All in the family: Louisville's Owen DiMarzio following footsteps of his grandfather
Owen DiMarzio already has checked off two of his 2024 track and field goals.
The significance of those achievements have the Louisville sophomore sprinter looking forward to what lies ahead.
DiMarzio is already one of the area's fastest runners. His biggest victory of the season came at last week's Stark County Championships. He won the 100 meters in 10.85 seconds. Earlier in the day, he ran a school-record and county season-best 10.67 in the prelims.
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"On my mirror each morning I look at a sticky note that has three goals on it, two of them I already broke," DiMarzio said. "The last one is to make it out of the district."
DiMarzio hopes to eventually have something in common with a family member whose name is still in the county record book. His grandfather Alex was an all-state hurdler at McKinley in the 1970s. In 1971, Alex and his brother Tony, Dwight Lewis and Alexander Johnson ran a county-record time of 3:17.5 in the 1,600 relay. The record still stands.
Alex DiMarzio has a front row seat for his grandson's races now. He is Louisvillle's sprints coach.
"It's phenomenal," Alex said. "I just love it. He does everything right. He works hard. He's dedicated to getting better all the time. He listens. I can't say enough about him."
Owen knew his grandfather was a great athlete at McKinley. In his early teen years, he learned more about his success in football and track at Purdue. Alex started in the secondary in football and was a Big Ten hurdles and relay champion in track.
"That really motivated me to keep what he did in the family and keep pushing forward,:" Owen said.
Owen's freshman season in the 100 and 200 ended at the district meet. With Louisville racing mostly invitationals, the competition he faces is fierce. His 100 county title came a week after he finished third at the GlenOak Second Sole Eagle Elite, one of the state's top meets.
"We put him into some pretty stressful situations," Alex DiMarzio said. "Most of these people who were in these events he'll be facing again. If we hadn't put him in that higher competition and you throw him in there at districts, there's a chance it will be overwhelming. We tried to nip that in the bud by putting him in those positions, and he has responded."
Owen has enjoyed working with his grandfather.
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"My grandpa is putting me on the right path," he said. "He's always making sure I know the right things to do. He's always right there when he knows I'm going to need him.
"He has a completely different aspect on everything. He has showed me ways that has not only made me a better athlete, but a better person. There's really nothing else I could ask."
Alex DiMarzio has been on the Leopards' coaching staff for five years. Head coach Frank Grimm says he brings a competitive nature and an old school approach to the team.
"Where it has paid off best for Owen is I don't think there's a better coach in the county at starting blocks than Alex DiMarzio," Grimm said. "Owen has always been fast, but his start has been a work in progress. Alex has been drilling his start since he was an eighth-grader. When he gets it right, he's hard to beat."
Owen DiMarzio's season-best 200 time of 22.24 ranked in the county's top five going into last week. The 100 is his best event. With just two weeks left before the Division I district meet, a deeper postseason run looks possible.
He won't mind editing his sticky note of season goals if he advances out of the district meet.
"If I make it out, I'm going to add to it and make it out of the region (to state)," Owen said.
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Grandfather putting Louisville sprinter Owen DiMarzio 'on right path'
