COLUMBUS — After a mild spring throughout most of the track season, somehow you just knew that the heat would be on for the first day of the State track meet Friday, June 2 at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Just a few local athletes were on hand, reaching the pinnacle of the sport at the high school level in Ohio.
Washington High School’s 4 x 200-meter relay team finished as one of the 18 best in the state, as did McClain High School’s 4 x 100-meter relay team.
(l-r); Washington head coach Louis Reid, Kierstyn Mitchell, Allie Mongold, Megan Mongold, Morgan Cartwright, Aysha Haney and Mackayla Cartmell at the statue of Jesse Owens at the State track meet Friday, June 2, 2023.
Washington’s 4 x 200-meter relay placed 15th out of 17 teams with a time of 1:47.45.
Times advancing to the finals range from 1:42.30 by Toledo Central Catholic to 1:45.16 from Johnstown Northridge.
McClain placed 17th out of 18 teams in the 4 x 100-meter relay. The team of senior Ryan Butterbaugh, sophomore Brenna Wright, sophomore Katie Cook and junior Luca Matesic turned in a time of 51.28.
Teams advancing to the finals ran times of 48.95 through 50.12.
McClain junior Lily Barnes placed 17th in the discus throw with a distance of 82’ 3”.
Brenna Wright was 18th in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.41. Times of 14.13 to 15.30 advanced to the finals on Saturday.
“We did get a PR (personal record),” Washington’s Morgan Cartwright said. “We didn’t get the school record, but we were less than a second off.
“I’m so proud of how we did this season,” Cartwright said. “I’m proud of all the girls. I wouldn’t have wanted to end my senior season anywhere else with anyone else. I’m very grateful that we made it here.
“I’m not running in college, so, this is the end of the road for my competitive track career,” Cartwright said. “It’s very bittersweet, it’s very sad, but, I had a great senior season, so I can’t complain.”
“I was nervous, but I didn’t even hear the crowd when I was running,” Washington’s Megan Mongold said. “I just ignored them. I was just too excited to listen to anything else. I just kept my mind on the track.”
Mongold said she would like to make it back to State for three more years and break another school record.
“It was fun, because we’re all super close,” Mongold said. “We all get along like sisters. We’ve been together running since December.”
“We missed the record by about a second, I think,” Washington’s Allie Mongold said. “That was a little tough.
“Before we went out there, we were like, ‘just go 200 percent today. This is our only event, so we’re going all-out. Even if in that last 15 meters your mind is telling you to slow down and stop because your body is hurting,’ we told ourselves we were just going to push through, which is why I think we got the PR.
“You don’t see a lot of teams from our District or anywhere near us around here,” Mongold said. “McClain is here, but, we worked as hard as we could and we deserve to be here. I’m really proud of us. This is how I wanted to end it, with a PR running at OSU.
“Our chemistry is so good with this relay team,” Mongold said. “I had so much fun this year running it with them, from indoor to outdoor.”
“I think we all pushed very hard to get where we are today,” Washington’s Kierstyn Mitchell said. “We cut our time down more. The saddest thing is definitely not being able to run with (the two seniors) again. It was a great season overall, indoor and outdoor.”
“We’re excited that they made it here,” Washington head coach Louis Reid said of the relay team. “We knew it would take probably a school record to make the finals. We ran a 1:47.45. That’s a personal best for these girls. So, we’re excited that they ran faster. We’re sad we didn’t make it to finals, but we’re happy we ran a personal best on the season.
“We’re really going to miss the leadership of Morgan Cartwright and Allie Mongold,” Reid said. “These two young ladies helped lead the team all season long. They placed fifth (at the State indoor meet). We were hoping to get the same outcome outdoors.
“The fact that they made it here says a lot,” Reid said. “It was an amazing season. It just continues to build on that foundation of Blue Lion track and field where our athletes have been very successful and it’s thanks to our senior leadership.”
By Chris Hoppes
