The time is now for high school track and field athletes wanting to leave a final mark on the 2026 season, as the state meets will begin on June 4 at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus.
Division IV finals in the girls pole vault, girls discus, girls long jump, boys shot and boys high jump will be held beginning at 3 p.m., in addition to running finals in the 4×800 relays at 12:30 p.m. and boys and girls 3200 races starting at 2:55.
Division IV running semifinals are set to begin a 1 p.m., with the finals scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on June 5.
West M relays poised for big finish
Jaxson Prang and his fellow sprinters at West Muskingum were expected to be among the Muskingum Valley’s best this season and lived up to the hype.
Prang and Grant Rogers lead the 4×100 and 4×200 relays that are seeded fifth and fourth, respectively, while Prang is also part of the 200 field. Junior Carter Smith, making his first state appearance, will compete in the high jump.
The 4×100 team of Tavyn Hains and Morgan Pennington join Rogers and Prang on the 4×100; Aiden Metz takes Pennington’s spot in the 4×200.
The key to their success? Cohesion.
“Just a lot of hard work,” Prang said. “This didn’t just start recently. This has been going since December when we started indoor. Honestly, we’ve put our faith first on this team and God has been a big part of that.”
Rogers echoed that, adding the team prays before every race “to really lock into his word.”
“And when a setback comes, we just move past it and then fix what we can,” Rogers said. “Just establishing technique and making sure we are in peak form to go out there and just compete.”
Prang is making his fourth consecutive trip to the state, which includes two previous experiences at Ohio State.
“It’s a blessing to be able to go back,” Prang said. “It’s all four years for me, so I am super excited to do it with two relays this time.”
Prang closed strong in the 4×200 at the regional to edge Youngstown Mooney’s De’Andre Riley at the line by less than a half second. Mooney’s Ike Lake nipped Prang in the 4×100 by an even tighter margin.
Those are precisely the sort of air-thin margins for error that dominate the relays at the state, putting an even bigger emphasis on starts, hand-off precision and an anchor who can make up ground.
Their chemistry — the lineup has stayed intact since the indoor season — has helped give Prang, who also is one of the East District’s top 100 runners, a chance to win most every race.
“It’s just something we have practiced for so long,” Prang said.
Courtney Coleman-Prang, Jaxson’s mother and coach, feels the team is in a good place due to their experience. When it comes to her son, she has witnessed first hand how much of his life has been dedicated to the sport.
Case in point: Jaxson passed up senior trips and other class-based activities post graduation to focus on his final state meet.
“He loves track,” Courtney said. “It has been his life ever since he could remember, so it will be just like any other day, but with a bunch of elite athletes with him. And he is just happy, too, that he could enjoy this alongside a bunch of teammates. Every time he can go into a relay and enjoy it with teammates, that is fun.”
Smith has ran the 200, 400 and multiple relays since his career began, but the high jump has been his hallmark in 2026. He has reached 6-4 in the past and feels his work with assistant coach Bob Moon will lead to a new personal best.
He decided to focus on the high jump in the postseason after being part of a deep crop of 200 and 400 runners around the Muskingum Valley League the past two seasons.
Smith feels he is ready to produce his best jump yet.
“I’ve really been working on my arch over the bar and kicking my feet up,” Smith said. “That way, I don’t kick it. At regionals, every time I hit it with my calf and Achilles. Moon says my top half is great, just get (my lower legs) over the bar and stuff, get that down 100 percent.”
Houk, Sheets took hard road
Between a deep district at Newcomerstown and an even more competitive field at the regional at Austintown Fitch, Crooksville seniors Grayson Houk and Hannah Sheets faced higher odds than before to make Columbus.
Houk’s regional field in the 400 sent seven qualifiers, of which four came from the East District meet at Newcomerstown. He has the 16th-best qualifying time among 18 runners at :50.13, with Seaman North Adams senior Beau Hesler pacing the field at a watch-breaking :46.52.
Sheets was the last of eight to qualify from Fitch — three were state wild cards — where Ravenna Southeast’s Julia Wheeler set the pace at 10:57.9. Sheets is making a return trip to the state in the 3200 in a tightly packed field.
