James Conrad of St. Ignatius threw the discus 209-1 at the GlenOak Second Sole Eagle Elite invitational in April. Six weeks later he went to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium and won the state title at 194-0 - fifteen feet shorter than what he had already thrown that spring. The gap between those two marks is not a story about underperforming at state, but rather a story about a junior who threw the discus further than any Ohio boy has thrown it this season, before the postseason even started, and then went to state and won anyway. The same can be said for the shot. Hunter Spangler of Liberty Center threw the shot put 65-1.75 at the Anna Rocket HS Invitational on Apr 11 - the season-best shot put in Ohio. He won state at 64-9. 

Dom Ellis of St. Xavier went to the Penn Relays in late April and ran the 3000 in 8:22.58, finishing third in his section against a national field. Then he came home and led Ohio in the 3200 at 8:54.94 and the mile at 4:10.09, both at the Eastern Relays. At state he won the 1600 at 4:10.37 and ran the 3200, winning D1 at 9:10.04. Landon Kimmel of Tippecanoe ran alongside that narrative all spring - 4:09.99 in the 1600 at D2 Regional in May, the fastest 1600 in Ohio this season, followed by second in the 3200 at state and fifth in the 1600. Two of the best distance runners Ohio has seen this spring spent the whole season chasing each other toward faster times without running the same race at state.

Elijah Harris of Westerville Central cleared 7-0 in the high jump at the Ed Rarey Gahanna Invitational on May 8 and jumped 50-1 in the triple jump at the Wayne Invitational on Apr 30. Both marks led Ohio all season. At state he cleared 6-8 and finished third in the high jump. The 7-0 that sat at the top of Ohio's rankings all spring didn't show up at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, and that is not a failure - it is what regular season marks are. What they tell you is that Harris has been in the OHSAA high jump final three straight years and spent all spring doing things nobody else in Ohio could do. 

Beau Hesler of North Adams won the OHSAA D3 State 800 last June at 1:51.78 and then went to New Balance Nationals and ran 1:51.91 for 31st in the country. This spring he ran the 400. Not as a secondary event, but his primary one. His PR of 46.59 at OHSAA D4 Districts put him first in Ohio. He also ran 1:53.62 in the 800 for 7th in in the state. 

Luke Schnieber of Cincinnati Country Day won the pole vault at state at 17-5. Miles King of Olentangy Berlin ran 36.81 in the 300 hurdles at the D1 Super Regional and won state at 36.83 - two hundredths off his season best on the biggest day of the year, which is another way of saying he ran exactly as fast as he needed to. Both are worth knowing. Schnieber is a junior and comes back next year with a state title already on his resume.