Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Garfield’s Jesse Grace launches a shot put through the air during the first day of the OHSAA state track and field meet at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus.

COLUMBUS — This weekend, 2,223 total athletes from across the Buckeye state converged on Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus for the OHSAA Outdoor Track and Field championships. Over 140 athletes from across the Mahoning Valley made the final cut, here’s a slew of storylines from Friday afternoon’s action on the campus of Ohio State University.

CONTINUING A LEGACY

For Garfield junior Jesse Grace, an offseason bulking program paid dividends when it came to his throwing. Also a member of the G-Men football team, he kept the lineage of successful Garfield throwing going, taking third at shot put with a mark of 56-11 on Friday.

“It was awesome, a little nerve-wracking there for a while, but in the end, it was all good,” said Grace. “Just have to adjust to the big scene of Columbus, but it’s just throwing. It’s just more fun, with more people around, it’s just a cool experience.

“Just fixed the little stuff, I was slipping a lot in the first flight, toward the end there I fixed it and went a little further.”

Grace fouled on three consecutive throws and was positioned toward the back of the pack until his podium-earning throw came on his final attempt of the meet.

Strength doesn’t come easy, but a lot of work in the offseason helped earn the bronze medal.

“I put on a lot of weight, I was in the gym a lot, eating a lot, working out, that’s what got me here. Chicken, pretty much you put in front of me. I was eating it, a lot of heavy lifting.”

Grace qualified for discus as well and will be competing in the event again this morning.

TEAMWORK PAYS OFF

Maplewood earned the first podium finish of the meet for the Mahoning Valley, earning fourth during the boys 4×800 relay during the second event of the weekend. The Rockets platoon had the goal of earning top four and clocked a time of 8:04.91.

“This feels great, this is what we’ve been working for all year.” said senior Bryson Himes, who made it to state in cross country. “It doesn’t feel real right now, it hasn’t really hit me yet. We’ve all just been improving all year, pushing each other at practice, and everybody has just been dropping time getting faster. We knew we had a good chance down here. That’s what we’ve been working for all year.”

Traditionally, Maplewood has been a school built on successful distance runners, as seen in the likes of Andrew Donaldson who competed at the cross country state meet last fall. Knowing what type of competition the state level brings helped ease a few nerves on Friday.

“It’s pretty great, I was nervous as crap at the beginning of the race, especially because I was a freshman,” said Donaldson. “This was a lot more intense, a lot more people, closer, we had higher goals than we had at cross, so it was intense.”

His older brother Alex, a junior, helped earn a big lead early on and created some great positioning. Junior Brandon Calderwood added to the quartet’s finish.

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes
Maplewood’s Alex Donaldson passes off to younger brother Andrew Donaldson as the Rockets took fourth during the Div. III boys 4×800 relay with a time of 8:04.91.

FINDING THE PODIUM

Mineral Ridge senior Olivia Booth is no stranger to the state level as she just missed the precious podium by one spot a year ago. She improved this time around, earning eighth at 123-11 during the Division III girls discus.

“Being able to improve and get the podium means a lot to me,” said Booth. “It gave me a lot of motivation, I came in and knew I did this last year. The first goal was to make it to the finals, the second goal was to make it to the podium, so I’m happy.”

In such a technical event, improvement is easier said than done, but understanding the type of environment she’d be competing in again played a role for the Rams senior.

“Big cage, a lot of people, just the pressure was a lot. That’s why I’m glad I came last year. I got that ninth, so when I got here I was a lot more comfortable to do a lot better,” said Booth. “There’s so much to throwing. You could have good footwork and if your mechanics aren’t good, it messes the whole thing up. It’s hard to get a perfect throw and it’s hard to get perfect technique.”

Booth’s cousins, McDonald throwers Emma and Grace Bundy, also competed on Friday in the discus. Grace finished ninth in the discus behind Booth.

FINISHING STRONG

Their last performance together was perhaps the most memorable.

Seeded 10th entering the OHSAA Division III State Track and Field Championships, the McDonald boys 4×800 team of Carson Klase, Caleb Domitrovich, Juan Villanueva and Joey Cappuzzello pieced together a time of 8:05.97, well ahead of their seed time of 8:16.20, to take fifth overall and begin a strong day overall for the McDonald boys program. Bluffton took first at 7:52.13.

The Blue Devils were toward the front of the pack for the entire race, and spent the middle portions in first overall before taking the fifth-place spot.

It also was a marked improvement from last year’s 15th-place finish for the Devils’ 4×800 team.

“Last year we struggled here — 15th last year,” said Domitrovich, a senior. “So to go from 15th to fifth, it means a lot to go out on a high note after a lot of hard work.”

The stellar finish marked the swan song for Domitrovich and Villanueva.

“We weren’t even supposed to be on the podium today,” Villanueva said. “It means a lot. It’s a testament to these guys and how hard we worked this year and since the last time we were here.”

Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes
McDonald’s Juan Villanueva takes the baton from Caleb Domitrovich during the Division III boys 4×800 meter relay. The Blue Devils finished fifth with a 8:05.97 clocking.

DEVIL THROWERS ALSO IMPRESS

In the field, fellow Blue Devils Kyle Crown and Jack Reckard also reached the Division III podium.

Crown capped his senior campaign with a fifth-place finish in the shot put, achieving a mark of 56-7.25 on his third attempt.

Later, Reckard’s last discus throw of the day, a mark of 158-5, earned the sophomore eighth overall. McDonald senior Danny Gray was ninth at 153-1.

Of his performance, Crown noted, “The first two throws, I was just feeling out the ring. It was a little bit slippery and I couldn’t get under it, but the third one I kind of figured it out and went for it.”

His first two marks were 52-7.75 and 50-9.50. He rounded the day out with a toss of 55-7.75 on his fourth attempt.

“It means a lot,” Crown said of finishing his McDonald career on the podium in Columbus. “I put in a lot of work to come out and prove myself at state. It feels good.”

Reckard initially grabbed a podium spot on his second toss with a mark of 157-10. His fourth and fifth attempts went 149-7 and 150-1, respectively, before he finished the day off with his best throw.

“When I got my left foot down, I knew I needed to whip hard,” Reckard said of his last toss. “So that’s what I tried to get on my last one and I got a foot improvement, so it was fun to get that done.”

Reckard is just a sophomore and will look to build upon the performance as he continues his career with McDonald.

“I hope just to build every year,” Reckard said, noting he’ll be hitting the weight room and working on his throwing during the offseason.

NEW EXPERIENCE

Champion junior Kennady Grace will be the first to admit her performance on Friday wasn’t her best, but that didn’t stop her from scoring for the Golden Flashes and taking eighth on the podium.

“Just something was off, I still tried my hardest and tried to fix it, but I’ll come back next year and get it,” said Grace. “Just the atmosphere is very different, but I love it. You just have to find the fun in it, even though today wasn’t my best, I still tried to have fun.”

Just soaking in the experience and appreciating it was the name of the game.

“I thank God every day for putting me in this position, I’m just grateful to be here,” she said. “I’m definitely going to do a lot more weight training, I have to get a lot stronger and refine my technique.”

SMALL TOWN SUCCESS

Windham junior Briah Daniel admits she didn’t even think she could make it out of districts coming into this spring. To say she crushed her own expectations was an understatement, as Daniel found herself on the podium, finishing eighth at 39-4 to score for the Bombers.

“The fact that I came to state, and not even just come, but place, that just feels so good for myself and my school,” said Daniel. “Just trust what I know how to do, trust God, just be good technically and be good and perform.”

Picking up throwing halfway through her freshman season, Daniel has come a long way in a short period of time.

“I think the difference was confidence. I think I gained a lot of confidence this year. I’ve kinda trusted my work and my training and just came in and was calm. It feels amazing Windham isn’t really known for track, and so just to place on the podium and put Windham out there. We have really good track athletes too, it feels great.”

FINALS RESULTS

DIV III: Mathews senior Chloe Simeon 102-5 in discus…McDonald junior Grace Bundy 107-1…Grand Valley junior Robert Rogers 5-10 in the high jump…Chalker freshman Abbey Grimm 16-2 in the long jump…McDonald’s Jack Reckard 50-6.50, Brookfield senior Ryan Tetrick 51-5.25, McDonald senior Kyle Crown 56-7.25 (shot put)…Mathews sophomore Joseph Linkesh 140-8, McDonald senior Danny Gray 153-1, McDonald sophomore Jack Reckad 158-5 discus (8th)… Mooney senior My’Kayla Jones 4-10 high jump, Badger junior Katie Grexa 5-2….Grand Valley junior Robert Rogers 20-2.25 long jump…McDonald junior Grace Bundy 36-6.50 shot put…..Grand Valley senior Dylan Hivick 11-6 pole vault…McDonald girls 4×800 10:02.83…McDonald boys 4×800 8:05.97 (5th)…

DIV II: Girard junior Mia Malito 5-2 high jump…

MOVING ON

DIV III: LaBrae junior David Blackmon, 100mH…Brookfield junior Aiden Jones 100m/200m dash…Brookfield sophomore Christian Davis 400m…Cardinal Mooney 4x200m/4x400m (Sammy Rotunno, Talecia Huff, My’Kayla Jones, Sophia Diorio)

DIV II: Girard 4×100 (Nic Bengala, Domenico Simone, Anthony Bengale, Stepen Sims)…Girard senior Nic Bengala 300mH…Liberty junior Dwayne Moody 200m dash….Girard 4x100m (Olivia Coman, Mia Malito, Ar’Marna Wilson, Sieasia Triplett)…Lakeview senior Stasia Hall 300mH…

DIV I: Fitch senior Nick Tibolla 110mH…Fitch 4x100m (Gianni Maley, Nick Tibolla, Dan Evans, Jayden Eley)