2023 State Tournament Coverage

The Division I state tournament saw a repeat girls team champion, a first-time boys team champion, and the culmination of one of the great high school hurdling careers in state history.

 

Gahanna Lincoln, powered by senior hurdler Camden Bentley, posted 50 points to defend its team championship and win its fourth team title since 2015. Bentley won her third straight individual title in the 300m hurdles, second straight in the 100m hurdles and ran a leg on the 4x400m relay team that finished first and secured the team title. Adding in a first-place finish on the 4x200m relay team in 2022, Bentley finished her high school career with seven individual state titles and the fastest 100m hurdles time (13.27 seconds) ever recorded by a girl in the state of Ohio.

 

Holland Springfield’s Maira Scott sprinted her way into the record book while winning both the 100m and 200m dashes. Scott ran two of the three fastest 100m times in state tournament history (11.41 seconds in the semifinal, 11.42 in the final); her semifinal time was 0.03 seconds behind Abby Steiner’s state record set in 2018. Scott posted the third fastest time in state tournament history in the 200m, crossing the line in 23.20.

 

Katie Clute (Olmsted Falls) won the distance triple crown, winning the 1600m in 4:45.89 and defending her 3200m title with a time of 10:18.50 (second in state tournament history) after having won the individual cross country state title in the fall.  

 

Mason finished runner-up in the team standings with 43 points, while Westerville Central was third with 31.

 

On the boys side, Toledo St. John’s scored 35 points to win its first team title, edging defending champion Pickerington Central (29) and Lancaster (28). Caleb Kelly led the St. John’s contingent, finishing third in the 100m dash and fifth in the 200m dash, leading off the first-place 4x400m relay team and anchoring the 4x200m relay team that placed third. Joseph Taylor added a fourth in the 400m and anchored the winning 4x400m relay.

 

Pataskala Licking Heights’ DJ Fillmore set a pair of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium records en route to winning the 200m dash and the long jump. Fillmore posted a 20.80 in the 200m (second fastest in state tournament history) and defended his 2022 long jump title with a mark of 25-0.25 (also second in state tournament history).

 

Hilliard Davidson’s Connor Ackley earned a distance triple crown of his own, sweeping the 1600m (4:07.10) and 3200m (9:05.50) runs after winning the individual cross country title in the fall.

 

Jayden Douglas (Columbus Beechcroft) claimed both hurdles titles, winning the 110m race in 13.78 and the 300m in 36.46.

 

In the 100m dash, Pickerington Central’s Troy Lane defended his 2022 state title with a 10.37 in the semifinal and a 10.44 in the final. Lane concludes his high school career with the fastest 100m time in state history (10.25) and four of the seven fastest 100m times in state tournament history: 10.25 in the 2022 final (first), 10.37 in the 2023 semifinal (second), 10.44 in the 2023 final (third) and 10.49 in the 2022 semifinal (t-seventh).

 

The Division II track and field state tournament was highlighted by a historic individual performance and another team championship by one of the most successful programs in the state of Ohio.

 

Peninsula Woodridge won its first girls team title in dramatic fashion, scoring eight points in the meet’s final event to overcome one of the state tournament's all-time greatest individual efforts by Marengo Highland’s Juliette Laracuente-Huebner.

 

Laracuente-Huebner was Highland’s lone qualifier but finished first in the 100m hurdles, 200m dash, high jump and long jump, setting a new Division II state record in the high jump and new Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium high school record in the long jump. She joined Mentor’s Paige Floriea (2021) as the only girls, outside of the seated division, to win four events without being part of a relay team.

 

Highland was leading the team points race until Woodridge’s 4x400m relay team placed second to secure the team title. Woodridge had an individual champ in Anna Rorrer (300m hurdles) and two top-six finishers in the 800m run on its way to 45 team points. Highland finished second with 40 points thanks to Laracuente-Huebner, and Toledo Central Catholic placed third with 39 points.

 

Norton’s Morgan Hallett won her second straight state title in the discus, matching the Division II state record with a throw of 170-8. She also finished second in the shot put, after having won the event in 2022, with a mark of of 41-3.75.

 

Ottawa-Glandorf’s Alexa Fortman repeated her 2022 performance, winning both the 400m dash and 800m run, while Dayton Oakwood’s Bella Butler completed the distance triple crown: the 2022 Division II individual cross country champion finished first in both the 1600m and 3200m runs at the state track meet. 

 

Cleveland Glenville claimed the boys team title by piling up 60 points on the strength of its sprinters. Glenville won the 4x200m and 4x400m relays, finished second in the 4x100m relay and had two top-five finishers in both the 100m and 200m dashes. 

 

Glenville won its 18th team title, the most for any boys or girls program in any division.

 

Peninsula Woodridge finished second in the boys standings with 34 points, while Huron was third with 31.

 

Two Division II state records were broken during the state tournament. Creston Norwayne’s Dillon Morlock won the shot put with a throw of 65-0.25, and Columbus Marion-Franklin’s Dawayne Galloway posted a 21.18 in the 200m semifinals, only to see Bexley’s Mason Louis top his mark with a 21.14 in the finals. Toledo Central Catholic’s 4x100m relay team set a new state tournament record with a time of 41.54 seconds, just 0.01 off the state record set by Gates Mills Hawken in 2022.

