Colonel Crawford's Roston, Shipman earn All-Ohio honors on Day 1 of state track
COLUMBUS - One year ago Colonel Crawford's Gabby Roston saw her first state track experience end unexpectedly quick.
The 4x400 relay missed out on finals by a quarter-second and immediately after she went and bowed out of pole vault at 10-6 having cleared 10-0 on her first try and being seeded fourth overall at 11-0.
Friday afternoon at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, she was determined to not repeat what happened in as a freshman. After helping the 1600-meter relay to a runner-up finish in their heat to secure a spot in finals, Roston soared over 10-0 in her first attempt and kept going up to 11-4 to match her personal best.
Clearing it first try locked up third place and exorcised the demons of yesteryear. Better yet, it earned her All-Ohio honors and a coveted spot on the podium.
"I'm really happy," Roston said. "The 4x400 made finals and we were seeded seventh, and I got third. It just shows that I've grown as the season went. I've learned how to run and vault at the same time, which is good."
Nailing 10-0, 10-4 and 10-8 on her first tries helped calm her nerves, too.
"It definitely helped clearing it pretty easily," Roston said. "I came in at 10-0 today so I got to relax, sit for a bit after running and having cleared the first bar."
And despite clipping the bar on her first attempt at 11-0, she soared over it on the second try and did something she had never previously done — a clean attempt at 11-4.
"It's the first time I've ever gotten that first try," Roston said. "And I got on bigger poles today than I've ever been on, so that's great going into the summer."
As she was finishing up, her teammate Niyah Shipman was getting underway across the field at the high jump pit. State runner-up a year ago, she hadn't had quite the junior year she was expecting failing to match her personal best of 5-5 at regionals sophomore year.
And coming in seeded at 5-2, she was the second jumper of the day. This also came hours after Shipman jumped 14-2 in long jump, then faulted her next two attempts to finish 18th out of 19 competitors.
"It was very nerve-wracking throughout the year, but once I got here I wasn't nervous," she said. "I don't know if that's because I had long jump before this to get a feel for the atmosphere, but I just came to jump."
Jump she did! Clearing 4-10 with ease along with 5-0, 5-2 and 5-3, she missed all three attempts at 5-4 to finish fourth.
"It sucks, but being here again is not a bad thing," Shipman said. "It just came down to me getting nervous once they all cleared 5-4. Going onto my third attempt and having only cleared that twice this year was hard."
The nerves didn't kick in until then. Right after she cleared 5-3 she got me with a "Guess what? Chicken butt!" that I of course fell for. But it was clear how much fun she was having back at Jesse Owens.
Nailing 5-3 first try was the highlight of her day.
"Practice, practice and practice," Shipman said. "My coach, he has me keep doing (a height) until I get it at least once. We did springboard, knee drive, everything.
"I just wanted it so bad that I put it together for one jump and did what I needed to do."
And with a second and fourth under her belt at the state meet in as many trips, Shipman is already planning a return as a senior. The top two finishers Friday were seniors, only sophomore Ellie Fullenkamp of St. Henry in third could be back.
"I have one more year so I have to come back next year," Shipman said.
Colonel Crawford's 4x800 relay team of junior Cecelia Chase, freshman Rylinn Edgington — subbed in for Gabby Roston — junior Izzy Roston and sophomore Olivia Hardy finished 15th with a time of 9:59.73 which was four-tenths of a second slower than their seeded time. The quartet improved on their seeding of 17th and everyone will be back next year having gained this valuable experience.
Bucyrus' Banks caps off stellar career with return to state
It didn't quite go as he hoped, but Bucyrus senior Randy Banks did something very few athletes do.
For the second consecutive year, he qualified for the state meet in high jump. Clearing 6-0 placed him 15th which is where he was as a junior.
"It's such a big deal going back to state," Bucyrus coach Kevin Boggs said. "Getting here one time is hard enough as it is, to do it twice is huge. He has worked really hard this year and been consistent.
"We had to fight through some injuries early on which is why he stopped all of his running and just jumped, he was having some quad issues. The last couple weeks graduating mixed with the nerves of bigger meets and the pressure of trying to get back down here was a big deal for him."
Though he was chasing All-Ohio honors, something a Bucyrus athlete hasn't achieved at the state track meet since Brittany Parsell in 2014, Banks goes out as one of the best high jumpers the program has ever had.
"He has had a great high jumping career since being with me, he set the league record at 6-5⅟₄ and is a two-time state qualifier — there's nothing wrong with that," Boggs said.
And what made this year even more special was having his teammate, junior Kavan Combs alongside for most of the ride. The pair finished second and fourth at districts to qualify for regionals together, which is where their journey ended. Both cleared 6-0 at Heath High School, but Banks did it on his second try to lock up the final qualifying spot whereas Combs needed three tries and missed out.
"He and Kavan are so close," Boggs said. "They're great friends and they support each other, so when Kavan didn't make it in it hurt them both bad. They've been so positive with each other going back and forth all year jumping … those two boys together have been awesome."
While Banks' career at Bucyrus comes to an end, along with a few others on the track team, Boggs' program is in great shape for the future.
"My son's class is very talented and they've even stepped into some big meets," he said. "They're scared to death to run, but I told them they're running, I don't care if they're 14 years old. They stepped up and had a great year to help us finish runner-up at districts and they filled in when upperclassmen had to do other things.
"Our middle school program has grown, we have a really good group of eighth graders coming in and four really big shot putters. In two years they'll be my 50-foot guys but they'll take some lumps as freshmen. We have some good kids coming up and I still have some solid sprinters and distance guys. My girls team I only graduate one, so I have a solid core there.
"We're trying to build the program … we see good things coming. It just takes time."
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Colonel Crawford's Gabby Roston and Niyah Shipman earn All-Ohio honors
