Ohio Indoor Recap: Top Storylines Feb.2-Feb. 8

Girls

Azarae Hawkins and Ric'Keya white battle it out in the 60m dash

Heading into the 60m dash, everyone knew that it would be a showdown between Azarae Hawkins (Mason 2026) and Ric'Keya White (New Albany 2026). Both have had stellar performances in this event so far this season. During the prelims, they both knew it could go either way. Hawkins and White ran down to the same one-hundredth of a second at 7.58. Heading into finals, it was a matter of who wanted it more. 

The gun went off and Hawkins pulled away, solidifying herself a win with a new personal-record and OH #1 of 7.44. White ran 7.52 to claim second place. She still holds OH #2 with a 7.47, clocked at the University of Michigan High School Showcase. 

This may be the first time that Hawkins and White have gone head to head this year, but it will likely not be the last. Both compete at Ohio Division 1 Schools and will be seeing a lot of each other moving forward, especially on the state level.

White claims victory in the 60mH

Speaking of White, she was able to claim victory in the 60mH and run a new OH #1 at the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase. She was previously tied with Anna Wile (Hillard Davidson 2026), who was also fighting for the win in this race. White has now claimed this mark undisputedly with her time of 8.37. Wile finished behold her with a time of 8.48. Both White and Wile will also compete against each other down the road if both choose to go for hurdle events on the state level.

Kadia Rock does it again

She's just unstoppable. Kadia Rock (SPIRE Academy 2026) absolutely tore up the track with new 200m and 400m dash OH #1 marks at the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase. This time, she did it with competition. Rock edged Azarae Hawkins (Mason 2026) by 0.01 of a second in the 200m dash with a time of 24.23. 

In the 400m dash, competition came from Michigan standout freshman Cayla Hawkins (Track Life University/Detroit PAL 2029). Hawkins ran 53.34 and was able to outrun Rock to the line. Nonetheless, Rock was still able to capture the OH #1 mark by over two-seconds as she ran 53.31. This is also a new personal-best for Rock. 

Jicha, Reese and Prusak all slide under 5-minutes in the 1600m run

It was a loaded 1600m field at the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase as three girls were able to slide under the five-minute mark. Hannah Jicha (Strongsville 2026) led the charge running 4:54.86 for a new OH #1 mark. Kaitlyn Reese (Avon 2026) and Anna Prusak (Hathaway Brown 2026) finished at 4:57.41 and 4:58.32 respectively for OH #3 and OH #5. 

This could be the year for Hannah Jicha. She has been a steady climber throughout her high school career highlighted by her first place finish in the 1600m at the 2025 OATCCC D1 Indoor State Meet. Jicha followed that up for third place at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championships. On the grass this past fall, she finished fourth at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championship. All of these accolades from this past year have undoubtedly helped set her up for her last year. The Villanova commit holds a personal-best of 4:47.11 in this event. With plenty more time in track left to go, she could lower that time even further.

Reese also holds an impressive cross country and track resume. She finished 5th just behind Jicha this past fall at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championship. On the track side, she was also runner-up to Jicha last indoor season in the 1600m run at the 2025 OATCCC D1 Indoor State Meet. Reese had a breakthrough last outdoor season, jumping down to focus some of her efforts on the 800m run. The Michigan State commit finished third at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championships in this event.

Prusak had a huge jump this past outdoor season, completing the 1600-3200m double at the OHSAA Division 2 State Championships and finishing 5th and 3rd respectively. On the grass she took a runner-up finish at the OHSAA Division 2 State Championship. It will be exciting to see what the Yale commit can continue to do on the track. 

