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Heating things up early out the blocks for this preview, the two individuals that have been making not just during this indoor season, but also together since last year are set to take part in what is likely going to be the most anticipated races of the weekend: both the Girl's 60m Dash and Girl's 200m Dash. Record watch in these events were put on notice after Olivia Pace (Wester. Central 2024) clocked a 60m Dash time of 7.38 seconds to defend her state title in the event, which was three hundredths of a second from resetting Abby Steiner (Dub. Coffman 2018)'s indoor state record of 7.36, which also stands as the facility record. This year, she will be joined by Maira Scott (Hol. Springfield 2024), who, mainly during last outdoor season's state meet, made her statement with a breakthrough in the 100m Dash Prelims and the 200m Dash finals, clocking 11.41 and 23.20.
Not taking into account the different factors from outdoor and indoor season, Scott's 200m Dash currently is faster than Steiner's indoor state record in the event of 23.51.
Fast forward to this winter, the gap between Pace, Scott and Steiner's 60m Dash record has closed significantly, with Scott improving a considerable amount when she set a new personal best of 7.40 seconds at the University of Michigan High School Invitational back in January; over a quarter of a second improvement when compared to her third-place performance at the state meet last year. For Pace, she's been incredibly consistent in the event this season, consistently clocking under-7.5 seconds in the event in almost all of her attempts. To top it off as well, at SPIRE Scholastic Showcase early February, she matched her personal best of 7.38; a race that also saw a surprise in the form of Alexia Jones (Mississauga Track and Field Club 2027) of Canada, who clocked 7.37 as a freshman.
According to the performance lists, asides from Pace competing in the Long Jump, her and Scott are only entered into the 60m Dash and 200m Dash. With this in mind, it is almost certain that both of the future University of Souther California teammates will be putting on a clinic out of the blocks tomorrow.
Similar situation to the Girl's 60m Dash, the Girl's 60m Hurdles is looking to be one to keep an eye on as well, as four of the girls who competed in the finals last year will be returning this year: Ric'Keya White (Wayne 2026), Alexus Roberts (Wester. South 2024), Lily Eagleston (Mason 2025), and Katherine Dortmund (Col. DeSales). Not to be left out, Mariah Day (Trotwood-Madison 2024) has made her presence known in Ohio with her breakout race in the 60m Hurdles at Wittenberg HS Open #2 back in late-January, clocking 8.87 seconds, which puts her as the second-fastest seed alongside Dortmund.
Ric'Keya White - 8.64
Mariah Day - 8.87
Katherine Dortmund - 8.87
Alexus Roberts - 8.31
Keeping the momentum with the sprints, the freshman phenom from the Dayton area, Jamier Averette-Brown (Wayne 2027) just about instantly put himself in the spotlight after his 60m Dash opener at University of Findlay Dave's Running High School Series #1 clocking, at the time, a state-leading time of 6.89 in the finals, a time that put him as one of the fastest freshmen in the country in the event. Fast forward to earlier this year in January at the University of Michigan High School Invitational, Averette-Brown set the bar with a 6.76, currently overall a US #10.
He isn't quite in the clear though, as Koy Beasley (LaSalle 2024) currently holds the fastest seed time on the performance list of 6.72, a time which is both his personal best (set earlier this February at Finishtiming Team Championships) and is sitting comfortably at US #5. This was a considerable improvement upon his previous personal best, which was also set around the same time except last year.
Joining these two to round out the top seeds in the 60m Dash will Mateo Medina (Elyria 2024) and Caleb Kelly (Tol. St. John's Jesuit 2025), both of whom are currently listed at 6.87 seconds, with Andrew Smith IV (Wester. South 2025) just right behind them with a seed time of 6.89 seconds.
Between these five, individually, they will all be returning for the 200m Dash later in the day. Medina, Beasley, and Averette-Brown will be setting up the blocks right next to each other in the "fast section," within lanes five, six, and seven.
With Medina and Averette-Brown, outside of the relays, they are slated to add to their resume in the 400m Dash as well, another race that we could potentially see another state record, which is currently 46.21, held by Justin Braun (Wester. Central 2022). Adding to the bunch will be Michael Middleton (Cle. Heights), who set a blistering personal best of 47.58 (US #7) at SPIRE Scholastic Showcase, with Medina less than a stride behind him clocking 47.80. These two are the only athletes under the 48-second barrier. Between Medina and Middleton, they each will have run an event prior to the 400m Dash (Medina in the 60, Middleton in the 4x200m Relay).
With the individual distance events, three state meet records within Division I could potentially be reset. Those being the Boy's 800m Run, Girl's 800m, and the Boy's 3200m. Something to note with following below, these will be reflective of current listed seed times on the performance and without taking into account the possibility of an individual potentially running more than just the event they are contested to run.
Boy's 800m
Current Record - Dylan Christian (Granville 2022) - 1:52.37
Contender - Calvin Kilgallon (Lebanon 2024) - 1:53.77
Girl's 800m
Current Record - Gia Napoleon (Thom. Worthington 2019) - 2:11.69
Contender - Jayla Atkinson (Stow-Munroe Falls 2024) - 2:12.64
Boy's 3200m
Current Record - Andrew Jordan (Watkins Memorial 2016) - 9:03.68
Contender - Ben Gabelman (Wester. North 2024) - 9:05.27
Aside from the above mentioned, each of the distance races are essentially anyone's for the taking right now given how much depth they hold.
