Productive prelims

DAYTON, Ohio — Anna Roessner, Paige Guggenbiller and Kiana Matsuda built a lead for the Indians’ anchor, Mara Pearson, in the 4x100-meter relay.

Matusda handed Pearson the baton just before Trinity’s Courtney McCray shuffled hers off to Iniya Charlton. All the senior needed to do was hold onto the lead to secure a spot in the finals.

She did just that.

The Fort Recovery High School girls track team competed in the OHSAA Division III track and field state prelims at Dayton Public Schools’ Welcome Stadium on the University of Dayton’s campus on Thursday. Fort Recovery moved onto the finals in three of their events.

The Indians advanced to the finals in three events and distance runners Trevor Heitkamp and Natalie Brunswick joined them to give FRHS six total events. For more on the finals, check out the story on page 10.

“It was a really solid day,” said FRHS coach Christy Diller. “A really good day. It’s hard to complain about anything.”

The highlight of Fort Recovery’s day came during the 4x100 relay. The Indians were seeded third and ran in the same heat as second-seeded Trinity.

Roessner got off to a strong start and Guggenbiller held onto the lead. Matsuda extended the advantage during the third leg before Pearson finished off the race. FRHS wound up with a time of 49.52 seconds to beat the Trojans — who’s regional time was 0.02 seconds faster than Fort Recovery — by 0.32 seconds.

“It was awesome,” Pearson said. “I didn’t realize their anchor would be as crazy as it was. But I was just like ‘keep my head up. Don’t look back. Just keep running. Stay consistent.’

“That was my big thing to focus on us and focus on now to get across that finish line.”

Right after the race, Pearson needed to head over to the long jump pit to start warming up as the first flight was nearly ready to start. The effort she exerted on the track ended up hurting her in the field event.

“It was hard,” Pearson said. “They ran about 15 minutes late, so I was there panting, out of breath and doing my two run throughs quick. That’s when I was max warm and by the time I was jumping, I was not as warm anymore. That was a big adjustment for me, but it happens.”

Pearson’s first jump resulted in a foul before she hit a mark of 15 feet, 7.75 inches, on her second. She fouled again in her third attempt, leaving her out of the finals for the first time in her high school career. (She reached the finals but didn’t medal as a freshman, placed seventh as a sophomore and was the state runner-up as a junior.)

“The first (foul), I reached,” Pearson said. “My last one I just wanted to focus on speed. My second jump I didn’t have a lot of speed. I had to rewarm my legs back up, which is something I’ve never had to do. … I wanted to leave it all out there.

“It’s awesome to finish out at state. … I still have (the 4x100 relay) so on to the next and let’s get that gold.”

Pearson needed a jump of at least 16 feet, 7 inches, to match the mark of Jameson Pillifant from Columbus School for Girls for the ninth and final spot in the finals. Coldwater’s Izzy Zahn took home the state crown with a jump of 18 feet, 7.75 inches.

Roessner joined the 4x100 in the finals Friday.

FRHS junior Anna Roessner crosses the finish line in the 100-meter dash during the state prelims Thursday. Roessner qualified for the finals in the 100 and 200 dashes as an individual, along with the 4x100 relay team. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

The sole junior for Fort Recovery at the state tournament ran a career-best and broke her own school record with a time of 24.6 seconds in the 200 dash to remain as the fourth seed. Zahn broke the state record with a 24.06 seconds.

Earlier in the afternoon, Roessner finished with the sixth-fastest time in the 100 dash at 12.15 seconds to secure her spot in the finals.

“The 100 is really close, so I’m not counting anybody out and it can be anybody’s race on any given day,” Roessner said. “In the 200, I’m happy with a lifetime best. Either way, I qualified and I think that’s fun.”

Matsuda ran her last 300 hurdles of her high school career.

She entered the day as the No. 15 seed after earning an at-large bid. Matsuda fell short of South Central’s Gracelyn Lamoreaux (46.85 seconds) for the last spot in the finals, but her time of 47.59 seconds propelled her to a 13th-place finish.

Kiana Matsuda, a senior at Fort Recovery, leaps over one of the final two hurdles in the 300-meter hurdles on Thursday in the state prelims. Matsuda finished 13th to improve by two places. (The Commercial Review/Andrew Balko)

 

“I’m very proud of myself,” Matsuda said. “I felt like my start was very strong and I got out the way my coaches tell me to. My first couple of hurdles were going very great. I get to that curve where I can struggle, but I pushed through it for 12th. Overall, I’m very proud of myself and I like my results.”