Fort in the finals

The Indians are sending two seniors, two juniors and two freshmen to the state finals.
But only one of them has experience on a high school track and field team.
“The excitement level has been excellent,” Nick Kallas, Fort Recovery High School’s track coach, said of the last few days preparing a half dozen kids for the OHSAA Track and Field State Finals, which begin at 9:30 a.m. Friday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus. The preliminaries are Friday, with the finals slated to resume at 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The top nine earn a spot in the finals and a place on the podium.
“The athletes, even people throughout the community have been pretty excited as well,” Kallas said. “I think these kids are going to go down and compete. They want to make that second-day final and they want to be all-state.”
The sextet is vying to become the first FRHS state medalist since Holly Brunswick in 2011. She was seventh in the high jump and was eighth the previous year.
One boy and one girl make up the two freshmen — Robby LeFevre and Cassy Martin. LeFevre was the regional champion in the 100-meter dash in 11.22 seconds after finishing fourth at district. Martin was the district champion, then placed fourth at regional to earn her first state berth.
LeFevre was also third in the 200 dash in a school-record time of 22.68 seconds.
“It feels amazing,” he said. “I didn’t think it was a big deal being a freshman going to state at first.”
Then he noticed he is the lone freshman and one of two underclassmen competing in both the 100 and 200 at the state finals.
“I really kind of hyped myself up a little more than I already was,” he said.
“That speaks volumes,” Kallas said of the speedster. “It is kind of crazy to see a freshman perform at the level that he does.”
LeFevre is seeded 13th in both events. John Colangelo of Canton Central Catholic is the top seed in the 100 at 10.78 seconds. Just 0.58 seconds separate Colangelo from the No. 16 seed, Anfernee Lipscomb of James N. Gamble Montessori.
In the 200, LeFevre’s time of 22.68 seconds is more than a half second behind top-seeded Mason Warnimont of Cory-Rawson, but only five hundredths of a second behind No. 9 seed Michael Hanna of Wheelersburg.
“I just hope to make the finals,” he said.
Martin almost didn’t run track when she got to high school, but some enticing from Kallas — he also got state qualifiers Wes Wenning, Tanner Koch and Cassy’s older brother Caleb to come out for track — changed her mind.
“I told her if she came out she could make an impact and probably make it to the state meet,” Kallas said. “She did and broke the school record. It is phenomenal seeing her improve each week.”
The freshman set a new team record of 58.73 at regional, and is seeded eighth. Micah Johnston of Toledo Christian is the top seed at 56.36 seconds. Those seeded fifth through 11th are within 1.05 seconds of each other, so it will be a logjam for the final podium spots.
LeFevre is the second leg of the 4x200 relay team with Caleb Martin, Wenning and Koch, all three of whom are first-year track athletes.
Their regional time, a school-record 1 minute, 32.4 seconds, is seeded 15th. Louisville St. Thomas Aquinas is No. 9 at 1:31.07.
Getting to this point, though, was not easy for the quartet.
“It was a bit shaky for the start,” Kallas said.
Teaching them basic track fundamentals such as how to start out of blocks and pass the baton was a challenge.
“But once they got it, it was self explanatory,” he said. “They got it very well and we’re ending the season on the highest level at the state meet so we can’t complain.”
Koch isn’t the least bit shocked three kids who were new to the sport could come together and make it as far as they have.
“It’s neat,” he said. “It is cool, us being first-year guys, we come out here and now we’re going to Columbus. I’m not sure any of us for sure expected that, but we can’t say that we’re surprised, I guess.”
The sixth and final Fort Recovery competitor is the only athlete with high school track and field experience. Junior Tyler Acheson was fourth in the shot put at regional with a distance of 46 feet, 11 inches. Reaching the state finals is a vast improvement for him, as he threw just 39 feet, 4 inches, in placing 11th at district as a sophomore.
Much of Acheson’s success this year Kallas attributes to throwing coach Eric Hemmelgarn. The former Tribe head coach is able to focus solely on the throwing events, giving Acheson and others the coaching they need.
“Once you can put all of your attention into something you can see it develop and grow,” Kallas said. “He has really helped Tyler achieve that next level and get where he wants to be.”