The 2010 OHSAA Track and Field Championships, held at Jesse Memorial Stadium on June 4-5, in Columbus turned out to be a pretty successful for a few of our area athletes.
On Day 1, Keystone senior Corry Sprouse shocked a lot of people, including myself by winning the boys high jump competition in Division II.
I wasn't shocked because I didn't think he was capable of winning. I was shocked because it was the first time that Sprouse, who will play football for Notre Dame College, participated on the track team.
He ended up winning with a jump of 22 feet, 9 inches, narrowly defeating Edison senior Brady Gelvin, who jumped 22-8 1/2.
The fact that Sprouse won a state title in his first year of track was a pretty amazing feat for anyone.
Day 1 also saw the end of Perkins senior Matt Hoty's reign as shot put champion. Hoty, who will attend the University of Tennessee, came in as the two-time Division II champion and was defeated by Pemberville senior Justin Welch.
Hoty threw a record distance of 62-9 3/4, but Welch threw a 62-11 3/4 on the final throw of the day to win the title.
Hoty had to battle a fractured right wrist during the season, which might played a part why he didn't win for a third consecutive time.
Regardless, two first place and a second place finish at state is still a very impressive accomplishment for Hoty.
Day 2 at the state track meet belong to the Southview Saints.
The school had three state placers in Division I in their final appearance as a high school. Next year Southview and Admiral King will join forces to form the Lorain High Titans.
The highest finisher for the Saints was sophomore Christian Nogueras, who took third in the long jump with a distance of 22-9 3/4.
Sophomore Melody Farris finished fifth in 100 hurdles with a school record time of 43.91, while junior Shanique Ogle took sixth place in the shot put with a throw of 40-11.
Southview might be gone, but those athletes will always have those memories forever.
Lorain County got its second state champion of the weekend from Elyria Catholic senior Marty Coolidge.
Coolidge won the 3200 with a time of 9:03.11, which set the record at Owens Stadium, defeating Bay junior Michael Brajdic.
The victory was a long time coming for Coolidge, who finished third in 2008 and second in 2009 in the 3200.
Other notable placers were Vermilion sophomore Emily Cunningham, who took second in the 200 with a time of 24.93 and fifth in the 100. It was Cunningham's second trip in a row to the state track meet.
Edison's 400 relay of Seth Battle, Dylan Howard, Gelvin and Mike Yost almost came home with the gold.
The Chargers ran 42.58 but lost to Columbus Bishop Hartley, who finished first with a time of 42.57. The race was the most exciting of the weekend, unfortunately Edison fell a little short.
Overall the weekend went well. It was a long couple of days, but I got to watch some very special athletes give some very special performances on the biggest stage of the track season.