COLUMBUS — A state track meet that holds so much promise for area girls got off to a great start Friday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. It was started by Jefferson high jumper Lizzy Ziemski in the Division II ranks with a second place by clearing 5-4.

It is the highest finish by a Jefferson girl since another high jumper, Theresa Dyer, won the event in 1987 by clearing 5-7, which is still the Ashtabula County record, when the state meet was still held at Ohio Stadium.

The champion was Katie Davis of Cambridge, who also cleared 5-4, but she earned the championship on fewer total misses. The top four finishers in the event all cleared 5-4.

SS. John and Paul sprinter Mary Mahoney was equally outstanding in the Division III ranks. The Herald senior qualified for the finals of the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes beginning at 9:40 a.m. today.

Mahoney recorded the fastest qualifying time in the 400-meter dash, for which she has reached the state meet for four straight years, in 57.42. That was a 10th of a second faster than her nearest pursuer, Janel Olberding of Fort Loramie. Mahoney won the second preliminary heat, while Olberding won the first.

If Mahoney is able to repeat her performance today, she would become Ashtabula County’s first girls track state champion since Grand Valley’s Brenda Weaver won the Class A 200-meter dash in 1988. Mahoney would also be the county’s first state track champion of either gender since Edgewood’s Zac Miller won the Division II 110-meter high hurdles in 2002.

Mahoney also advanced to the finals of the 200-meter dash. She has the third-fastest preliminary time of 25.76, with all of those times come out of the first qualifying heat. Candace Longino-Thomas of Gilmour Academy, to whom Mahoney finished second at last weekend’s regional meet at Navarre Fairless, was fastest at 24.53. Mahoney is still a half second off the Ashtabula County record in the event of 25.2 set by Pymatuning Valley’s Karen Konyha in 1987.

It was in the opening 100-meter dash that Mahoney topped even herself. By earning the eighth and last qualifying time in 12:58, she reached the finals of all three sprints at the state meet for the first time. She was fourth in the second qualifying heat. Longino-Thomas also recorded the top preliminary time in the 100-meter dash at 11.86. Mahoney was also second to her at last week’s regional in the event.

Still to hit the track among area girls is Edgewood’s junior distance runner Mallory Kreider. She enters today’s Division II competition in the 1600-meter run, which will be run at 1:35 p.m. as the fourth-fastest qualifier, while she has the top time entering the 3200-meter run at 2:40 p.m.

Ziemski will also return today for the Division II long jump and is a contender there as well. That will take place at 9 a.m.

She held the lead for much of the high jump, clearing the first three heights without a miss. But two misses at 5-3 and three at 5-4 pushed Ziemski to second.

There was only a mild sense of disappointment for Ziemski.

“I’m very pleased with my performance,” the Falcon junior said. “It’s great that I’m going to place, just to see how far I’ve come after finishing ninth last year. That was my goal this year, to place.

“It came down to the last six jumpers. I just missed on my second jump at 5-4, but I don’t regret anything.”

Jefferson coach Steve Locy was quite pleased with Ziemski’s showing, too.

“Lizzy’s been very consistent all year, and that’s what it takes in big meets,” he said. “I’m sure she would have liked to win, but if you can’t do that, second is pretty nice.

“She does so many of the things a good high jumper needs to do. She has a lot of confidence in her ability, and she’s a competitor.”

Both coach and athlete believe her performance Friday will have a positive impact today.

“I think she’ll be energized by this,” Locy said. “I know it’s something that’s going to motivate her next year to be the state champion, too. The best thing is, she’s going to be Academic All-Ohio off of this, which says a lot about her.

“The thing you have to remember, too, is that Lizzy did this without a facility to train on. Next year, she’ll have it (at Jefferson’s new athletic complex), which will definitely help her. Lizzy has represented Jefferson very well.”

“I’m going to take all this energy into (today),” Ziemski said. “It’s good preparation for (today). I’m going to take it for next year and use it, too.”

Mahoney achieved the first half of the goal she set for herself this year.

“My No. 1 goal was to place in three events,” she said. “I’m so glad that I’m going to do that. Now, I can really go for it.

“I felt really strong today in the 400. I felt I had a lot more to give in the last 100 of the race. I’m really ready for it (today). I really want to lower my (county) record (of 56.88 set at regional).

Reaching the finals of the 100- and 200-meter dashes was a little more scary.

“When I came to the last 50 meters or so of the 200, I knew I really had to turn it on,” Mahoney said. “When I got to third (in the heat), I wasn’t going to give it up.

“In the 100, I was worried about a false start, especially after one of the girls in the first heat did. That’s why I got out of the blocks so slow. I’ll do what I have to do (today).”

Now the hunt is on for bigger game.

“Our main thing today was to get Mary through in all three events,” coach Heather Halford said. “I thought she looked fantastic in the 400, had a great finish in the 200 and got the job done in the 100 even though she didn’t have a great start.

“Now, it’s absolutely time for her to go for broke. Hopefully, she can bring a gold medal home.”