I heard one track coach from another conference comment how well fans from the SCAL and MAC travel to support their athletes. I had never thought about that until it was mentioned, but it's true. Schools like Russia, Ft. Loramie, Minster and Versailles had a lot of "non-family fans" in the stands from what I saw. I guess it shows the pride those communities have in their schools and athletes!
The Russia fans had a strong turnout at the state meet
One "problem" I dread seeing almost every year at the state meet is when an athlete scratches an event. Scratch means they qualified for the event, but decided not to compete in it. This can happen in any event, but it's not uncommon to see it in the distance runs. For example, an athlete qualified at regionals to run both the 1600 and 3200 at state. But because those are the two longest distance races, the athlete decides to scratch the 1600 and better their chances in the 3200. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't. What I don't like is that someone else could have ran in that spot if it's just being given up. It's part of track and will probably always be, but that doesn't mean I have to like it!
Liberty Center's Brittany Atkinson (#9) scratched the
1600 and it paid off with a 23 second victory in the 3200
Finally, as I mentioned in my previous blog post last Friday, the state meet always has more stories than a media person can handle. This year was no exception. As much as I prefer stories about local athletes and their outstanding achievements, my favorite of the weekend wasn't about a hometown kid. It was the story of Defiance Tinora senior Tori Abdul. Tori had a tougher childhood than I could ever imagine, in foster care for five years and could have easily taken the wrong path in life. Instead, she used track and God to help her out of some ruts in life. On Saturday it all paid off and she took home four 1st-place medals in the D-III 100, 200, 4x100 and 4x200. Listen to this post-race interview with Tori from WOSN-TV!
Tori Abdul gives thanks to God for her four victories
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