Houk was fifth as a sophomore and junior in the 400 before finally breaking the barrier. He credited veteran strength and conditioning coach Matt McIntyre’s training plan for helping him.
“Going into districts I was constantly checking our district times, and I figured if I made it out I would most likely make state,” Grayson said. “I definitely undershot how hard that would be. This whole journey has been a test of my dedication, how hard I’d have to push to not even win, but just to qualify.”
Crooksville coach Scott Houk, who has coached a state champion and state runner-up in his tenure, said the challenge for McIntyre was to determine when each runner should hit their peak, and devise a corresponding training plan.
“Coach Mac had these kids ready,” Coach Houk said. “It’s difficult process sometimes, because you don’t want to hold back and then not make it. … Those were really tough districts and regionals. It was their hard work and grit that got them here.”
In many years, Grayson Houk would have been the best the MVL had to offer in the 400, but his ascent in 2026 has coincided with the record-breaking success of Morgan’s Braylon Miller, in particular.
He echoed the sentiments of Miller and other top sprinters aroung the league this season in that the mutual competition and respect within the circle helps push each runner.
In Grayson’s case, he had West Muskingum’s Jaxson Prang and Grant Rogers, who led two Tornado relays to the state, at Fitch offering support following their events.
“When West M moved into our district I was nervous at first, but after seeing them there I really understood what the MVL is,” Grayson said. “We weren’t competing against each other — we were pushing each other. Walking down the straight before the start of the 400 final, all I heard was Jax and Grant on the infield encouraging me, telling me I could do it.
“The MVL is tough competition, but it brought us all together,” Grayson said. “I can’t wait to see the MVL standing on the podium at state.”
Coach Houk said he wouldn’t discount either of his runner’s chances on outrunning their projections and that simply being able to run at Jesse Owens is a tribute to the journey.
He offered support for all area runners.
“To get there, it’s a true honor because it was built only for track athletes,” Coach Houk said. “Other places, it’s either a football field with a track around it, or track and soccer. It’s the only place I know that is built for track. Getting out front with the (Jesse Owens) statue, and you get your picture with your teammates, that is what it’s all about.”
Ridgewood relays aiming for big finish
The Generals’ season overall has been one of the best in program history under coach Jamie McCrea, whose team is sending its 4×200 and 4×400 relays behind the strength of senior Kenzie Bice.
Bice, a member of both qualifying relays, also qualified for the 400 and sports the eighth-best qualifying time. The school record holder in the 200 and 400, her 4×200 squad which includes Javyn Gress, Lorryn Wentz and Kylee Bice, and 4×400 team featuring Molly Maple, Gress and Wentz also hold school records.
She and Wentz will run at Shawnee State in the fall.
“She is on the Mount Rushmore for sure with Alexis Prater, Tristan Geisey and Lori (Conrad) Buchanan,” McCrea said of Bice’s place in the program’s pantheon. She has also made two state trips in cross country.
“I would not be surprised to see her go below 58 seconds (in the 400),” McCrea said of Bice.
All but Gress have state experience in the relays, which McCrea feels will help alleviate the state anxiety and help them focus on competing. The 4×200 is less than a second from the sixth-best qualifying time, even as Jaelyn McQueen was lost to a hamstring injury at the district.
Similarly, the 4×400 team is less than two seconds from the fourth-best qualifying time.
McQueen was, outside of Kenzie Bice, the team’s most consistent sprinter prior to the injury.
“(Gress) has done a fantastic job replacing her,” McCrea said. “Overall. this has been one of the best girls track teams at Ridgewood. … We will miss Jaelyn this week, but the girls have done a great job of stepping up.”
In the boys meet, Cody Croy takes the third-best throw into the seated shot at 20-10.
sblackbu@usatodayco.com; X: @SamBlackburnTR
This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: West M, Ridgewood relay seeking big finish, at D-IV state track meet
Reporting by Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder / Zanesville Times Recorder
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By Sam Blackburn, Zanesville Times Recorder | USA TODAY Network
