Sprinting to podium

DAYTON, Ohio — The Indians sent five seniors and a junior to the state tournament.

Two of them qualified as individuals for the first time in their careers.

One of those Indians brought back two individual medals and one relay medal back to the town.

Anna Roessner led the Fort Recovery High School girls track team to a 16th-place finish at the OHSAA Division III Track and Field State Finals tournament on Friday at Welcome Stadium in Dayton while making it to the podium in three different sprinting events.

Roessner made the podium in third, fourth and fifth place in the 200-meter dash, 4x100 relay and 100 dash, respectively, to tally 15 points for the Indians. Smithville took the top spot with 50 points in the state. Other top Midwest Athletic Conference finishes included Coldwater (33 points) in second, St. John’s (22) in sixth and Minster (17) in 13th.

Trevor Heitkamp, who represented the boys team at state, didn’t manage to score but accomplished other goals he set for himself.

“It was such a great day,” FRHS coach Christy Diller said. “I think every kid, when they got done, was smiling. That’s a great place to be at the end. To finish their season at state, we can’t ask for more than that.”

Last year, Roessner competed in the state tournament as one of the middle legs of the 4x100 relay. While reprising a role on the relay team — she now leads it off — she also got to run in two individual events.

Trevor Heitkamp leads a group of runners in the 1,600-meter run at the state finals on Friday. Heitkamp finished 11th in the race, but the highlight of his day came in the 3,200 run when he broke his own school record by nearly six seconds and climbed up to ninth place. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

“It’s crazy,” Roessner said. “Last year, I didn’t expect to be running anywhere near these times or even be at state individually. It’s been a lifetime goal just to get here individually, so it’s super cool to see the hard work paying off and the results that can come from it.”

Roessner’s top finish came in the 200 dash. After running two events earlier in the day, Roessner found enough gas in the tank to finish in 25.09 seconds and claim third place. Coldwater’s Izzy Zahn took the top spot in 24.48 seconds while Iniya Charlton of Trinity finished as the runner-up in 24.99.

The FRHS junior placed fifth in the 100 dash after running a 12.34. Charlton claimed the state title in the event with a 11.95, while Alex Kessen of St. John’s followed with a 12.15. (Roessner’s preliminary time would have tied Kessen.)

“It mainly just makes me really excited to put the work in again and see if I can still be dropping time and unlock my full potential,” Roessner said. “You never know what you can do until you do it. It’ll be fun and I’m excited.”

Roessner, Paige Guggenbiller, Kiana Matsuda and Mara Pearson claimed fourth in the 4x100 with a time of 49.67 seconds. West Liberty-Salem earned the top spot with a 49.1.

In 2023, the Indians made the state finals after putting the 4x100 team together quickly for the district meet and climbing their way up. They got disqualified for an early start, keeping them from a medal last year but made the podium on the comeback tour.

“It’s been a redemption tour this year and we’ve had so much fun,” Pearson said. “Whatever happened we just wanted to come out on top.”

“It feels unreal to be here,” Guggenbiller added. “Last year it felt like a privilege even to step foot at regional finals so it's crazy to be back here.”

While Heitkamp didn’t earn a medal, he accomplished three of his other goals. He came in looking to beat his 13th and 14th placements from the previous season, set a new career best and break school records.

In the 1,600 run, the senior sat near the back half of the runners through the race before finishing 11th in 4 minutes, 24.44 seconds.

He knew he wanted more for his final event.

Determined to end his career strong, Heitkamp smashed his own school record by nearly six seconds to finish ninth in the 3,200 run with a 9:32.08.

Trevor Heitkamp hugs coach Christy Diller following his school-record effort in the 3,200-meter run at the OHSAA Division III Track and Field State Finals at Welcome Stadium in Dayton. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

“It feels amazing,” Heitkamp said, “After that mile, I was happy with how I did, but I knew it wasn’t what I wanted. This is my last time wearing this uniform, representing my school and it just means so much to go out there and break a school record in my last race.”

Heitkamp needed to run 2.79 seconds faster to match Mount Gilead’s Parker Bartlett for the final medal.

Natalie Brunswick also got to compete as an individual for the first time. The senior ran a time of 5:24.71 to finish 17th in the 1,600 run.

Brunswick, Guggenbiller, Heitkamp, Matsuda and Pearson are all seniors, leaving Roessner as the only Indian set to return next year. Diller, who has coached many of the athletes since middle school, had some time to reflect on their journey amid the post-meet celebrations.

“I was getting sappy about it already this morning,” Diller said. “They’re just good people and not to mention hard workers and all that. I have a soft spot for them and it’ll be hard to see them go.”