'I kind of believed in myself': Streetsboro's Garrett Tiller wins 100, 200 regional titles
AUSTINTOWN — At the beginning of the year, Streetsboro track and field coach Robb Kidd passes out slips of paper to his athletes to write down a few goals.
Garrett Tiller's goals were audacious. A 10.9 in the 100 meters. A 21.9 in the 200.
To put that in perspective, Tiller was in the 23-second range last year at the Lakeview District meet, where his season (as an individual) came to an end. Amazingly, Tiller checked off those two goals before he even got to Austintown this week.
"I kind of believed in myself I could do it," Tiller said. "And I put it as a goal of mine."
As for his final goal — a state berth — he took care of that, too, with regional championships in the 100 and 200, along with a third-place finish in the 800-meter relay.
All of which was pretty staggering, particularly from a runner who had never advanced to the regional meet as an individual before this season.
"I want my kids to believe in themselves," Kidd said. "I always believe in my kids, so if they can buy into it they believe in themselves, they can get into relays and they all have that confidence. I want the kids to have ownership of what they do. We're just along for the ride to help guide a little bit here and there."
There's another reason Tiller is a breakout star.
He was understandably unknown to most after missing his freshman and sophomore seasons because of two ACL injuries to the same leg. Last year was his first year back, as he transitioned from a distance runner to a sprinter.
Now, he's not just a sprinter. He's one of the state's very best sprinters.
Tiller's performance in Austintown was staggering. Kidd talks to his runners about proving something on the track. Tiller did all that and more, starting with his third career sub-11 in the 100 (10.98) and finishing with a 22.24 in the 200.
Tiller wasn't exactly thrilled with that latter time — it wasn't his best — but he'll take the championship. The senior ran the 200 artfully, sitting in striking distance entering the curve, then exploding out of it to take the title by a tenth of a second.
"You got to get out hard," Tiller said. "And from the 50-meter to the 100-meter mark, you want to build up speed, and that's right out of the curve, you sling-shot out and you go as hard as you can."
Dayton's Welcome Stadium, the host of this year's state meet, will be a big new stage for Tiller but, then again, he had never run solo at Austintown either until Saturday.
There's nothing to worry about. It's simply time, as Kidd would say, to put on one last show.
"It's a day-to-day thing," Tiller said. "You got to run great every time."
Olivia Johnson-Wilson earns first state berth
As Tiller was surging around the curve of the 200, Olivia Johnson-Wilson had one of the best seats in the house. The Rockets sophomore stood on the podium after clinching her first state berth with a fourth-place finish in the 300 hurdles (45.43).
Earlier in the day, Johnson-Wilson fell a little shy of qualifying in the 100 hurdles, but Kidd was encouraged by the sophomore setting a personal best in that race.
He knew all along that the 300 was Johnson-Wilson's better shot to advance, and sure enough the sophomore delivered with a strong finish down the straightaway.
"Qualifying in the 100 meter and getting to the finals, obviously you want to advance, but she ran a PR, dropped a lot of time," Kidd said. "So it was a good run, it just wasn't a qualifying run, and then to come back in the 300, not only did she qualify, but she set a new school record that we've had up there [for], I don't know, 15 years."
Streetsboro 800 relay qualifies yet again
The Rockets have had no shortage of superstar individual sprinters over the years, from Dakari Carter to KeShun Jones to Tiller.
Arguably their bread and butter, though, has been the 800 relay.
That continued with Kylan Rue, Devon White, Preston Hopperton and Tiller placing third (1:28.68). While that wasn't quite the place Kidd wanted, the important part is they get the chance to run at least one more race — at Welcome Stadium.
"We had goals today," Kidd said. "We accomplished most of them. We would have liked to walk out of here first place, but we'll take third. Other teams ran well. We know we get a reset when we get down to Dayton. I'm sure we'll get together and reset some new goals, but we're just happy to have the tickets. We're ready to go."
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Streetsboro High School's Garrett Tiller wins 100, 200 regional titles
