43
The Boardman boys track team will send senior Chris Butler to the 2017 OHSAA State Championship at Jesse Owens Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Butler earned his first trip to the state meet by placing fourth overall at the 2017 OHSAA Regional Championship in the rerun of the 1600 in a personal best time of 4:18. However, Butler’s achievement was not without its share of drama. During the first run of the 1600, a collision took place involving three athletes. Despite several protests and replays of the incident on the Fitch video board, the head referee declared a rerun to take place at the end of the meet. Undaunted by the announcement, Butler managed to solidify his spot in Columbus in front of dozens of Boardman teammates and fans that made the trip out to Austintown.
“I am so incredibly proud of Chris,” said Boardman Head Coach John Phillips. “To have all of that happen in the matter of a few hours and still remain focused and perform at such a high level is a true credit to him-he earned this trip to Columbus.”
Senior George Wallace narrowly missed qualify for state in both the discus and the shot put. Wallace finished sixth overall in the disc and fifth in the shot.
“I can not think of two athletes who represent our program better than George Wallace and Chris Butler. They are both hard workers, tremendous leaders and great teammates,” said Phillips.