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Local seated athletes competitive at state

COLUMBUS, OHIO - June 2, 2018, OHSAA Track & Field Championships at Jesse Owens Stadium, Ohio State University- SEATED Division Pymatuning Valley's Gabe Warsing competes in the seated 100m. MICHAEL G. TAYLOR | THE WARREN TRIBUNE CHRONICLE

COLUMBUS — For those of you who think a polite round of applause for seated athletes at the state track and field meet is enough to get them through their competition, think again.

The seated events with racing wheelchairs and a bolted shot put area is not for spectacle. It’s real. It’s no different than what the able-bodied athletes do every state meet inside and outside of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

Just because the 100-, 400- and 800-meter and shot put events have been going only since 2013 doesn’t mean these athletes care any less.

Ask Pymatuning Valley’s Gabe Warsing.

He won his second-straight shot put title Friday, but that means nothing to the PV sophomore when a mishap strikes — rendering his powerful arms useless in the boys 100. He finished eighth.

“This means everything to me,” Warsing said. “I’m beyond furious. There was a puddle under my chair and my wheels were soaking wet. When you put rubber on rubber, they’re pretty slippery. You go nowhere.”

He took third in the 400 and second in the 800. Warsing expected to be competitive in the 100.

“At this point, I have nothing to say,” he said. “I can’t think about it. It felt great at the moment, but it don’t matter at this point.”

What matters is Boardman freshman Micah Beckwith knows he’s getting better each day and wants to improve each year. He took seventh in the shot put, eighth in the 800, ninth in the 400 and seventh in the 100.

“Hopefully I’ll get better and better each of the four years and make it to first eventually,” he said.

Boardman coach John Phillips said Beckwith wasn’t happy with finishing ninth.

“After the 400 he was not happy, just as any other athlete that would finish ninth at the state meet,” Phillips said. “Despite having a (personal record in that race), he wants to be on the podium. He wants to have a medal like anybody else.”

Beckwith plans to work with the Boardman throwing coach this summer and head to Illinois for a camp with the OHSAA ambassador of these seated events, former Southeast High School standout Jenna Fesemyer. She and her mother, Cindy, a coach at Southeast, have educated many around the state and have helped Beckwith grow as an athlete this season.

Now it is Beckwith and Canfield’s Jake Hostetler, who is working on getting to state next season, to help grow the sport around the Mahoning Valley.

“Hopefully we can get some more kids to come out and compete because it’s a great thing,” Phillips said.

It’s not about polite claps, but more about athletes competing.

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