Second at state

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Mara Pearson was the top seed in the girls long jump.

Shelby Grover of Lucas was second by only half an inch.

They battled for the top spot, trading first place with almost every jump.

Grover had a quarter-inch advantage as Pearson stepped up to the runway for her final jump of the day.

She sprinted, made contact with the board and leapt. As Pearson landed in the pit, the official held up the red flag, signifying a foul and keeping her into second place.

Despite missing first place by less than an inch, the Fort Recovery High School junior was cheerful and smiling as she stepped up to the podium to receive her medal in the long jump at the OHSAA Division III Track and Field State Finals on Friday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University.

“She’s such a cool cat and very rarely ever gets rattled,” FRHS coach Christy Diller said. “She did a really good job of not putting a lot of pressure on herself. She was seventh last year and to come in and be second and not be rattled by those jumps, she responded each time. She’s a gamer.” (Last season, Pearson finished seventh in the long jump with a distance of 17 feet, 3.75 inches.)

The 4x800-meter relay team and the 4x100 relay team also competed Friday, with the latter qualifying for today’s finals while the former finished in 13th place.

Trevor Heitkamp will also compete today at 10:05 a.m. in the 1,600 run. He is seeded 16th with a time of 4 minutes, 26.91 seconds.

Pearson’s second jump Friday afternoon of 18 feet, 2.25 inches, put her in first place. Grover fouled twice before taking the lead with her third jump, traveling 18 feet, 2.5 inches. That advantage didn’t last long as Pearson was the next athlete up and reclaimed the lead with a distance of 18 feet, 3.75 inches.

“It was a dog fight back and forth, but that makes it fun,” Pearson said.

In her first jump of the finals, Grover leapt 18 feet, 5.75 inches, which ended up being the winning jump.

Pearson’s furthest jump came on her fifth attempt as she flew 18 feet, 5 inches.

Heading for the final jump and trailing Grover, Pearson knew she had to give it all she had for a chance at a championship.

“It was more just go out hard, not worry too much about it and just have fun,” said Pearson, who was seventh in the event a season ago. “At state, everyone always overthinks. I did that last year and I’ve grown from that, and that’s what I wanted to do moving forward. … I did foul, but I was happy about it no matter what.”

Despite finishing as the runner-up, Pearson achieved three of her goals. She wanted to medal, jump in the mid-to-high 18s and be more consistent. Four jumps of 18 feet or better helped her achieve all three goals.

“It is just great,” Pearson said. “Showing my progress from last year, kind of seeing that I’ve been jumping in those 18s all throughout the year and showing that I can do it and stay consistent.”

Pearson didn’t just compete in the long jump, but was also a part of the 17th-seeded 4x100 relay team that achieved its two biggest goals.

Coming into Friday, Kiana Matsuda, Paige Guggenbiller, Anna Roessner and Pearson wanted to make finals and beat their own school record.

Their time of 50.77 seconds broke the school record of 50.97 they set at the regional meet May 24 and earned them the final spot in the finals on Saturday. They are seeded ninth for the race that begins at 10:20 a.m. (The top eight finishers in each event earn state medals.)

A major factor to the relay team’s success has been their improved and tightened handoffs according to Diller.

“We didn’t have the most high expectations,” Roessner said. “We’re the underdog. If we don’t do good, we aren’t going to be disappointed in ourselves.

“(Assistant coach Charlie Vasey has) worked with us a ton on improving handoffs. … These are the meets that matter, so we have to make sure everything’s perfect. We have to learn patience with each other so we don’t leave too early or leave too late.”

The four girls have a new goal for today’s race: medal at state.

“Beat one team,” Diller said. “They just have to beat one team to get themselves on the podium. I like our chances if we are anywhere in the mix and Mara Pearson has the baton.”

The No. 8 seed belongs to New Middleton (Springfield), just sixth hundredths of a second faster than Fort Recovery.

The 4x800 relay team composed of Ellie Will, Kennedy Muhlenkamp, Megan Diller and Natalie Brunswick finished in 13th with a time of 9:57.23.

The team was coming off of a school record of 9:48.8 at the regional meet at Troy on April 26 that earned it an at-large bid and the 11th seed. Their 13th-place finish was the second-best time they ran all season.

“It’s amazing,” Brunswick said. “This is one of the biggest races of the season. Being able to compete at it is awesome with all the other great athletes.”

The Indians will bring back three of the legs from the relay, while Megan Diller graduates.

“As a senior and a parent of a senior, it’s really nice to end it at state because you know when the end is,” said Christy Diller, Megan’s mom.

“For the rest of the girls, what a great experience. They know they are coming back next year, we’ve got another opportunity to reload Megan. I always feel like it can be a little anticlimactic. You go out there and we weren’t really thinking we would be on the podium so it can feel a little like, ‘OK, we’re done,’ but you finished your season at state. At this track, it’s a fast track with an amazing atmosphere, we can’t ask for anything more.”