Bolin, Kuhn, Martin, Goings, Holbrook chief headliners at 91st Mehock Relays

James Simpson II, Ashland Times-Gazette

Sun, Apr 14, 2024, 2:28 PM·8 min read

MANSFIELD − The 91st edition of the Mehock Relays, one of the most prestigious high school track and field events in all of Ohio, took place on Saturday and in terms of how the two Ashland County school participants − Crestview and Ashland − came out, we'd say not bad at all.

Here were the main highlights and storylines from Saturday's Mehock Relays:

More: Clear Fork's Stupka, Shelby's cast, shine at 90th annual Mehock Relays

More: Ashland County Track and Field athletes to watch this spring

Crestview's Bolin and Kuhn win field events

Coming back from injury as an athlete after missing an entire season in any sport is never an easy ordeal. That's what Crestview's Wade Bolin was up against coming into his senior season. Bolin suffered an ACL injury during the 2022 football season as a junior that resulted in him missing the entire 2023 track season. A Division III state qualifier in both the shot put and discus in 2022, Bolin came back humming on Saturday at the Mehock Relays.

Bolin won the discus event earlier in the day, then made the move over to shot put, where he placed third overall.

Crestview's Wade Bolin won the discus event on Saturday.

"I started off pretty bad," said Bolin, on the discus. "I tried to stay mentally focused. Eventually it came out. After my first throw, I was in eighth place. After my second throw, I started to get going. I think I got more confident and changed things up a bit."

Bolin would change things up alright. He set a personal record by throwing the disc 172 feet on the day. River Valley's Ethan Lyon who finished as the runner-up, reached 167 feet.

For the shot put, 53-feet-8 was Bolin's furthest throw.

"I've been kind of in the same spot for awhile in the shot put but I'm staying consistent and staying in the same spot," Bolin said, who mentioned he's had a smoother transition coming back from injury in the discus more than in the shot put. "Hopefully in the next couple of weeks, I will start climbing."

Crestview's Wade Bolin competing in the shot put at the Mehock Relays.

But in many ways, Bolin is just happy to be back competing again.

"It's so nice to be back. Track is like another family to me," Bolin said. "I love being out here with all my teammates. Definitely missed it a lot last year."

Bolin's teammate Liam Kuhn was another Cougar that won an individual event on Saturday, as the sophomore in a relatively small field took first place in the pole vault.

"I don't know why but there wasn't many," said Kuhn, after his victory. "I usually jump with 19 pole vaulters but there was only eight today in the competition."

Never matter the low number of participants, Kuhn's highest clearest was 13-6, tying him with East Kentwood's Reece Emeott, but Kuhn had the fewer misses which propelled him to victory. Towards the end, Kuhn was attempting to clear 14-6 to beat his PR earlier in the season, yet missed on a few tries.

Crestview's Liam Kuhn finished first in the pole vault at the Mehock Relays.

"I couldn't really figure out my standards for my 14-foot jump," Kuhn explained, who finished sixth at Mehock last year. "I was over it and then came down on it multiple times."

Kuhn then dived into what it's been like in the early part of the season not having that constant push in the pole vault that he had last year from teammate Shawn Bailey, when both finished 1-2 in a good number of track meets, including the pair being All-Ohioans (Bailey 5th; Kuhn 6th) at last year's state meet in Columbus.

Crestview's Liam Kuhn's highest clearance on the day was 13-feet-6.

"Yeah, it's different," Kuhn said. "He still texts me and all that. I send him the videos of my vaults, so he sees it and tells me what I need to work on. He's having fun in college (track and field athlete at Indiana Tech) jumping but yeah it's different."

Ashland's two hurdlers step it up

What a difference a year makes.

At this moment, that statement would surely apply for Ashland's bright hurdling duo of Braydon Martin and Jayden Goings. That would be in the 110 and 300 hurdles, where the two are fast becoming oh so reliable in stirring up high placing finishes in both events.

