COLUMBUS — Forty years to the day since her mother (and coach) Gail won a state title with the 4×100 relay, Ashland’s Sadie Walter put together a performance even she can be proud of.
“It is amazing,” Walter said. “I love sharing memories with her and relating to her in so many different ways, especially because she is my coach. I love my coach and I love my mom and I am so excited to have my senior year with her still.”
The junior ran a 44.16 from Lane 5 to take fourth in the Division II 300-meter hurdles timed finals at the OHSAA Jesse Owens State Track and Field Championships for the Lady Arrows as it was part of a two-event All-Ohio day Sunday, June 7.
She was state runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles earlier in the day, breaking her own school record with a 14.52.
“I am just feeling really blessed right now because I just ran against the best of the best in Ohio and I held my own,” Walter said. “It’s my first year here at state and I have one more year to improve my marks, so I am grateful for this experience.”
The 300-meter hurdles were reseeded and run as two heats of timed finals due to a lengthy weather delay Saturday evening. It caps off a tremendous junior year in the distance hurdles as Walter finished first at every single meet she competed in all the way to All-Ohio honors at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
It sets the stage for something even bigger next year.
“We are going to spend a lot of time at indoor practice and going to indoor meets in the offseason,” Walter said. “I have a lot I want to work on with my strength training. I have a lot of goals in mind and I won’t stop at anything in order to achieve them.”
Ashland’s Blough has career day in shot put
Ashland junior Greyson Blough saved his best for last.
In the final meet of his junior season, Blough took fourth in the Division II boys shot put competition coming out of the first flight to make the finals and eventually an All-Ohio honor.
Blough set new personal records on each of his first three throws in the semifinals going 56-07.50 on his first, 57-02.75 on this second and 57-05.50 on his third. After his first throw of the finals went 55-00.25, Blough made sure to snag an All-Ohio spot by launching his new personal record 58-05.25 on his final recorded throw of the day.
“Smart coaching,” Blough said with a laugh. “Smart weight training. This week was hard because they took me completely off of lifting and I am not used to that, but it helped me peak at the right time. It actually does help. I don’t know why, but it does.”
Blough threw out of the first flight and wasn’t expected to make the finals let alone take All-Ohio honors, but a simple mentality helped him achieve something special.
“I treated this meet as any other meet,” Blough said. “I just wanted to enjoy the experience. Everything this season has built up to getting here and I just wanted to prove why I made it. Why not go out and perform well? Just left it all out there.”
Other Ashland results
Junior Oaklynn Burns took 13th in the Division II girls long jump competition posting a 16-08.25 for her best for the day.
Senior Braden Donatini narrowly missed out on All-Ohio honors in the boys 300-meter hurdles as he finished ninth with a 39.36 missing out on a podium finish by .32 seconds.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Walter’s two-event All-Ohio finish highlights day for Ashland Arrows
Reporting by Zachary Holden and Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal / Mansfield News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Zachary Holden and Jake Furr, Mansfield News Journal | USA TODAY Network
