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Local athletes claim podium finishes at State Track meet
COLUMBUS — A clear blue sky.
Pleasant temperatures.
It was a perfect day for a state track and field meet, one that many of the elite athletes assembled at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium welcomed after a spring of all kinds of other weather .
The state of Ohio held its 2009 State Track and Field Championships on the campus of Ohio State University Friday on just such a day.
In the Division III finals held during the morning and afternoon, the top finisher of the area’s athletes was Columbus Grove junior Dylan Vogt, who claimed third in the boys discus.
He literally waited until his last throw to uncork the clincher: 161 feet, 9 inches.
“I just figured I was going to throw it with everything. There was nothing more to wait for, no other meet, nothing to lose,” Vogt explained. “I knew I had a good one in me; I had thrown 164 feet at regionals.”
It was particularly sweet, especially since he was on the borderline to even making the final nine.
“I felt the pressure to get into the finals. Once I got there, I thought it went away,” he said.
He becomes the latest in a long line of Grove track and field athletes to do well in the field events.
“There’s a legacy there that is a privilege to add to. That’s a great feeling to be a part of it,” he added. “It’s truly amazing when you look at former greats coming back to help you out or encourage you. Again, I consider it a privilege to wear the Grove jersey.”
St. John’s senior Jay Leininger took in a fifth place in the boys pole vault.
According to assistant coach Dave Greaves, he became the best finisher in the 9-year history the Jays have had the event in their repertoire.
“I’ll take it. I did pretty well today; I got my personal record,” Leininger noted. “At the end, I just had some problems with the longer pole. I had just used it for the first time at regionals; I borrowed it from St. Henry. There’s a lot of that sharing of poles among schools; it cuts down costs. I just couldn’t quite get a handle on it because it’s stiffer than what I am used to.”
Leininger was able to overcome a shoulder injury that stymied him earlier in the year to finish in Columbus.
Earlier, he had helped the Jays 4×100-meter relay to a third-place finish in the overall preliminaries, setting up a chance for the unit (classmates Cameron Hermiller and Collin Etzkorn and sophomore Evan Burgei) to defend its 2008 title, minus Burgei.
“I can just focus on that (today) now. We’ll be ready to go,” he added.
“It was not our best (43.60) but it gives us room to improve for the finals. It’s not about winning in the prelims, it’s about advancing to the finals,” Hermiller noted. “I’m still not 100 percent yet from my injury but we were still right there. I’m taking it one day at a time.”
Etzkorn figured that handoffs will be the key in the finals.
“We were a little off with those today and still ran a good time,” he said.
The Ottoville girls 4×800-meter relay of juniors Molly Maag and Holly Heitmeyer and sophomores Kari Beining and Shayla Siefker finished fifth (9:40.12) in the first race of the morning — the first final of the championships.
“We really wanted it this year after finishing sixth last year,” Siefker stated.
The time was five seconds (9:40.12) off the group’s best time this year.
“We knew it would be tough competition, especially with Versailles and Gates Mills,” Maag said. “We actually run better the better the competition; it pushes us to go harder.”
It was a different time than normal for the group to run, starting at 9:30 a.m.
“We didn’t run our fastest race but we gave it our best,” Beining observed. “We wanted to be competitive with the other teams and we did that. We came here to get on the podium and we accomplished that goal.”
Maag and Siefker have had their share of the spotlight previously, running in the state cross country meet last fall and the season before, as well as last spring’s state track meet.
“It’s always exciting to come down here for any sport. We get the same kind of fan support at either cross country or track,” Siefker noted.
Maag concurred.
“It just gets your adrenaline going. It’s nice to get the first race out of the way and have the nerves out of the way,” she added. “We didn’t have a lot of time to say a cheer or anything like that, so we said a little prayer while we were lining up and gave each other a high five.”
Later on, however, that same foursome failed to advance into the finals in the 4×400-meter relay preliminaries.
Spencerville junior Tyler Obringer also grabbed fifth place in the boys shot put.
“I have been throwing really well the last two weeks, upping my personal record by six feet. I’m happy with finishing fifth,” he began. “I’m in second place in the Spencerville top 10 in the event and my goal is to get into first place next year.”
He viewed his performance as redemption for the disappointment left over from the state wrestling meet.
“I was projected to win the heavyweight division but because of my elbow injury, I simply couldn’t wrestle. I was angry about that,” Obringer added. “I did get over it and as soon as I could, coach (Rick) Orr and I started working on my strength, getting my bench and squat back up to normal.
