Raising the bar

Two local track athletes competed in the New Balance indoor national championships in Boston on March 11, and Maria Stein's Nate Buschur came home an All-American.

Buschur placed sixth in the country in indoor pole vault to earn New Balance All-American honors, clearing 15 feet, nine inches on his first attempt for a personal record before falling short of 16 feet.

"It was awesome," he said. "The facility was great, and being around the competition there was excellent."

New Balance was considered the premier national competition for this year's indoor season, because its Boston Landing Track & Field Complex is less than a year old. The draw of the new facility also meant that many of the top track athletes in the country would be competing there.

Buschur spent the 2022 spring season chasing the Marion Local school record of 14-2, reaching 14-4 at regionals and state and finishing fifth in the Division III state meet for All-Ohio honors.

He spent the fall as a safety for Marion's undefeated football team, recording a pick-six in the state championship game, then turned his attention to the indoor track season as soon as the Flyers finished celebrating.

"Nate's just been really dedicated and focused," Marion Local track coach Kyle Grabowski said. "Football ended, he took a week off and then he was back in the weight room, and he had his eyes set on everything he could accomplish for track season. He's just been awesome."

With no indoor track team at Marion, Buschur spends his weeks practicing at Ultimate Air in Ansonia. Twice a week, he spends an hour and a half or two hours perfecting his technique on shorter poles and shorter jumps.

"At Ultimate Air, it's a lot more technical work and form work," Buschur said. "When I jump at school, it's mostly getting used to my poles and making sure my steps and everything lines up for the meets."

The work paid off when Grabowski and Buschur went up to the University of Michigan for a meet and Buschur jumped 15-7, well above the 15-foot standard to qualify for the indoor nationals.

While Buschur pointed out that vaults early in the outdoor season would usually be lower because of the wind and cold, Grabowski said a shorter approach in indoor competition, along with less training time, tended to produce to lower marks for indoor track. Buschur's 17-inch improvement from last spring is an outlier.

"Outdoor is almost always higher than indoor, because you get in outdoor shape," Grabowski said. "Plus, you get a little longer approach and get more speed to bring in because you're in better shape. But this is just a matter of, he's just really determined right now."

Buschur competed in an indoor state tournament held by the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches at the Spire Institute in Geneva on March 3 and handily won the state title in the second division, which combines DII and DIII of outdoor competition. River Valley junior Cooper Miller and Otsego senior Dakota Keifer took second and third after topping out at 14-6, while Buschur cleared 15-8.

At the national competition a week later, he cleared 14-3 and 14-9 without a problem, then missed his first jump at 15-3 before making it on the second try. He did it again at 15-9 before falling short on his three attempts at 16-3.

Only three vaulters cleared 16 feet, with national champion Maddox Hamm, a Virginia Tech commit, topping out at 17-8 1/2.

"I've had close jumps at 16 and 16-3, but I've never been able to get it yet," Buschur said. "Just (working on) coming off the pole straighter and higher instead of shooting out."

Last year's outdoor state champion, Zaiden Fry of Mohawk, won with a jump of 16 feet exactly. Fry is a senior this year and back to defend his back-to-back state titles, but if the 16-foot mark remains the bar to clear for a state title, Buschur is gaining ground.

"I have no doubt in my mind that he will be able to hit 16 if healthy," Grabowski said. "Always got to put that in there, if healthy, but yes. I think he has the ability. He's just at the tip of the iceberg of what he can really do."

Standards haven't been set yet for the Nike outdoor nationals, the premier outdoor meet, which will be held June 15-18 at the University of Oregon. With the state meet set for June 2-3, Buschur would be able to record a qualifying jump at any point in the spring season through the state tournament.

Coldwater sophomore Izzy Zahn also competed in the New Balance indoor nationals, placing 57th in the Rising Stars 200-meter dash with a time of 25.53.