Reflect with Rosenblum: Thoughts on a state track meet full of (mostly good) surprises
The state track and field meet is immense and intense.
It is one of the most overwhelming events I cover all year and, while that’s mostly a good thing, it also means it sometimes takes a couple of days to recuperate and reflect on all that happened.
As I look back on the 2023 state meet, which included five state champions among 15 podium finishers from Portage County, I am amazed by the delightful surprises that accumulate during a weekend at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
While in some ways, track and field is the most predictable of sports — since marks and times are a far more predictive stat than, say, batting average (well, how good is the pitching they’re facing) or points per game (again, how good is the competition) — the state meet always manages to have more than its share of nice surprises.
That has been true pretty much every time I’ve ventured to Columbus, going back to Mogadore’s Raquel Jones obliterating her eighth-best seed time in 2017 and earning a silver medal, and remained so this year, when the vast majority of Portage County’s top-five finishes were unexpected. That included Streetsboro junior Milena Sobie going from the fifth-best seed mark in the seated shot put to a state championship and Windham junior Briah Daniel turning the 15th-best seed mark into a podium berth in the Division III shot put.
Ironically, a state meet full of delightful surprises actually started with a bad one for me.
As I drove down Interstate 77 from Field baseball’s regional semifinal in Canton Thursday afternoon to my hotel in the Columbus area, everything was going fine until ...
What appeared to be an opossum raced into the middle of the highway.
I swerved and for a second I thought maybe the collision wasn’t so bad (for the car, anyway).
Then came an assortment of somewhat terrifying noises as I looked for a place to pull over.
There I was, at the Newcomerstown Speedway at roughly 11 p.m., approximately 10 hours before the start of the state meet, on the phone with my father-in-law trying to figure out whether the car could make it to Columbus.
Fortunately, with his guidance, a screwdriver from Speedway and my mildly competent repair work, it could. I just needed to unscrew the protective cover that had come off and started dragging against the front-right tire and off I went to Columbus.
Thank goodness because there was no time for delay.
Right at 9:30 a.m. Friday, the Mogadore 4x800 went from the sixth seed to a bronze medal with a perfectly executed run that saw all four legs come in at 2:26 or less.
And around the same time, Field’s Michaela Herendeen and Garfield’s Jesse Grace began tossing the shot put and discus, respectively.
Both were on the bubble to make finals with the 10th-best seed mark and only the top nine earning three more throws. Not only did both make finals but both got to climb up the podium with the G-Men senior finishing third and the Falcons junior taking fifth.
Grace went from eighth in the state to third on his final throw.
Incredible.
And then Sobie, another rookie, climbed the podium, all the way to the top.
OK, fine, Sobie isn’t a rookie, but she had never done the seated shot put until this season. With the fifth seed, the Rockets junior acknowledged she was aiming for a top-three finish. Her top competitors were bigger than she was and stronger, too.
At least that’s what Sobie said.
Her coach, Robb Kidd, argued that Sobie is blessed with remarkable strength, and the more you look at her, the more his point becomes clear.
A sixth-seeded relay earning bronze.
Tenth-seeded throwers finishing third and fifth.
A fifth-seeded seated shot put rookie winning the title.
The major surprises were over, but not the fun.
The rest of the meet was highlighted by more remarkable performances from Portage County’s seated athletes as well as a couple of longtime greats concluding their careers in style.
In the seated races, Garfield freshman Conner Hunt and Sobie both won titles in the 800, with Sobie cherishing a state championship in her favorite race. All four Portage County seated state qualifiers then made the podium in the 100, with Mogadore freshman Katy Loughney and Windham sophomore Devon Regan joining Hunt and Sobie.
Hunt ultimately won three titles — in the 100, 400 and 800 — as he immediately established himself as a must-watch student-athlete. Watching him fly around the track at an almost unprecedented speed was one of the more remarkable things I’ve seen. And I say "almost unprecedented" because he finished his 100 with a time (16.68) just .06 of a second off the state record (16.62), set last year by Elmwood’s Jaydon Jenkins. Anyone who knows Hunt and his love of competition knows he’ll be taking aim at that mark in the years to come.
While Hunt, Sobie and many more leave Columbus with thoughts of what they might do when they come back, numerous Portage County standouts completed their high school careers at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. That included Streetsboro senior Micah Schuster, one of the area’s best sprinters, finishing third in the 400, and Ravenna senior Pavel Henderson, one of the area’s best hurdlers, taking fifth in the 110.
To end a high school track and field career at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, well, there’s nothing better.
And, frankly, it’s a pretty great end to my eighth year covering Portage County high school sports as well.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Reflect with Rosenblum: OHSAA state track full of (good) surprises
