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COLUMBUS — A quick glance at the heat sheets for the relay finals Saturday night looked more like the Richland County Invitational than the Division III Jesse Owens State Track and Field Championships.
Only the 4x200 and 4x400 for the boys didn't feature an area team. Across the other four, 10 teams were in action.
"I think having familiarity when you're running is always a good thing," Clear Fork senior Devyn Oswalt said. "Going into this with teams you've never seen before, it's hard to judge how fast they are. Seed times are one thing, but if numbers were how you did track, then nobody would run, it would just be seed times.
"Having that familiarity helped a lot, and obviously we were pushing each other. The MOAC as a whole is pretty friendly ... being able to run with Shelby and Ontario, being able to talk to these guys throughout the season, it's just really good competition."
The boys 4x100 featured all three rivals from the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with the Whippets running the fastest time (41.30) in Ohio across all divisions for a state title; the Colts were third with a 42.03 and the Warriors were fifth at 42.09.
"We've pushed each other all season," Ontario junior Jermel Powell said. "I'm just proud of everybody in the conference representing. It's amazing to see all three of us here."
Thanks to a weather delay lasting from 4:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the relay initially slated for 6:42 p.m. started almost three hours later.
"It was definitely unexpected," Ontario junior Elton Toska said. "But it was great conditions and a very memorable moment. Getting to state, it's all our first time being here, we couldn't ask for a better time or better experience."
"The environment is like it's Friday Night Lights," Clear Fork junior Davis Hoeflich added.
For the Colts, the delay might've been a blessing in disguise. It led to the Division III finals moving to a rolling schedule with virtually no downtime between events.
"I think the delay was perfect for us, this was our only event today so we were all ready for it," junior Marcus Hoeflich said. "Having the rolling schedule, we were ready to go and maybe other teams weren't."
Add on coming into the race with somewhat of a chip on their shoulder and it's easy to see why the Colts ran their fastest time of the season.
"Coming in today seeded ninth is not the best feeling, but we know what we can do," junior Nash Evans said. "We know we were seeded second before we got here ... we're a fast team."
Fast they were, just like Glenville in fourth and Ontario in fifth. The three teams were separated by a mere six-hundredths of a second.
"We're proud of how come how far we've come, we've really improved since the beginning of the year," Ontario freshman Trevor Breitinger said. "We're proud of our time, we don't mind about our place because we have next year, everyone is back. We're just happy to be in this moment and experience this."
Earlier in the night it was Ontario and Clear Fork duking it out in the 4x200 relay. The Warriors quartet of freshman Mia Moton, seniors Tessa Crum and Sasha Bulakovski, and junior Audrey Mahon placed third with a 1:42.05 one year after finishing as runner-up.
“It is so bittersweet knowing it is my last race with Tessa and Sasha,” Mahon said. “I was in Mia’s spot when I was a freshman and they took me under their wings. I am proud to anchor this race for them, I love the pressure.”
Moton is the newcomer to the group and excelled in her freshman season. She got better as the season unfolded and leaned heavily on her teammates.
“I learned a lot from these girls,” Moton said. “They taught me how to stay calm and focused which really helped me this year. They told me to not even worry about the crowd here and just think about what I needed to do on the backstretch. That helped so much in this race.”
Crum was pleasantly surprised by Moton this season.
“It means a lot to have Mia come in as a freshman and show just how good she is and will be in the future,” Crum said. “She is going to be very exciting to see what she does in the future. I am sad it’s my last 4x200, so it’s a bittersweet feeling.”
The Warriors weren’t ready for their time together to come to an end so they weren’t all that broken hearted when severe weather caused the state meet to go into a delay. They ended up running their race under the lights making it that much more special.
“It gave us more time to get used to the state meet atmosphere and to understand how to run in the dark,” Bulakovski said. “We have never run in the dark here, so it was new for all of us and we adapted well. We spent more time together and I am thankful for that because we aren’t ready for it all to be over.”
The Colts foursome of Katie Beck, Asia Bechtel, Taylor Richmond and Taylor Bly finished fifth with a 1:42.80 as just three-quarters of a second separated third and fifth.
"The delay really set us back a little bit because it was kind of random and it was a lot on our bodies just walking around everywhere and having to go back inside," Beck said. "But once we were on the track, we all just came together, our mindsets were back to where we're supposed to be."
And once they saw the Warriors lined up right next to them, some of the nerves faded.
