The cold temperatures over this past week in Ohio may have been brutal, but those did not stop the heat being brought to indoor track action. The SPIRE Ohio Preview Meet was the most notable of the weekend action packed with competition. Maxwell Friedrich and Katy Zang made incredible distance debuts, Giulia Sironi cracked the rare 40-0 mark in TJ and Latrell Hughes proved his middle-distance dominance once again. Here is the rundown:
Latrell Hughes and his middle-distance dominance
Every time that Latrell Hughes (Lexington 2026) steps on the track, it's going to be impressive. Hughes proved just that this past weekend where he lowered his own OH #1 mark in the 400m, running 48.84 at the SPIRE Ohio Preview Meet. Remember that he also holds the OH #1 mark in the 800m run which now sits at 1:53.21.
He ended up taking second place overall, right behind Noah Horspool (Flying Angels Canada 2026), the Canada native. It came down to the wire as they were separated by less than two-tenths of a second.
As the season goes on, Hughes will have a decision to make. Will he focus his efforts on his recent success in the 800m run or potentially go for two state titles this season? Time will only tell.
*Latrell Hughes wins the 800m run at the OHSAA D1 State Meet in 2025 / Photo Credit: Kailey Zagst
Maxwell Friedrich sets the bar over 1600m
He's back. One of the best distance runners in the state finally made his indoor debut. Maxwell Friedrich (St. Ignatius 2026) knows how to run fast times and he did just that in the 1600m run at the NEOITC Series Black Division #2 meet. He ran a 4:16.83 and there was no one there to catch him.
Last indoor season, Friedrich ran out of his mind at the NEOITC All-Star Meet with a 1600m time of 4:08.94. He had the best mark of anyone that season by over five seconds. A rare feat in a highly competitive distance field.
This is only the beginning of what could be another very strong year for the Georgetown commit. He claimed his first state championship title in the 3200m run at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championships with a blazing 8:57.74. He was one of only two guys, along with Charles Guerrera (Dub. Jerome 2025) to break the 9-minute barrier at any point during the outdoor season last year.
There are no limits for Friedrich and seeing what he is able to do for his final season is going to be exciting.
The comeback of Katy Zang
Katy Zang (Teays Valley 2026) has had a high school career that has been everything but linear. Many moments of celebration but also times of hardship battling injury. With that being said, she is now full speed ahead. Beating the field by nearly 30 seconds, she ran a 10:17.56 in the 3200m run. Not to mention, this absolutely shattered her old personal-best of 10:35.72 that she set last outdoor season at the Granville Invitational.
The Indiana commit looks to make her final two seasons ones to remember and this is a great mark to kick things off. After a tough race at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championships this past fall, she was able to claim the title at the New Balance RunningLane XC Championships with a time of 17:04.28.
*Katy Zang runs the 3200m at the OHSAA D1 Outdoor State Championships in 2025 / Photo Credit: Kailey Zagst
Giulia Sironi keeps the steady climb going in the TJ
Giulia Sironi (Spire Academy 2026) has laid down an impressively consistent set of triple jump performances this indoor season so far and she keeps on climbing. In her opening TJ, she recorded a 39-1, then it was 39-5 a week later. At the SPIRE Ohio Preview Meet this past weekend, Sironi jumped a stellar 40-0 to top her own OH #1 mark.
She is the first to crack the 40-0 mark since Juliette Laracuente-Huebner (Mar. Highland 2023) did it in 2023. Competing for SPIRE Academy, it will be interesting to see if she competes the TJ at any national meets. Right now, she has placed herself in the top-20 nationwide with her jump.