 

Morlock added another individual state title in the discus, while Louis added a win in the 400m dash to his record-breaking performance in the 200m. 

 

Hanoverton United’s Kaleb Nastari established himself as one of the top high school 800m runners of all time, while Maria Stein Marion Local (boys) and Elmore Woodmore (girls) claimed team championships at the Division III state tournament.

 

Nastari won his second straight 800m state title in 1:48.31, the top mark for any high schooler in America in 2023, the fastest time for any boy in Ohio history, and the ninth fastest time in the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) record book.

 

Marion Local won its first boys team championship with 38 points, while Columbus Grove and Bainbridge Paint Valley tied for second with 30.

 

Marion Local was led by pole vault champ Nate Buschur, 300m hurdles runner-up Owen Rindler, and top-three finishes in the 4x400m (second) and 4x100m (third) relays.

 

Paint Valley’s 30 team points all came from Cole Miller, who won the 100m dash, 200m dash and the long jump. Sabina East Clinton’s Brylan Holland, meanwhile, completed the distance triple crown, winning both the 1600m and 3200m runs after having claimed the Division III individual cross country championship in the fall.

 

Elmore Woodmore, which tied for the girls team title in 1993, won its first outright championship with 37 points, followed by Creston Norwayne (34) and Minster (30).

 

Woodmore’s Azure Travis swept the hurdles, winning the 100m hurdles in 14.42 seconds and the 300m hurdles in 43.82. She also ran the anchor leg on Woodmore’s 4x400m relay team that finished runner-up and secured the team title.

 

Haviland Wayne Trace’s Sydnee Sinn was part of a pair of state record breaking performances, winning the 400m dash in 55.00 and running the anchor leg of Wayne Trace’s 4x400m relay that finished first in a state record time of 3:54.85. Sinn also won the 400 in 2022.

 

Minster’s Taylor Roth won her second straight individual title in the 800, crossing the line in 2:11.72, and for the second year in a row anchored a Minster 4x800m relay team that won a state title. She also anchored the Minster 4x400m relay team that placed fourth.

 

Freshmen stole the show of the seated division, winning six of the eight events. Massillon Perry freshman Ahsha DiPietro won the girls 100m and 400m, while Garrettsville Garfield’s Conner Hunt won the boys 100m, 400m and 800m and West Lafayette Ridgewood freshman Cody Croy won the boys shot put. Streetsboro junior Milena Sobie took first place in the girls 800m and shot put.

 

 

Mobile tickets for the state tournament are available through Ticketmaster beginning Tuesday, May 23 at 10 a.m. The direct link to the event on Ticketmaster is: https://go.osu.edu/ohsaatrackandfieldtix. Tickets can be purchased on site at the Coveli Center, located just to the north of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

     Note that tickets purchased at Ticketmaster prior to arrival at the state tournament are the same cost as tickets purchase on site.  

 

Guests coming to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium for the state track and field meet should use State Route 315 and either the Ackerman Road exit or the Lane Avenue exit. For reference, Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium is located at 2450 Fred Taylor Drive, Columbus, Ohio. Please follow the direction of the traffic and parking attendants for the nearest available parking, which will be free in identified lots both days of the state tournament. In other lots, a parking fee will apply, payable by credit card.

 

Each participating schools is given three complimentary admissions to the state tournament. Those three school administrators shall enter through the southwest corner Media Gate.  

 

Participant packets will be available for pick-up inside the lobby of the Schumaker Complex, which is located just east of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Packets are available for pick-up Thursday between 4:00 and 6:00 (see later walk-through note) and then Friday and Saturday starting at 8:00 AM.

     Facility map: https://ohsaaweb.blob.core.windows.net/files/Sports/Track-Field/2022/Track&FieldFacilityDiagram.pdf

 

School busses and vehicles marked as “School Transportation” should travel southbound on Olentangy River Road, then turn right onto Irving Schottenstein Drive, which is located just south of the Ackerman Road intersection. School vehicles will be parked along Irving Schottenstein Drive, which is located on the north side of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

 

Only the track at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium (not the shot put or discus areas) will be open from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Thursday, June 1, for state qualifiers to visit. No implements (including batons, hurdles, starter blocks, shot puts, discus, etc.) are permitted. The facility will not open until exactly 4 p.m. and will close promptly at 6 p.m. On Thursday, ALL VEHICLES must pay the automatic teller machines for the hourly rate. Parking is free on Friday and Saturday.

 

Only pyramid spikes no longer than 1/4" are permitted. Needle spikes and Christmas tree spikes are not permitted. The clerks will be checking spike length just before the races and at check-in. If a competitor is in violation of this rule, he/she will not be allowed to participate.

 

RVs are permitted to park in the Buckeye Lot #2, which is located just north of the shot put and discus areas (west of Fred Taylor Drive). RVs that arrive on Thursday must use the pay-to-park and purchase three parking spaces. Parking is free beginning Friday morning in designated lots.

 

Temporary tents are not permitted in the pole vault area at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

 

Schools that have a state qualifier in pole vault or high jump will receive one infield pass for a coach. Only one pass is given per school. The passes are specific for event, division and gender and are valid only when those competitions are being held.