*Hannah Jicha competes at the D1 OHSAA State Outdoor Championships in 2025 / Photo Credit: Kailey Zagst

Claire Iaciofano soars to new heights again in PV

Breaking the 13-0 barrier two weekends ago seemed to be a great start already for Claire Iaciofano (Turpin 2026) in the pole vault. But scratch that because she just got even better. Iaciofano absolutely soared to her new personal-best, vaulting 13-6. This ties her for the OH #1 mark alongside Annie McCracken (Granville 2026). Iaciofano and McCracken are the two clear frontrunners in this event right now. Seeing how both of them progress is going to be exciting to watch.

Boys

Three go under 49 seconds in the 400m dash at SPIRE

Break 49 seconds together. That's exactly what Jay'Vier Kerr (Glenville 2026), Robert Young (Wester. Central 2026) and Nehemiah Mills (Beechcroft 2027) were able to accomplish to produce OH #1, #2 and #3 marks at the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase Meet. All three of these athletes have now proven the depth of the 400m event this year.

Kerr blazed to a dominant finish running 47.69 in his debut 400m this season. He came back as the defending champion from this meet last year. On top of this, he claimed the state title during the outdoor season, running 47.84 at the OHSAA Division 2 State Championships. 

Young finished second in 48.61 which is his indoor personal-best. He is the defending indoor state champion as he ran 48.62 at the 2025 OATCCC D1 Indoor State Meet. Young followed that up last outdoor season, clocking 47.29 for the runner-up finish at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championships. These times may be impressive, but he ran even faster at his regional meet with a 47.03 last outdoor season. 

Mills also fell under the 49-second mark with a 48.82. He did not crack the 50-second mark until last outdoor season which shows Mills' progress over this past year. In his breakthrough outdoor season, Mills put down a massive personal-best with a 46.86 to win the OHSAA Division 1 State Championships. 

To put this entire event into perspective even further, eight of the current top-10 OH marks came from the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase Meet. This event will be an exciting one to watch as the season continues to unfold.

*Robert Young (hip #5) competes at the D1 OHSAA State Outdoor Championships in 2025 / Photo Credit: Kailey Zagst

1600m run: Anderson Seredick and Jacon Newman have breakthroughs

It could very well be the year of the breakthrough for distance runners Anderson Seredick (Unattached 2028) and Jacon Newman (St. Edward 2028). Both were able to achieve impressive personal-bests, running 4:15.50 and 4:16.63 respectively for the OH #1 and #2 marks at the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase Meet. Neither dipped under the 4:20 mark until this indoor season.

Serendick started off the indoor season hot. Less than a month ago, he ran 4:18.79 at the YSU High School Meet #2. He made his state championship debut on the cross country course this fall and looks to add to that on the track. 

Now to talk about Newman, he dropped over 10-seconds off of his 1600m personal-best at Spire. While this progression on the track seems incredibly impressive, this did not happen overnight. At the cross country state meet, he jumped from 73rd in 2024 to 17th at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championship in 2025. Even considering the addition of an extra division, this feat built a lot of extra momentum heading into the track season.  

Elijah Harris hits the 7-0 mark in HJ 

It was only a matter of time before the 7-foot mark was cracked in the boy's HJ this year. Undoubtedly, Elijah Harris (Westr. Central 2026) was the one to do so with his spectacular 7-1 clearance. The Ohio State High School Qualifier #4 meet allowed him to break this barrier for the second time in his career. In 2025, he claimed the OH #1 mark in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. The TCU commit won the 2025 OATCCC D1 Indoor State Meet and will look to acquire his first outdoor state title this coming June. The question is: Will anyone be able to challenge him?

Glenville and Beavercreek reset OH #1 relay marks

Glenville put together two strong relay squads in the 4x200m and 4x400m at the SPIRE Scholastic Showcase Meet. They improved upon their two OH #1 marks, running 1:27.35 and 3:15.51 respectively. Beavercreek traveled to Kentucky to compete at the Eastern Indoors meet and came away with an 8:02.24 for a new 4x800m OH #1 mark. Dublin Jerome, Mason and Milford relay teams all competed this weekend to round out the current top-four marks in the state for the 4x800m relay.