"It helps us get like prepared for coming to a bigger stage," Richmond said. "And we've known them for a while, it helps calm things down because we know people who are racing against us."
In the 4x100 it was Shelby and Lexington in a Richland County rivalry clash. And though it was the Whippets coming out on top with a state title running a 47.76, Lady Lex found their way to the podium placing fifth (49.45).
"This being my first true year doing track, I was very nervous," senior Tatum Stover said. "But I knew that we knew what we were doing going in ... starting off was very nerve-wracking, but I have faith in them and I knew that we were gonna perform well."
Believing in each other was key in what wasn't a perfect race for the Minutemen.
"Some of our handoffs were a little bit like on edge, we were trying to fix them up a little bit today," freshman Olivia Thomas said. "But I'm still really happy with how we placed overall. We put a lot of work in with this team, so I'm really happy with how we did."
The girls 4x400 saw Ontario, Clear Fork, and Lexington clash for the final this this season and they all left it on the track.
Ontario successfully defended its state title by just shy of two seconds ahead of the Colts (3:55.05) in second. The same lineup — swap junior Quinn Stover for Richmond — that reached the podium earlier in the 4x200 did the same in the 4x400.
"We were pretty happy with how we did ... we worked well together," Stover said. "We've definitely had some great competition this year. It has been very competive and I think our team did a great job staying with everybody and keeping that competitiveness up."
Lexington was seventh after running a marginally slower time than in preliminaries, but still ended the season squeezing freshmen Mia Twedt and Olivia Thomas, with junior Sylvia Secrist and senior Allison Laury on the podium square.
"I was really happy," Twedt said. "I was going into it with an open mind just wanting to do the best I can. This is my first state meet, and I just wanted to do what I could, I'm very happy with the results."
She also placed third in the 800-meter run with a personal best time of 2:12.87, a drop of more than two seconds. And this all came after navigating a delay.
"You just have to stay in the zone," Twedt said. "Everyone's in the same conditions ... it's just a mental (battle), where your headspace is. You have to be ready and be prepared, you can't blame it on the delay.
"You just have to be ready to get out there."
[email protected] | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County relays fill up spots on the podium on Day 3 of state
Continue reading...
Only the 4x200 and 4x400 for the boys didn't feature an area team. Across the other four, 10 teams were in action.
"I think having familiarity when you're running is always a good thing," Clear Fork senior Devyn Oswalt said. "Going into this with teams you've never seen before, it's hard to judge how fast they are. Seed times are one thing, but if numbers were how you did track, then nobody would run, it would just be seed times.
"Having that familiarity helped a lot, and obviously we were pushing each other. The MOAC as a whole is pretty friendly ... being able to run with Shelby and Ontario, being able to talk to these guys throughout the season, it's just really good competition."
The boys 4x100 featured all three rivals from the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference with the Whippets running the fastest time (41.30) in Ohio across all divisions for a state title; the Colts were third with a 42.03 and the Warriors were fifth at 42.09.
"We've pushed each other all season," Ontario junior Jermel Powell said. "I'm just proud of everybody in the conference representing. It's amazing to see all three of us here."
Thanks to a weather delay lasting from 4:45 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., the relay initially slated for 6:42 p.m. started almost three hours later.
"It was definitely unexpected," Ontario junior Elton Toska said. "But it was great conditions and a very memorable moment. Getting to state, it's all our first time being here, we couldn't ask for a better time or better experience."
"The environment is like it's Friday Night Lights," Clear Fork junior Davis Hoeflich added.
For the Colts, the delay might've been a blessing in disguise. It led to the Division III finals moving to a rolling schedule with virtually no downtime between events.
"I think the delay was perfect for us, this was our only event today so we were all ready for it," junior Marcus Hoeflich said. "Having the rolling schedule, we were ready to go and maybe other teams weren't."
Add on coming into the race with somewhat of a chip on their shoulder and it's easy to see why the Colts ran their fastest time of the season.
"Coming in today seeded ninth is not the best feeling, but we know what we can do," junior Nash Evans said. "We know we were seeded second before we got here ... we're a fast team."
Fast they were, just like Glenville in fourth and Ontario in fifth. The three teams were separated by a mere six-hundredths of a second.
"We're proud of how come how far we've come, we've really improved since the beginning of the year," Ontario freshman Trevor Breitinger said. "We're proud of our time, we don't mind about our place because we have next year, everyone is back. We're just happy to be in this moment and experience this."
