo finished seventh. Later in the meet, the pair went two-three in the grueling 3200 meters, with Gallardo taking second place in 10:32.40 and Melick right behind him in third. The distance scoring began early when Noah Townsend, Owen Hoyda, Nathan Gaietto, and Landon Hinke teamed up for a fifth-place finish in the 4x800 relay. Townsend also added a sixth-place finish in the open 800 meters.

The Tornadoes' sprint and relay squads were firing on all cylinders throughout the meet. The 4x400 relay team of Russell, Lukas Smyser, Amar’e Legrant, and Melick capped off the running events with a spectacular second-place finish, clocking in at 3:29.86. The 4x100 relay team of Titan Neuman, Legrant, Jakobi Jackson, and Smyser locked down third place in 46.80 seconds, while the 4x200 group of Bishop Taylor, Daswhawn Russell, Dazarias Russell, and Legrant took fourth. Individually, Daswhawn Russell placed fourth in the 200 meters, with Legrant securing sixth, and Neuman added a fifth-place finish in the 300 hurdles.

In the field events, Draven Steele led the way for Columbian in the throws, placing fifth in the discus with a mark of 136-10 and adding an eighth-place finish in the shot put. Bishop Taylor was a multi-event scorer in the jumps, leaping to sixth place in the high jump and seventh place in the long jump. Pole vaulter Drew Newman rounded out the scoring for the Tornadoes, clearing 10-0 to secure sixth place and complete a well-rounded team effort.