“I wanted to prove to everybody that I was healthy and ready to go. My elbow is healthy. The disappointment of state wrestling motivated me to do well here. This also prepares me for next spring.”
His senior teammate, Clint Eagy, finished seventh in the pole vault.
“I had hoped to get better but I couldn’t get into the 15-foot pole. It probably did get into my head a little bit,” he observed.
He was still pleased that he had come all the way back from a back injury that kept him from vaulting last spring.
“I didn’t do too bad coming off of that. I had a great senior season and ended it pretty well,” he added.
A pair of Columbus Grove seniors: Kimberly Selhorst and Derek Schroeder; did not get to the podium in their respective events.
Selhorst did not reach the finals in the long jump, while Schroeder did not make in the boys high jump.
Jefferson senior Tim Sanders qualified to the finals in a pair of events: the 300-meter hurdles, standing fourth; and the 110-meter hurdles, sixth.
“The big thing is to advance in both of them. If you don’t move on today, there is no tomorrow,” he said. “I was more happy with my time in the 300 meters (39.56) than in the 110s (15.15) but the 300 is my best race. I am not the fastest guy out there — though I have some speed — but my technique is good and it’s consistent. I did have a misstep coming around the last turn in the 300s and that cost me a couple of spots, so I know I can go faster.
“I feel more pressure in the 300s because I finished third last year and the first two guys graduated, so I expect to win it.”
In between the races, he ran in the 100-meter dash but did not advance.
“I knew I was a long shot; I had the 14th-best time coming in. Still, it was nice to accomplish one more thing my senior year that I didn’t do before; get to state in a third event,” he added. “It actually might help me (today) not having the 100 to race, so I can concentrate on just the hurdles.
“For where I came from nine months ago, I am very happy to get to the finals.”
The Lady Jays 4×100-meter relay qualified fourth (50.24) (senior Lindsey Looser, junior anchor Allison Reindel and sophomores Gabrielle Metzner and Bailey Calvelage.
“It’s nice with all the injuries Lindsey and I have had to deal with. We’ve been banged up and still qualified to the state finals,” Reindel noted. “We’ve just had to push through the injuries.
“This team was put together right around the MAC (Midwest Athletic Conference) meet, so we haven’t peaked yet.”
Spencerville senior Pete McCollow qualified fourth in the 400-meter dash.
“I was hurting (injured knee) and the last 100 meters was tough. I was hoping it wouldn’t blow up on me,” he observed. “I knew I had to give it all I had left to advance to the finals. I am pleased about that.”
It helps to offset not making it to state in the pole vault, where he finished seventh a year ago.
“It was a big deal then but I’m also thankful to God for having this opportunity. Not many people get the chance to run at state in any event,” he added. “The line between being at the top of your physical abilities and being injured is as thin as a sheet of paper; that’s why you see a lot of people get hurt down here.”
The Jefferson 4×2 girls relay: sophomores Bridget Culp, Emily Fought and Morgan Fischbach and freshman Kennedy Boggs, had to wait — and wait — until finding out that they clinched the eighth spot in the finals.
Culp — who has been battling her own injury woes — let out a sigh of relief.
“That was tough to wait for, but it was worth it. We wanted to get on the podium after getting here last year and not making it,” she said. “We were so much more relaxed this year; last year, it was overwhelming with all the people and how quickly they move you in and out.”
The quartet put in a time of 1:46.41.
Boggs and her enthusiasm spoke volumes for the rest of the group.
“This is exciting. It’s so exciting,” she added over and over.
Columbus Grove’s girls 4×2 relay (seniors Kimberly Selhorst and Ella Diller, junior Paige Heffner and freshman Brooke Brubaker) put in a time of 1:45.68, good enough for fifth place in the finals this morning.
However, their 4×1 relay (Selhorst, Diller, Heffner and junior Emily Stephens) did not, running a 50.55 to finish out of the running.
The Spencerville 4×800-meter girls relay of juniors Lyndie Brown and Ashley Gilroy, sophomore Claire McConnell and freshman Kelli Ley ended up 14th (9:57.98).
Schroeder’s final race ended in the boys 400-meter semifinals, where he did not advance to the finals.
The St. John’s 4×400-meter boys relay: Etzkorn, senior Aaron Hackwrorth, junior Scott Recker and sophomore AJ Klausing; did not advance into the finals.
Looser decided to withdraw from the girls 100-meter semifinals.
Racing in today’s finals are Siefker in the girls 1,600-meter run; Maag in the girls 800-meter run; Brown and Gilroy in the girls 3,200-meter run. and Ley in the girls 800-meter run.
It all starts at 9:30 a.m.
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