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Girls relays bring home multiple All-Ohio medals
Earlier in the night it was Ontario and Clear Fork duking it out in the 4x200 relay. The Warriors quartet of freshman Mia Moton, seniors Tessa Crum and Sasha Bulakovski, and junior Audrey Mahon placed third with a 1:42.05 one year after finishing as runner-up.
“It is so bittersweet knowing it is my last race with Tessa and Sasha,” Mahon said. “I was in Mia’s spot when I was a freshman and they took me under their wings. I am proud to anchor this race for them, I love the pressure.”
Moton is the newcomer to the group and excelled in her freshman season. She got better as the season unfolded and leaned heavily on her teammates.
“I learned a lot from these girls,” Moton said. “They taught me how to stay calm and focused which really helped me this year. They told me to not even worry about the crowd here and just think about what I needed to do on the backstretch. That helped so much in this race.”
Crum was pleasantly surprised by Moton this season.
“It means a lot to have Mia come in as a freshman and show just how good she is and will be in the future,” Crum said. “She is going to be very exciting to see what she does in the future. I am sad it’s my last 4x200, so it’s a bittersweet feeling.”
The Warriors weren’t ready for their time together to come to an end so they weren’t all that broken hearted when severe weather caused the state meet to go into a delay. They ended up running their race under the lights making it that much more special.
“It gave us more time to get used to the state meet atmosphere and to understand how to run in the dark,” Bulakovski said. “We have never run in the dark here, so it was new for all of us and we adapted well. We spent more time together and I am thankful for that because we aren’t ready for it all to be over.”
The Colts foursome of Katie Beck, Asia Bechtel, Taylor Richmond and Taylor Bly finished fifth with a 1:42.80 as just three-quarters of a second separated third and fifth.
"The delay really set us back a little bit because it was kind of random and it was a lot on our bodies just walking around everywhere and having to go back inside," Beck said. "But once we were on the track, we all just came together, our mindsets were back to where we're supposed to be."
And once they saw the Warriors lined up right next to them, some of the nerves faded.
"It helps us get like prepared for coming to a bigger stage," Richmond said. "And we've known them for a while, it helps calm things down because we know people who are racing against us."
In the 4x100 it was Shelby and Lexington in a Richland County rivalry clash. And though it was the Whippets coming out on top with a state title running a 47.76, Lady Lex found their way to the podium placing fifth (49.45).
"This being my first true year doing track, I was very nervous," senior Tatum Stover said. "But I knew that we knew what we were doing going in ... starting off was very nerve-wracking, but I have faith in them and I knew that we were gonna perform well."
Believing in each other was key in what wasn't a perfect race for the Minutemen.
"Some of our handoffs were a little bit like on edge, we were trying to fix them up a little bit today," freshman Olivia Thomas said. "But I'm still really happy with how we placed overall. We put a lot of work in with this team, so I'm really happy with how we did."
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Thriller in the girls nightcap
The girls 4x400 saw Ontario, Clear Fork, and Lexington clash for the final this this season and they all left it on the track.
Ontario successfully defended its state title by just shy of two seconds ahead of the Colts (3:55.05) in second. The same lineup — swap junior Quinn Stover for Richmond — that reached the podium earlier in the 4x200 did the same in the 4x400.
"We were pretty happy with how we did ... we worked well together," Stover said. "We've definitely had some great competition this year. It has been very competive and I think our team did a great job staying with everybody and keeping that competitiveness up."
Lexington was seventh after running a marginally slower time than in preliminaries, but still ended the season squeezing freshmen Mia Twedt and Olivia Thomas, with junior Sylvia Secrist and senior Allison Laury on the podium square.
"I was really happy," Twedt said. "I was going into it with an open mind just wanting to do the best I can. This is my first state meet, and I just wanted to do what I could, I'm very happy with the results."
She also placed third in the 800-meter run with a personal best time of 2:12.87, a drop of more than two seconds. And this all came after navigating a delay.
"You just have to stay in the zone," Twedt said. "Everyone's in the same conditions ... it's just a mental (battle), where your headspace is. You have to be ready and be prepared, you can't blame it on the delay.
"You just have to be ready to get out there."
[email protected] | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Richland County relays fill up spots on the podium on Day 3 of state
Continue reading...
