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'Unfinished business': Dillon Morlock wins D2 shot put regional throwing at home pit

dan brown
·7 min read

On Saturday, Norwayne’s Dillon Morlock proudly stood atop the podium after winning the shot put title at the Austintown Division II Regional.

The senior only had to wait roughly 18 hours to do it.

With the space limitations in the throwing pit around Greenwood Chevrolet Austintown Falcon Stadium, Morlock won the regional championship on a familiar alternate location a day earlier, leading a pack of three locals that advanced in the event and earned spots in next week’s OHSAA State Championships in Dayton.

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With the space at Austintown's pit going up to a maximum of 70-feet — a mark that the reigning champ has already broken twice this season — state officials scrambled to come up with a plan for Morlock to compete.

The solution: allow the local to throw in his home pit among a different group of regional competitors at the Norwayne D-III meet on Friday night, where Morlock was able to record his eventual winning mark of 70-feet, 4¾ inches.

“It was a little weird, definitely,” Morlock said. “It was still within the comps, so I was able to build a series and push myself with other athletes. At least it was better in the fact that I wasn't just throwing by myself, which is what almost happened.

Dillon Morlock with a 70-4 shot put attempt. Morlock threw at Norwayne because the pit at the site of the Div. II championships in Austintown was too small.
Dillon Morlock with a 70-4 shot put attempt. Morlock threw at Norwayne because the pit at the site of the Div. II championships in Austintown was too small.

“It was definitely a weird feeling not competing against these guys (in D-II) and it affected me some, but not that much.”

The mark, which came on his fourth attempt, was more than enough to win Saturday’s competition. Norwayne teammate Brandt Morlock placed second with a 59-8¼, while Orrville’s Talon Beichler took third after a 58-7¾.

And while it was a different feeling competing on a different night, and among other throwers in a completely separate division, the win was definitely special.

It gave Morlock one final round in his home throwing ring off of Norwayne Community Stadium and — for the first time in his prep career — he recorded a throw of over 70 feet in front of his home fans.

“I definitely felt like I had some unfinished business here,” he said. “I don't know, I just couldn't put together that good of throws here, at least in the shot put, so it was nice to be able to get a 70-foot throw here.

“It was definitely a good feeling.”

Brandt Morlock came right out of the gate with his eventual runner-up mark, recording a pair of 59-foot tosses on his first two attempts of the day, while Beichler solidified his return to the state meet in the event on the second-to-last toss of finals action. Both Morlock’s and Beichler also qualified in the discus after Thursday’s opening day action.

The shot put was the lone event to be completed in a timely matter as the remainder of the area competition at Austintown had to endure a pair of weather delays as rain storms swept through the Greater Youngstown area.

When things dried up, a pair of other local athletes also earned automatic berths to the state meet as Orrville’s Chloe Albrecht and Catrina Race shared third-place honors with marks of 9-4 in the pole vault.

A handful of others will hope for one of the two at-large bids available in their respective events after completion of the other three D-II regional meets across the state.

Chippewa senior Braydan Braswell helped his chances in a big way by clocking a personal-record time of 39.62 in the 300 hurdles final. Braswell’s time is expected to be good enough to lock-up on of those spots up for grabs.

In the high jump, Smithville’s Jake Hershey also posted a career-best performance in the high jump, clearing 6-1, good for sixth overall.

A handful of distance runners also competed in Saturday’s finals on the boys side, Norwayne's Tripp Wingate was 10th in the 800, followed by Orrville's Daniel Comito in 11th, while fellow Red Rider Owen Lacy posted an 11th-place finish in the 1,600.

Both Triway's 4x1 and 4x2 relay teams just missed state berths. The team of Zoey Baker, Addison Hudson, Cierra Kemery and Ava Gaffey were seventh in the 4x1 and eighth in the 4x2.

Izzy Lattea of Chippewa also posted a top-10 finish as she was eighth in the pole vault, while Ashley Eberhardt of Tuslaw took ninth in the 800.

A handful of athletes advanced in Thursday’s first-day portion of events with Alex Rodriguez (Chippewa) and Caden Race (Orrville) both qualifying in the pole vault.

