Dustin Horter, Matt Scrape of Pickerington Central & C.J. Ambosio of St. Ignatius began to separate in the first mile. (photo M. Stonecipher)
Asics Summer Bash at Hilliard Davidson
September 3, 2016
It was actually a pretty chilly morning compared to the weather we've been getting in Ohio. Regardless, it was a great day for racing. The team bus left at 5:45 from Lakota East and arrived at 7:45. By the time the team set up camp, it was already time for our varsity ten to warm up a mile and a half. The team stretched, did drills, and completed our strides minutes before the starter called us out. The gun sounded and immediately I was boxed by what looked like a few Hilliard Davidson guys. By about a quarter mile into the race, it was evident it would be a battle between CJ Ambosio, Matt Scrape, and myself, who created an instant gap from the other competitors. Come mile one, we were all still tight knit and rolling together at about 4:45 from what I heard. We ended up cruising pretty relaxed through mile two in precisely a 9:48, with the whole trio still there and ready to strike. Then, I tried to get on the pace a little more and push it because I've personally experienced both Matt Scrape's and CJ Ambosio's kicks in big time races. I know that the way to break down a kick, in general, is to push the pace and create a gap. I felt like I had done a pretty good job of this coming into the home stretch, but based on the crowd's reaction, I knew someone was coming. Matt Scrape ran right past me with a burst of speed I was unable to match at the time. I was told I looked shocked, but then determined, and because of the work I have done on my kick and 100m strides every day at practice with my teammates, I was able to let loose a burst of my own and barely come out with a win. Despite the fact that the race was so close, win or lose, I was happy with the time of 15:18 and I'm sure Matt was too. We were just stoked to be US #2, #3, and CJ #4 for a little while. This race showed me that not only will this year's state meet be very competitive, but Ohio will be producing some of the top times in the US with a great group of guys.
Scrape and Horter battled down the last 100m. Scrape passed Horter with around 75m to go and Horter passed him back at the finish. 15:18.52 and 15:18.11 respectively. OH #4 &5.
Special Moment: I was so proud of how my team performed this weekend, especially East's top 4 runners. Dan Leonard, Max Sellers, Blake Dodson, and I sat down with Coach Thomas last week after we felt like our performance at VOA wasn't satisfying personally to any of us runners. We organized a meeting to talk about goal times for every race as well as what we could do to obtain them throughout the season. At Asics Summer Bash, the top 4 all obtained their goals, amongst some of the best teams in Ohio. All the guys went home satisfied with Saturday's race, but came back to East ready to work harder during this week's training. Thanks to Hilliard Davidson for putting on such a great event. The T-Shirt exchange and Pot Luck were a lot of fun!
