Running, jumping, throwing to State

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

13 track and field athletes from Van Wert County are ready to turn heads at this weekend’s Ohio High School Athletic Association State Track and Field championships.

Six of them will represent Lincolnview in three different events in Division III competition at Westerville North while the other seven are from Van Wert and will compete in six different events at Pickerington North. Coaches from both teams took time this week to answer questions about their athletes.

Lincolnview 

Daegan Hatfield will compete in the high jump for the Lancers, while Cole Gorman, Camden Miller, Landon Moody and Dylan Schimmoeller will take part in the 4×100 relay. In addition, Sami Sellers is set to compete in the discus throw.

With good reason, all six earned high praise from coach Matt Langdon, who’s finishing his 24^th season.

“Sami has been a rock for the program her entire four-year career,” Langdon said. “Each season she has been able to increase her own school record which now is at 120’ 7”. She has worked very hard at perfecting the skill of throwing and it shows when she competes.  Under the pressure of regionals, she found a way to get a throw that advanced her to the State finals.  She has made a great impact on the team and especially the throwing group.”

“Daegan has been incredible this season and his work ethic and attention to detail has been amazing,” Langdon said. “Daegan has always been very coachable and now has a great understanding of what he needs to do to be successful in the high jump.  He has only been beaten once and that was at the regional meet by one inch.”

Langdon also explained that the 4×100 team has two runners with previous State experience, which could bode well for the group at Westerville.

“Cam was on the 4×200 relay that went to state in 2019 and this season he has developed into a true anchor leg,” Langdon said. “When he gets the baton, he is not only holding other teams off, he is chasing teams down.  Along with the other boys, he has put a great amount of work into the off-season in getting stronger and faster.”

“He has also developed into a great leader for our team.  It is obvious that he is the vocal leader of the not only the relay, but the sprint group.  It has been rewarding to see him grow into such a strong leader and gifted athlete.”

The other two runners – Moody and Gorman – have fought adversity and have made tremendous strides to get to this point. 

“Landon is a great success story because in 2019 he lost his entire season to a severe hamstring pull and in 2020 he lost his season due to COVID-19,” Langdon explained.  “Very early in 2021 he re-injured the hamstring, but with tremendous resolve, he fought back to be able to race, even to the point of making it back on the 4×100 relay.”

“Now he runs the second leg and hold the lead until we can get the baton to Cole. There is a tremendous amount of joy knowing all that he had to go through to get to this point. It took a lot of sacrifice, pain, and fight to get to where he is now.”

“Cole is the most improved athlete that we have had in a long time, maybe over the last 20 years,” Langdon continued. “He has put in an incredible amount of time in the off-season to getting stronger and faster and it really showed this season. He became our fastest sprinter on the track, matured as an athlete into a great runner and runs the third leg as well as anyone I have seen this season.  He exemplifies what we want our athletes to become.”

The OHSAA State Track and Field Championships previously were held at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, but COVID-19 changed that. Now, qualifying athletes in Divisions I-III will compete at three different stadiums.

“The venue change will not affect how we perform but it certainly will not be the same environment as Jesse Owens,” Langdon said. “We are thankful that we get to compete but are hoping that the state meet returns to Jesse Owens Stadium next season because there is no experience like it for these high school athletes. However, we will enjoy each moment at the State meet and the kids are very excited to have this opportunity.”

Van Wert

It’s no surprise the Cougars will have three different relay teams competing at Pickerington North High School.

After all, the 4×200, the 4×400 and the 4×800 teams have been dominating all season long, along with the 4×100 team.

“Without a dropped handoff for our 4×100 team, we might be taking all four of them to the State meet,” coach Nate Hoverman said. “Our 4×800 (Gage Wannemacher, Trey Laudick, Gage Springer, and Hunter Sherer )have been solid all year long.  They have been beaten twice this year, once at the New Haven Invite and then at regionals.”

“Our 4×200 and 4×400 (Nate Jackson, Ethan Brown, Nate Phillips, Trey Laudick, Connor Pratt) have been super competitive as well,” Hoverman continued. “There are five names there because they are all very close in times and have been able to be subbed in and out as the year has gone on to save legs and still be very competitive.”

“The 4×400 hasn’t been defeated all year, which is pretty awesome considering the level of competition that we go against in this part of the state.”

“You’ll also notice that Trey Laudick is on all three of those relays (he also ran on the 4×100) which shows a tremendous amount of range to be competitive in the 100 up to the 800,” Hoverman added. 

In addition to the 4×200 and 4×400, Brown and Pratt will compete in the 400 meter dash.

“Ethan and Connor have been huge for us this year and they are great friends who love to compete whether against each other or other teams,” Hoverman said. “Early in the year, Ethan wasn’t running the open 400 but when he started they have had a great friendly rivalry. Right now Connor has bragging rights after beating Ethan in the regional final, but they are having a great time with it”

“They are great examples of kids who can compete like crazy during practice or a meet and then ride home together and laugh all the way.  We can’t wait to see what happens next.”

The coach had nothing but good words for his qualifiers and his entire team and he noted the progress the kids made during the off-season and in-season.

“These kids have worked their tails off to get where they are right now,” Hoverman said. “They are a tight knit group of kids who have supported each other all year long.  It is a deep group of athletes as well and because they are deep, it has allowed us the luxury of subbing kids in and out of relays as the year has progressed to not put so much stress on their legs.”

“We had a couple of guys get some muscle strains during the year but we were able to cover those holes until they got back healthy again,” the coach added. “The competition that the depth creates is a great motivator as well. Overall we have great kids who love to compete.”

The 2020 spring sports season was wiped out for all OHSAA student-athletes, which led to some question marks entering the 2021 season. 

“Last year was tough because we had really good teams coming back for the boys and girls,” Hoverman said. “We knew there would be some growing pains in the more technical events because kids hadn’t practiced them for a while.  Also, we had some young kids who hadn’t competed at the high school level who we needed to step in and contribute. Those things took some time, but because of the great kids we have, it is coming together at the right time.”