Austintown D-II Regional

Boys

Team standings (out of 39 teams): 1. Woodridge 67, 2. Marlington 55, 3. Perry 48, 4. Glenville 46, 5. Bay 44, 6. Field 40, 7. Norwayne 37, 8. Chardon NDCL 27, 9. Streetsboro 26, 10. Gilmour Academy 20, 11. Orrville 19, 19. Chippewa 12, 35. Smithville 3.

Results

(Top four in each event advance to OHSAA State Championships; winner listed along with local competitors)

Shot put: 1. Dillon Morlock (N) 70-4¾, 2. Brandt Morlock (N) 59-8¼, 3. Talon Beichler (O) 58-7¾. Discus: 1. D. Morlock (N) 188-0, 2. Beichler (O) 162-11, 3. B. Morlock (N) 159-7. High jump: 1. Trevor Dixon (Field) 6-5, 6. Jake Hershey (Sm) 6-1. Long jump: 1. Brayden Green (GA) 21-8, 14. Trent Roe (O) 18-9¼. Pole vault: 1. Brayden Richards (P) 15-0, 2. Alex Rodriguez (C) 14-0, 4. Caden Race (O) 13-8, 6. Jon Graham (N) 13-4. 4x800: 1. Marlington 7:54.94, 10. Norwayne (Kyle Olszewski, Colton Roda, Trenten Woodall, Tripp Wingate) 8:20.42. 110 hurdles: 1. Richards (P) 14.31. 100: 1. Garrett Tiller (St) 10.98. 4x200: 1. Bay 1:27.60. 1,600: 1. Colin Cernansky (Mar) 4:10.79, 11. Owen Lacy (O) 4:32.12. 4x100: 1. Bay 42.31. 400: 1. Jack Kittle (CF) 48.62. 300 hurdles: 1. Richards (P) 37.69, 5. Braydan Braswell (C) 39.62. 800: 1. Tyson Crandall (Fair) 1:55.22, 10. Wingate (N) 2:00.60, 11. Daniel Comito (O) 2:01.42. 200: 1. Tiller (St) 22.24. 3,200: 1. Cernansky (Mar) 9:19.67, Lacy (O) DNS. 4x400: 1. Glenville 3:19.24.

Girls

Team standings (out of 36 teams): 1. Salem 73, 2. Gilmour Academy 65, 3. Woodridge 63, 4. Beachwood 49, 5. Buchtel 47, 6. Hawken 33, 7. CVCA 32, 8. Firelands 31, 9. Brookside 29, 10. Chagrin Falls 26, T-17. Orrville 11, T-31. Triway 3, T-35. Chippewa 1.

Results

(Top four in each event advance to OHSAA State Championships; winner listed along with local competitors)

Shot put: 1. Zuriah Radeff Koonce (B) 38-4½. Discus: 1. Kaylee Carlisle (Sal) 136-3. High jump: 1. Kara Deister (WG) 5-6, T-14. Grace Castello (C) 4-8. Long jump: 1. Rylee Hutton (Sal) 18-0, 12. Ava Gaffey (Tri) 15-2¼. Pole vault: 1. Addu Trefzger (Per) 10-0, T-3. Chloe Albrecht (O)/Catrina Race (O) 9-4, 8. Izzy Lattea (C) 8-4. 4x800: 1. Woodridge 9:15.53, 12. Tuslaw (Ashley Eberhardt. Georgia Huffman, Macy Baker, Tess O'Donnell) 10:30.15. 100 hurdles: 1. Ava Littler (Can) 14.55. 100: 1. Dakota Houston (Bea) 12.15. 4x200: 1. Buchtel 1:39.59, 8. Triway (Zoey Baker, Addison Hudson, Cierra Kemery, Gaffey) 1:47.38. 1,600: 1. Reese Reaman (Wo) 4:52.15. 4x100: 1. Gilmour Academy 48.63, 7. Triway (Baker, Hudson, Kemery, Gaffey) 50.62. 400: 1. Leila Metres (Haw) 57.19. 300 hurdles: 1. Avery Davis (Bro) 44.10. 800: 1. Reaman (Wo) 2:10, 9. Ashley Eberhardt (Tus) 2:27.16. 200: 1. Mariyah Moore (GA) 24.95. 3,200: 1. Alexandra Kheyfets (Bea) 11:22.59, 14. Ella Wigal (Tri) 13:50.69. 4x400: 1. Gilmour Academy 3:57.94.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Track and Field: Morlock wins D2 shot put regional title