High School Sports

State track, day 1

Area shot putters have good showing in Division II event

COLUMBUS -- In the boys shot put event during the Division II state track and field meet Friday in Pickerington, one area athlete warmed up quicker than a second.

But both finished standing on the podium and pleased with the outcome.

Garfield junior Riley LaPorte and Lakeview junior Charles Pawlosky did enough work early to reach the finals, where they extended their best throws and finished second and third, respectively.

LaPorte's top throw in the prelims was a 54 feet, 7 1/4 inches. In his first effort in the finals, he improved his position with a personal-record 55-10 1/2. With only Lane Graham of West Holmes above him, LaPorte was in good position to go for it all in his final two attempts.

He fouled in those attempts, but his mark held second behind Graham, who posted the winning 59-9 1/4 mark in his fifth attempt.

"The 54-7 1/4 was a decent start and I knew it had a great chance to get me to the finals, but I wanted to increase that and wasn't able to until the finals," LaPorte said. "But I was confident, especially after just making it here as a wild-card with 51-something (at regional). So popping a few off to finish second is a great feeling."

At regional, the top four finishers in each event automatically advanced. The next two top marks statewide, from a competitor who did not finish in the top four, earned wild-card spots.

On Friday, Pawlosky secured his spot in the finals on his last attempt of the prelims, using a 52-6 1/4. In the finals, he fouled on his first effort, improved to 53-9 3/4 on his second and moved up with a 55-7 on his last try.

"My 55-7 was my last throw of the competition," he said. "I think I was maybe sixth or seventh going into the last throw. I think it motivated me, you know, the last-throw atmosphere. All the throwers were really hyped for their final throws. That creates a great atmosphere, which was perfect for me to just let it rip.

"My qualifying round was horrible and I was just looking for one good one in the finals. I'm the only boy athlete down here from my school, so it's a great feeling to represent."

The top eight finishers in each event reached the podium and scored points.

Girard junior Dominic Malito placed seventh (21-7 3/4) in the long jump. Malito fouled on his first two tries in his heat, but advanced to the finals with his 21-7 3/4. In the finals, Malito fouled on all three of his attempts.

"It was a rough day with all the fouls, but I still got into the finals and placed," he said. "My jumps were OK and pretty long, maybe a 23 out there, but I just didn't get onto the board. I went back a foot, then foot-and-a-half and then two feet just to get a jump in there and that got me to the finals. Then I fouled all three times there. It was frustrating."

On the girls side in Division II, Garfield senior Grace Edwards placed seventh in the discus with a 123-8.

In the Division III meet at Westerville North, McDonald junior Ryan Henry was second in the shot put and the Blue Devils' 4×800-meter relay was third.

Henry navigated through some nerves and entered the finals after sending his shot put sailing 57-11 1/2 on his final effort in the prelims. That put him in second place entering the finals and that's where he finished.

"It was kind of a relief to get one out there like that because it put me in pretty good position to finish in the top three or five places," Henry said. "But even then, there were some nerves because there were a lot of capable guys out there who could hit a big one at any point in the finals.

"I mean, if you look at the throws in Division II, we compare favorably. I usually am nervous before any big meet to begin with. Then we missed last year (due to COVID-19) and so I wasn't sure what to expect."

Newton Local's Dawson Hildebrand won with a 60-9 1/2.

Henry's PR is a 60-2, which he set in the district meet at Springfield.

Henry will compete today in the discus, where he will be joined by teammate and classmate Dante Mediati. Henry had the top regional throw of anyone in field.

"Ryan is a pretty amazing young man," coach Lou Domitrovich said. "He'll tell you he's nervous, but you'd never know it watching him. He's pretty calm and collected I think. Today, maybe he had a little nerves but he was able to rise to the occasion. Although he competed at state in the shot put as a freshman, this is his first time at state in the discus, but he'll have a buddy there to help him. They steady each other down."

"Having Dante there competing in the same field is a plus," Henry said. "It clears my mind just having a partner. We've worked hard together all year and it should be exciting."

The Blue Devils finished third in the boys 4×800, as Brody Rupe, Caleb Domitrovich, Eli Street and Greg Dickson finished in 8:00.73. Canton Central Catholic (7:58.39) won.

"It was a 13-second PR and really the first time all year that we had a chance to load it up and run with strong competition," coach Domitrovich said. "They far exceeded anyone's expectations today."

"We ran our best race we have all year, by far," Rupe said. "It was the most exciting race of the year for us. I can't believe we pulled it off. It was amazing. We were second at regional and third at state."

Caleb Domitrovich is a sophomore and all of his running mates are seniors.

"Brody handed to me in great position and I just tried to hold my spot," Caleb Domitrovich said. "That's what relays are all about, maintaining position or moving up."