MileSplit Ohio's Nate Shively was on scene Friday night for the debut of the indoor track and field season at the SPIRE Institute. Teams from across Ohio competed in the OATCCC Distance Night meet in Geneva. Specifically, athletes lined up in the 800, 1600, 3200 and pole vault events.
Ohio's top returner in the 800, Canfield's Nick Plant opened his season with a win, just missing a sub-2 effort, as he clocked 2:00.02. The junior classman ran 1:55.50 last indoor track season before the outdoor campaign ended up getting canceled. After the race, Plant stated that he hopes to hit the 1:52 mark in 2021. Dublin Scioto's Trevor Page put up a strong fight, finishing in the runner-up spot with a 2:02.39 time.
The Westerville Central Warhawks made a 2.5 hour business trip to Geneva and took wins in the girls 800, girls 1600, and boys 1600 events. Tara Will came out ready to race, winning the 1600m in a solo effort of 5:35.99. Then, an hour later, she followed up with another win in the 800m in 2:32.46. In the boys 1600, Haden Fulkerson came from behind to take the win in the final lap, running 4:38.17. After the race, Fulkerson stated he hopes to hit the low 4:20s come outdoor season and reach the state tournament in the event. The boys 1600 also featured 2020 OHSAA Middle School Cross Country Champion Billy Dennison from Mentor Memorial. Dennison hung with the fast heat, which paid off for an 11-second PR of 4:58.58.
The mixed gender 3200 featured three runners: Rocky River's Greg Ganor and Columbus Grove's Carson Closson battled on the boys side, with Ganor taking the lead early and holding on for the win in 10:38.33. Closson finished close behind in 10:40.83. Savannah Dennison had the unique opportunity to run a competitive time trial, as she was the lone entry on the ladies side. The Mentor sophomore paced with the boys early and ultimately finished in 11:27.35.
In pole vault action, SPIRE Academy's Anjali Mead put on a clinic. Mead, 5th place finisher at last year's USATF Junior Olympics in the event, cleared 12 feet for the win, which matched her PR in the event from outdoors. Also performing well was Beaumont's Madyson Treharne, who finished second clearing 11 feet. This was a new PR by eight inches. St. Peters' Caden Brubaker cleared 10-6 to take the win in boys competition.
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