OLSH's Antonio Votour named Times' Male Track Athlete of the Year

Winning a PIAA gold medal became Antonio Votour’s No. 1 priority last May.

After finishing fifth in the Class 2A 110-meter hurdles at the state track and field championships a year ago, that goal only intensified.

Armed with the knowledge of how to achieve it, the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart senior defended his WPIAL title and brought home a PIAA championship in style this year. Votour claimed WPIAL gold in a championship meet record time of 14.30. He ran 14.37 in the preliminaries, too. Both times eclipsed Mike Heiser’s standard of 14.44 from the 2000 WPIAL meet.

Votour was even better at the PIAA championship meet at Shippensburg University’s Seth Grove Stadium. He finished first in a personal-best time of 14.28. His efforts on the track in his senior season earned him the Times' Male Track Athlete of the Year award.

“It was definitely really satisfying at the state meet,” he said. “Last year, it was very beneficial for me to go there and see what the competition looked like and see what it’s all about. It was more to set me up for what I was looking toward my senior year.

“Going into my senior year, I had my sights set on winning a state championship the entire year,” he continued. “So, just working hard that entire year and coming out on top was just a great feeling.”

Votour made sure to refine his technique with his hurdles coach, Roger Kowal.

“There’s so much that goes into running the hurdles, especially the 110s – it’s all technique and form,” Votour said. “How close can you get to the hurdle? How fast can you get down on the ground? It’s so technical. That’s why I love it – it comes down to the tiniest little detail.”

Votour had an idea his work was paying off when he won a 55-meter indoor championship at the Adidas Track Nationals at the Virginia Beach Sports Center in March.

“That was one of those moments where you step back and say, ‘Oh man, I am really up here.’ It was really rewarding and surreal winning a national championship,” he said. “I went from running in small meets around here to travelling a few states away and winning a race and winning it against the top runners in the nation.”

After that, he had to transition to outdoor competition quickly.

“It is a big step. Going from 55 meters to 110-meter hurdles is a big difference,” he said. “Indoors, it’s a faster race and big spurts of energy. The 110 is a lot longer, and it’s more about being consistent for the entire way. A majority of people make it to the seventh or eighth hurdle and then slow down. That’s where I worked on speeding up and using the end of the race to my advantage.”

Now, the Coraopolis resident is focusing on making the transition to hurdles at the collegiate level. Votour will attend High Point University in the fall.

“The 110 hurdles go up another few inches in college. It’s a lot different. Your form has to be corrected. But, I already got a summer workout plan from my coach and have been working on things,” he said. “It’s just an extraordinary opportunity to go and compete at the (NCAA) Division-I level. I feel like I am not going to realize how competitive it is until I really get there. I am used to running smaller meets around Pittsburgh and the competition is good and I am friends with a lot of those guys and we pushed each other, but I think next year will make me realize I have to really step it up. I feel like that’ll make me do better. I really look forward to that challenge.”

Chargers track and field coach Roger Rees was happy to see Votour enjoy success.

“He came a long way from his freshman year to senior year. He took the proper steps and really worked at it. It was a great accomplishment to win a state championship,” Rees said. “He was a good teammate. At practice, he helped out with the other runners. We had a lot of freshmen on the team and he helped the kids learn how to do things. He was a good student and teammate. He is well-deserving of being a champion.”

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: OLSH's Antonio Votour named Times' Male Track Athlete of the Year