THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH •  |  Sunday, June 4, 2017 C15
high schools
Boys track
Depth carries Thomas Worthington to title
By Steve Blackledge
The Columbus Dispatch
Coach Bill Darling
seemed as surprised as
anyone that his Thomas
Worthington track team
came away from Jesse
Owens Memorial Sta-
dium on Saturday night
hoisting the Division I
trophy.
“It’s just amazing that
we could come away
with the title scoring as
many points as we did
and winning only one
event,” Darling said. “It’s
a testament to our team
approach. We brought
eight kids here and every
one of them got on the
awards stand.”
Little did Darling real-
ize that his competition
would come from the
Ohio Capital Confer-
ence. With 36 points, the
Cardinals outscored dis-
trict rivals Gahanna (31)
and Canal Winchester
(29) for their first title
since 1999. Olentangy
Orange (25) and Reyn-
oldsburg (24) followed in
Girls track
Steiner runs down state record, rivals
By Steve Blackledge
The Columbus Dispatch
Three times Abby
Steiner motored down
the final straightaway
Saturday, providing the
overflow crowd at Ohio
State’s Jesse Owens
Memorial Stadium with
rare “wow” moments
reserved for Ohio’s
all-time greats in high
school track and field.
The Dublin Coff-
man junior broke a
10-year-old state record
in winning her third
straight 200 meters
(23.56 seconds), added
a second victory in the
100 (11.61) and provided
the most electrifying
moment of the weekend,
running down two rivals
on her anchor leg to give
Coffman a repeat win in
the 800 relay (1:38.34).
She was clocked in 23
flat. It was a virtual repeat
of last year’s relay with
the same three teams:
Coffman, Gahanna and
Cincinnati Withrow.
Thomas Worthington team members accept the Division I championship trophy at Jesse Owens
Memorial Stadium. [Brooke LaValley/Dispatch]
fourth and fifth place.
The Cardinals won the
3,200 relay on Friday
and Arjun Jha finished
second in the 1,600
(4:09.09).
“Honestly, I had no
idea we were even in the
hunt until people start-
ing coming up before
the last couple of events
Dublin Coffman’s Abby Steiner wins the Division I 100-meter dash state title. She also won the
200 meters and helped the 800 relay place first. [Brooke LaValley/Dispatch]
“The feeling is inde-
scribable, accomplishing
all of my goals in my
favorite meet of the
year,” Steiner said. “The
200 was the most mean-
ingful record because,
frankly, I didn’t expect
it. It was just as thrilling
coming back in the relay.
My favorite thing to do is
and telling me we had it
won,” Darling said. “I
just came here trying to
score as many points as
we could.”
Gahanna contended
with the help of a win
in the meet-ending
1,600 relay (3:14.9), and
LaCarr Trent was second
in the 100 (10.73) and ran
catch people, and I don’t
have many opportunities
to that. It’s something
special for me to share
with my teammates.”
The performance came
10 months after Steiner
suffered a torn ACL
that cost her the soccer
season and much of the
indoor track season.
on the Lions’ second-
place 400 relay (41.73)
Meanwhile, Lonzell
Feagin was a points
machine for Canal Win-
chester, winning the 100
(10.68) and 400 (47.31),
finishing second in the
200 (21.56) and adding
another point in the long
jump.
Withrow won the
team title with 58 points,
with Gahanna (51) taking
runner-up. In 2016,
Withrow outscored the
Gahanna 64-53 after the
rivals shared the cham-
pionship in 2015.
Coffman (39) and
Pickerington Central
(31) followed, capping a
“This has been build-
ing for the past couple
years,” said Feagin, a
Pittsburgh signee. “This
was a goal, to win state in
an event or two, coming
into the season. I ran
cross country in the fall
just to get my stamina
and strength up for the
400. I can’t describe how
great this falls, especially
considering the hard
work that went into it.”
Max Frye of New
Albany also had a
remarkable day, win-
ning the 110 high hurdles
(13.94) and 300 interme-
diate hurdles (37.37).
Other area winners in
Division I were fresh-
man Malachi McGill of
Hilliard Darby in the 800
(1:53.28), Travis Marx of
Reynoldsburg in the 200
(21.18) and Hunter Moore
of Olentangy Orange in
the 3,200 (8:58.47).
Taylor Hopkins of
Heath had a terrific Divi-
sion II meet, winning the
800 (1:54.46) and taking
second in the 1,600
(4:14.65).
dominant performance
by area athletes. Central
Ohio individuals and
relay teams won eight of
the 17 events.
Other area wins came
from India Johnson of
Hilliard Davidson in the
3,200 (10:23.84), Hope
Purcell of Lancaster in
the long jump (19-1¼),
Natalie Price of Granville
in the 400 (52.96), Gia
Napoleon of Thomas
Worthington in the 800
(2:07.47) and Gahanna’s
1,600 relay (3:46.74).
Johnson, Price and
Gahanna’s 1,600 relay
repeated their titles of a
year ago. Purcell added
a second-place finish in
the high jump (5-8), and
Price was second behind
Steiner in the 100 (11.94).
Aziza Ayoub of
Jonathan Alder defended
her Division II title in
the 800 (2:09.11) but
came up two-tenths of
a second shy of setting
the state record she has
chased all season.
“Originally, I said I
“I got to that moment
(in the 800) when I was
kind of dying, but I’ve
after getting nosed out in
the 1,600, there’s no way
I was giving up,” he said.
I’ve been wanting this
for three years.”
In the Division III
meet, Isaac Naayers
of Fairfield Christian
won the 400 (49.19)
and Austin Hallabrin of
Mount Gilead capped his
career with a win in the
800 (1:52.54).
Boasting a state-best
in the high jump, Naay-
ers scratched from the
event last week because
of a partially torn ham-
string, but it didn’t seem
to bother him in the 400.
“I never had thought
about winning the state
in the 400 until (Friday)
when I had one of the top
qualifying times,” Naay-
ers said. “I thought the
high jump was my only
chance.””
sblackledge@
dispatch.com
@BlackiePreps
wanted to run 2:05, but
this was the last race of
my high school career
and all I’m thinking
about is soaking in the
moment,” said Ayoub, an
Ohio State signee. “I was
so focused, I don’t even
know who was around
me during the race.”
Beechcroft freshman
Makiya Montgomery
capped a dream freshman
season by winning the
100 (11.98) and finishing
second in the 200 (24.8)
and fourth in the 400.
“My goals were either
to win or finish run-
ner-up in every race,”
Montgomery said. “I felt
most confident in the
100 because I can just
give my all the whole
way. I’m really excited
about winning.”
The only Division
III area champion was
Kyleigh Edwards of
Fairfield Christian in the
3,200 (10:40).
sblackledge@dispatch.com
@BlackiePreps