Starting with the boy's side of distance, for Gabelman, this will be his first indoor state championship meet, as before this year, his previous indoor personal bests were from 2022 at Otterbein HS Qualifier #3 in the 800m Run and 1600m Run. Despite the limited performances this indoor season and having only done one event at the three meets he competed at since late-December, it can be safe to say that he is in racing shape for tomorrow.
He's not out of the clear though, as both the 1600m and 3200m fields are stacked across the board.
In the 1600m, almost every single athlete set to toe the line with him in that final section of the 1600m have times listed at 4:20 or faster, with both Connor Long (Anthony Wayne 2024) and Matthew Schroff (Olen. Orange 2025) right on his tail with 4:15.xx seeds. The same can be said for the 3200m field, with Dylan Wood (Copley 2024), Weston Day (Dub. Scioto 2024), and Jake Sebaugh (Medina, 2024) with respective times of 9:10.46, 9:09.17, and 9:11.00. However, a bit of a dark horse to keep an eye on, Eli Ilg (Mas. Jackson 2025) is no stranger to setting the pace early and opening up a big lead on the field, as we saw in last year's race. Given that his only other race this indoor season was back in January with the SPIRE Ohio Preview Meet where he won using this strategy, it will be interesting to see how things end conclude.
Kicking us off with the girl's distance events, the 800m will be a fast one, as Jayla Atkinson (Stow-Munroe Falls 2024) and Natalie Kiefer (Harrison 2024) both come into the state meet with the fastest seeds times just shy off the state meet record., followed by Celia Schulte (Hil. Davidson 2026) and Sydney Stevenson (Dover 2025).
Jayla Atkinson (Stow-Munroe Falls 2024) - 2:12.64
Natalie Kiefer (Harrison 2024)- 2:13.97
Celia Schulte (Hil. Davidson 2026) - 2:14.72
Sydney Stevenson (Dover 2025) - 2:15.63
As previously mentioned, each of the distance races will be anyone's for the taking right now, and the Girl's 1600m Run is no exception to that statement. Two underclassmen currently lead the field as the field by a few seconds. Efa Paschka (Mason 2026) leads the field with a seed time of 5:01.21, with Kaitlyn Reese (Avon 2026) just marginally behind with her 5:01.40. Right behind them will be the state champion from the cross-country season, Evelyn Prodoehl (Lak. West 2025) and another underclassman, Brooke Chapman (Olen. Orange 2026), both of whom have respective times of 5:04.xx on the performance list.
The girl's 3200m will be interesting, as two of the top seeds from the 1600m will be doubling back for double the distance as some of the top seeds in the event. This includes Efa Paschka, Evelyn Prodoehl. These two however, will also be joined by Bentley Thomas (Ursuline Academy 2024), Daniela Scheffler (Uniont. Lake 2025), Lucia Rodbro (Talawanda 2025), and Hannah Kersten (Perrysburg 2024), all of whom have dipped under the 11:00 minute mark for the event.
Highlighting the field events, Elijah Harris (Wester. Central 2026) is coming in as the leader in both the High Jump and the Triple Jump but the marquee event to look forward to will be his Triple Jump, as he is mere inches away from breaking the overall record in the event, which is currently set at 47-6.50. Harris' personal best in the event is 47-4.25, a performance that was set back in January and also has remained undefeated in the event. With the high jump, he is coming into the pit with a recently set personal best of 6-9, which is 3 inches, also a bar, improvement from his overall personal best last outdoor season.
Over at Boy's Pole Vault, Eric Pugh (Wayne 2025) is currently the top dog in the field, coming in with a soaring performance of 16-8, which is over a foot high than the second overall seed of 15-6. While the record of 17-6.50 is realistically out of reach, the Wayne junior will surely be coming into the competition reaching higher than just that.
Handing things off to the relays paired with a record watch to wrap up this preview, we could potentially see the records in both 4x200m Relays ger reset. On the girl's side, while the record of 1:38.81 set by Gahanna Lincoln at last year's indoor state championships might be a few seconds away, Mason made some noise at the Ashland High Performance meet a few weeks ago with a solo effort of 1:41.33. This performance came from within the first five minutes of the running beginning. Given the atmosphere and pressure at not just the state meet, but also SPIRE Insitute as a whole, we could see the quartet of Abby Love, Eden Orr, Nora Moore, and Azarae Hawkins put their names into the record books.
The same can be said for the Boy's 4x200m Relay as well, as there are currently four teams under the 1:30 mark, with Wayne leading the way with a season best of 1:28.78 and Cleveland Heights, Solon, and Bedford right behind them. As we saw on the girl's side, Gahanna Lincoln also holds the record for the boys with a performance of 1:27.84, set back in 2022. So far, it's looking like Jamier Averette-Brown, Teaunn Hunter, Charles Solomon, and Sean Westmoreland along with their alternate leg Key'Shawn Garrett.