COLUMBUS - As the state track and field meet wound down Saturday afternoon, the teams from Cleveland Glenville and Gahanna Lincoln made their way down to the podium inside Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Significantly absent was the Warren G. Harding's boys team, which placed third with 34 points. The top two boys and girls teams in each division are honored with awards. Gahanna Lincoln won the Division I boys title with 48 points, while Glenville had 45.
"I'm not in a good mood right now," Harding coach Charles Penny said. "It's not even close to what our expectations were. We're all pretty upset right now. We underperformed on three major events."
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Tribune Chronicle / Michael Taylor
Warren G. Harding's Deaver Williamson wins the Division I 100-meter dash during Saturday's state track and field meet.
One event Harding didn't underperform in was the boys 100-meter dash. Junior Deaver Williamson beat out Blake Heriot of Gahanna Lincoln for the state title. Williamson ran 10.90 seconds, while Heriot ran 10.98. Heriot went on to win the 200 and 400.
When asked about the win, it was the few times Williamson smiled.
"It feels good. I feel proud of myself. It helped out a little bit, but we came up a little bit short," Williamson said. "It feels good to compete at this high level. Everybody wants to win the team championship. But, we went to Penn Relays this year. We won a lot of big meets. We shouldn't have anything to hang our heads for."
Senior Mitchell Seawood, who will compete at Kent State University next season, finished sixth in the 110 hurdles (14.92).
Junior Marvin Logan took fourth in the 300 hurdles (38.79).
Harding took third in the 400 relay with Carlton Wilson, Aunre' Davis, Joseph Threats and Williamson (41.89). Dayton Dunbar tied Harding with a 41.89 as well, but Dunbar was ruled ahead of Harding at the finish line. Westerville Central won the relay (41.83).
In the 800 relay, Harding's team of Logan, Threats, Seawood and Williamson took second (1:26.98).
"In the 4x200, we lost to Glenville, who we beat all year," Threats said. "We had a bad exchange on the second handoff."
Then, a very exhausted Williamson took seventh in the 200 (22.74). It was his final of four races Saturday.
"Our main goal was to come out and win both relays and win a state championship," Williamson said. "We came up a little short. We had a good year, accomplished a lot of things and I think we should be proud of ourselves.
This is the most Harding has got to finals in quite a while, but just getting there wasn't this year's purpose.
"Yea, we're happy to get people in the finals, but getting there and placing there are two different things," Penny said.
Harding knows its goals for next season.
"We didn't do it, so they're going to have to work on it next year. We'll be back, though," Threats said.
So, what will be the mindset of the 2010 Warren G. Harding boys track and field team?
"A determined attitude. We felt we let this one slip out of our hands," Penny said.