Last year at Mehock, neither Martin or Goings qualified for the 110 hurdles final. In the 300 hurdles final, Martin finished 9th and Goings 10th. This time around on Saturday, the duo placed in the top five in both events. In the 110 hurdles, Martin finished fourth (14.99) and right next to him was Goings in fifth (15.17). Later on in the 300 hurdles, Martin placed second (39.60), while Goings went third (41.07). Both ended up on the podium, where they received medals (top eight finishers in each event).

Ashland hurdlers Braydon Martin (middle) and Jayden Goings (right) competed in the 110 hurdles final at the 91st Mehock Relays on Saturday.

Another cool fact: they each PR'd in the 110 hurdles final, with Martin repeating that in the 300 hurdles final.

"I PR'd in the 110 hurdles," said Martin. "This meet is awesome. I love this meet just for the fact that there's always somebody here faster and pushes you. This is the best comp [competition] we'll see until districts."

"We put in a lot of work," said Goings, touching on the jump they've made from last year's Mehock Relays to this year. "Just constant hours. During the winter and during the spring. Outside, no matter what the weather is or if we have to find another facility. We just wanna compete and have another good season."

Goings also added that it helps that they have one another to challenge the other.

Ashland's Braydon Martin stands on the podium with his medal after finishing fourth in the 110 hurdles final.

Ashland's Jayden Goings stands on the podium with his medal after finishing fifth in the 110 hurdles final.

"We wanna see us both succeed because we know each other's potential," Goings said. "Us being with each other everyday really helps compared to others who are by themselves."

"It's rare to find a duo like us that is ready to compete and practice every day," Martin said.

Watch out for these two.

Holbrook's busy day

Martin and Goings weren't the only Arrows athletes to improve upon last year's performances. Add Jacob Holbrook to the mix. The kid was quite active on Saturday, taking part in the 100 meters, high jump and 4x200 relay, which were in close proximity of the other.

Holbrook would take home a medal in each event, finishing second in the 100, sixth in the high jump and joined Goings, Martin and Dakota Kruty in helping Ashland go third in the 4x200 relay, as he ran the final leg.

Asked if putting his maximum effort in all three events was difficult, Holbrook said, "Yeah, a little bit."

Ashland's Jacob Holbrook finished second in the 100-meter final.

"The 100, I had the prelim in the morning. I didn't feel the best. I felt like in the middle of my race, I kept my strength, then at the end I let off just a tad bit to save some gas. I come over here (high jump) and I cleared 5-06 and 5-08. I went into the final (100) and felt great. The start was good. The finish was good. Came back over here, tried to clear 5-10. I couldn't clear it. My legs felt a little tired. Went to the 4x200, still felt a little tired in my legs. We were down because we got mixed up a little bit in the first exchange but we had to fight back in it. It was a good race. Not our best but we'll improve in the next few weeks."

Phew. Get all that.

Ashland's Jacob Holbrook in the high jump at the Mehock Relays.

Yet, the key highlight here is the jump in the 100. Last year as a sophomore, Holbrook finished eighth. On Saturday, he moved up to second.

"As a freshman, I didn't get to run a lot. Coming as a sophomore, I got more opportunities," Holbrook said. "I had run an 11.05, which was my fastest time coming into last year's race. I came and got an 11.02 last year at Mehock. This year, we did indoor. It helped my conditioning and helped me contain my strength. It led to that second place."

Ashland's Jacob Holbrook smiles on the podium after finishing second in the 100 meters to Walnut Ridge's Zayvion Mallory (left).

Holbrook's time in the 100 final was a 10.82, and he believes he can lower that time this season.

"I have had a 11.02 in my first two races in the 100," Holbrook explained. "We went into a duel meet on Tuesday and I got an 11.06 just because the headwind was kicking. Coming into this race, getting 11 flat was a big confidence boost. I wanna try and get down to that 10.7/10.6 range. That's our school record, so I'd like to get close to that this year."

Other winners and top-placers at Mehock:

Vivian Walter, Ashland: second in pole vault, third in 100 hurdles, third in 300 hurdles

Sadie Walter, Ashland: fourth in 300 hurdles

Dakota Kruty, Ashland: second in long jump

Jasmine Duerson, Ashland: sixth in 100 hurdles