No one faster

COLUMBUS — After Anna Roessner crossed the finish line, she turned to look at the scoreboard.

Moments later, her time popped up.

Even keel throughout her tournament run this year, she finally let go, throwing her arms into the air as her legs turned into pogo sticks sending her bouncing happily into the air.

No one in the history of Division III has ever been faster.

Roessner, a Fort Recovery High School senior, easily won the 100-meter dash Saturday at the OHSAA Division III Track and Field State Finals at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University, breaking the state meet record and tying the all-time Division III record in the process.

“It was so much fun, just seeing 11.75,” said Roessner, the first state champion in FRHS girls track history. “It was a .01 PR. I mean, a PR is a PR. And just knowing that it is tying the state record, it’s so much fun. I was happy."

That race was just the beginning of the greatest individual performance in the history of Fort Recovery girls track, as she went on to finish as the state runner-up in the 200 dash and in third place in the 400 dash.

Roessner’s trio of top-three finishes resulted in 24 points for Fort Recovery, good for eighth place overall in Division III. She was three points ahead of ninth-place Minster and three behind seventh-place Fort Loramie while Coldwater easily won the state title with 65.5 points.

FRHS coach Christy Diller had refused to speculate following Roessner’s performance at Friday’s preliminaries about what it might feel like to have an athlete stand atop the state podium, despite the fact that she was the No. 1 seed by a half second.

“It’s pretty darn good,” she said Saturday, adding that she cried when her niece crossed the finish line. “That was amazing.

“To PR in your last races, you can’t hardly ask for more than that,” she added. “I really don’t have any words for it yet. It's pretty amazing. She’s crazy. We’re not going to see anything like that for a long time.”

As had been the case throughout her tournament run, Roessner was untouchable in the state finals. She got out to a fast start, as is her style, and never gave anyone else a chance at an upset.

Her time of 11.75 seconds broke the 21-year-old state meet record of 11.81 set by Brittany Hocker of Bridgeport. It also matched the all-time Division III record that Candace Longino-Thomas of Gilmour Academy set in 2011.

She was four tenths of a second faster than runner-up Chloe Griffith of West Liberty Salem and a half-second or more better than everyone else.

“Every time I run, I envision someone right next to me, pushing me along,” said Roessner. “I really have no idea where they’re at, ever. I just have to go as fast as I can and see what happens.”

Fort Recovery High School senior Anna Roessner grins while getting the state championship medal placed around her neck after winning the 100-meter dash at Saturday’s OHSAA Track and Field State Championships. She became the first girls track state champion in FRHS history. (The Commercial Review/Ray Cooney)

 

She had the ultimate push in her other two races in the form of county and Midwest Athletic Conference rival Izzy Zahn of Coldwater.

While Zahn was an insurmountable favorite in the 400 dash, Roessner’s preliminary run showed she could at least make a push in the 200 dash.

That proved true Saturday, as Roessner was just about a step behind Zahn as they broke the final curve and hit the home stretch. Zahn pulled away to smash the state record she set during the preliminaries in 23.04 while Roessner followed in 23.89 to take second place. No one else broke the 25-second mark, as Olivia Hudson of Oberlin was third in 25.2.

After she crossed the finish line, Roessner again turned her eyes to the scoreboard before spinning Zahn around in a happy hug.

“It was so cool,” said Roessner. “Just to see how fast she ran, it was crazy. I did not think that was achievable from either one of us. Then when I saw that she ran that fast, I was like, ‘I had to run under 24.’ So, it was a super cool moment.”

Roessner obliterated her 400 dash school record set the previous day, slashing .37 seconds as she crossed the finish line in 55.57. Zahn won the championship as she bested her own state record by more than a second in 52.89 while Hudson was second in 55.46, improving on her preliminary time by nearly two seconds.

It has been a transformation over the last two years for Roessner, who only qualified for the state finals as part of the Indians’ 4x100 relay team as a sophomore. She was third in the state in the 200 dash and fifth in the 100 dash last season.

“She gained a huge amount of confidence with doing indoor,” said Diller. “I think that was a lot of it. And maturity. … We say a lot of times, iron sharpens iron. She’s around kids who are fast, which makes her want to level her game up. …

“The competitiveness, that’s all her. I don’t think you can teach that. It’s just something you have.

“You combine that with a little bit of talent,” she said, laughing, “good things happen.”

Roessner leaves Fort Recovery — she plans to run at Hillsdale College — as the top girls track athlete in school history. She set new school records, all breaking her own standards, in the final meet of her career. And she’s now the gold standard for Ohio as well, the fastest girl in the history of Division III.

“It was a great day,” she said. “The weather’s beautiful, a little warm but low wind, it’s so nice out. Honestly a perfect day to finish off a high school career.”