PIQUA – Bradford’s Owen Beachler moves on to next week’s regional track meet at Troy after placing fourth in the 300 meter hurdles on Saturday at Piqua High School.
In a deep field, Beachler finished second in his heat on Tuesday and advanced to Saturday’s district finals with the third fastest time (43.86) in the prelims.
In the finals on Saturday, Beachler was in lane six – next to Justin Finkbine of Tri-Village, who was in lane five. At the first hurdle Finkbine fell, but Beachler was able to avoid the distraction and continued to push the pace. Down the final stretch there were five hurdlers running neck to neck and as the competitors crossed the finish line there was uncertainty on who advanced.
All eyes were on the board where Beachler and Arcanum’s Tyler Pfahler both turned in a time of 44.02. The final result was announced shortly thereafter as Beachler finished fourth in the time of 44.020, just ahead of the fifth place runner’s time of 44.05.