SHELBY - As Autumn Nichols crossed the finish line in the 300 hurdles, she looked anything like someone who had won her third event of the day.
In fact, the Columbian senior was flat-out frowning.
She had finished in 46.1 seconds, and to Nichols, that time was unacceptable.
"I'm happy, but part of me, I really wanted to get that 42 (seconds), because that's what I've been going for all year," Nichols said.
So Nichols had to settle for four ordinary championships Saturday at the Northern Ohio League Meet in Shelby. Nichols won the 100 hurdles in 16.4, the 100 in 13.1, and the 200 in 26.9. She was responsible for 40 of the Tornadoes' 145 1/2 points.
"Autumn just had a fabulous day," Columbian coach Amy Cooper said. "She's a beast."
Fact Box
Northern Ohio League
Columbian 145 1/2, Shelby 144, Bellevue 138, Norwalk 72,?Willard 64, Sandusky 60
Pole vault - 1. Chandler Carley (TC) 9-6; 4. Erika Shultz (TC) 7-6
Shot - 1. Dorathy Myers (Shel) 36-4 3/4; 7. Brittany Flint (TC) 30-3 3/4
Discus - 1. Myers (Shel) 106-10; 5. Kylar Meisner (TC) 91-9; 7. Ari Felton (TC) 86-4
High jump - 1. Heather Gruhlke (San) 5-2; 5. Flint (TC) 4-8
Long jump - 1. Laiken Tester (Bell) 16-8 1/4; 2. Flint (TC) 15-2 1/2
4x800 - 1. Bellevue 9:46.5*; 4. Columbian 10:39.9
100 hurdles - 1. Autumn Nichols (TC) 16.4; 6. Marisa Stephens (TC) 17.6
100 - 1. Nichols (TC) 13.1; 2. Tori Stephens (TC) 13.3
4x200 - 1. Shelby 1:48.5; 2. Columbian (Michaela Sharlow, McKenna Theis, Annie Demith, Stephens) 1:48.9
1,600 - 1. Sydnie Fetherolf (N) 5:25.8; 5. Kali Fittro (TC) 5:44; 7. Abrie Smith (TC) 5:48.7
4x100 - 1. Bellevue 52.1; 2. Columbian (Theis, Tara Baker, Demith, T. Stephens) 52.9
400 - 1. Hayley Hall (Shel) 1:01.0; 3. Anna Williams (TC) 1:02.8; 4. Demith (TC) 1:03.8
300 hurdles - 1. Nichols (TC) 46.1; 7. M. Stephens (TC) 51.3
800 - 1. Erica Bettac (Shel) 2:23.5; 7. Alex Foncannon (TC) 2:38.5
200 - 1. Nichols (TC) 26.9; 3. Sharlow (TC) 27.8
3,200 - 1. Madison Scagnetti (Bell) 12:13.9; 4. Fittro (TC) 12:47.8
4x400 - 1. Shelby 4:08.9; 2. Columbian (Sharlow, Hanna Musil, Williams, Demith) 4:11.7
As it turned out, Columbian needed all the points it could get to hold off Shelby for the meet title.
The meet came down to the final race, the 4x400. In order to win, the Tornadoes needed to finish the five-team race in the top three, and it couldn't finish any more than one spot behind the Whippets.
Columbian's team of Michaela Sharlow, Hanna Musil, Anna Williams and Annie Demith knew what it had to do, and it did it. Demith, running in the final leg, outran Bellevue's Colleen Valko by two seconds for second place. Shelby won the event, but Columbian won the meet by a point and a half.
"One of my (assistants) went down to talk to them, and said, 'this is where you have to be,'" said Columbian coach Amy Cooper. "They did it. They took it as a challenge."
"I'm glad we won it; it was one heck of a race," Nichols said. "I was so jealous. I wish I could have been in it."
Aside from Nichols, Columbian's other win came in the pole vault, where junior Chandler Carley cleared 9-6 for the victory.
"I was hoping for a (personal record), I did tie my PR, but just getting 9-6, I was really happy with the way I vaulted today," Carley said.
As for Nichols, she won both hurdles events for the second-straight year. But she said she wasn't thinking about her number of wins. She's already thinking about the next few weeks.
"I'm ready to show everyone what I'm made of at districts, regionals and state," she said.
Carley also said she is looking forward.
"Just working on my technique and form will definitely move me up to higher heights," she said.
This was the third time in four years Columbian has won the NOL Meet, and it won it for the second year in a row.
"We've been talking about it all season," Cooper said. "We knew coming in that we could win the meet. We thought we'd win by a few more points, but we did things better than we should have done today, and we did things a little worse. But overall they did a great job and the kids pulled through when they needed to."
In addition to the wins by Nichols and Carley, TC had five second-place finishes.
Bellevue finished third with 138 points, while Norwalk had 72 points for fourth. Willard (72) and Sandusky (60 1/2) rounded out the scoring.
