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Marion Local's Nate Buschur raises the Division III state championship trophy
COLUMBUS - Owen Rindler tried not to keep count of the points as Marion Local's boys track team looked to reach the top of the standings at the Division III State Track and Field Championships.
Down to the last event, he got the gist of where the team needed to finish to clinch the program's first state title.
Rindler ran the final leg of the 4x400-meter relay as the Flyers finished second in the race and the state championship at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus.
The title is just the second boys state track title won by a Midwest Athletic Conference team and the 150th overall state championship won by a conference school since 1973.
"Going undefeated with our varsity team this season is awesome," said Flyers coach Kyle Grabowski. "We (the coaches) came down from the stands saying 'That just happened, right?' We had some adversity at the regional meet where events where we could have moved on didn't move on. The kids performed so well. Every kid that came on the bus (to Columbus) contributed to the team's score today."
Marion Local entered Saturday morning in third with 22 points and had three events featuring Flyer entrants to add to the total.
Marion Local's Tate Hess (5) sprints down the stretch run in the final of the 4x100-meter relay at the Division III State Track and Field Championships in Columbus. The Flyers finished second in the race. St. Henry's Harrison Wendel is in the far left lane as the Redskins finished eighth.
The first was the 4x100 relay, where Brayden Pavelka, Nate Buschur, fresh of his winning the state pole vault on Friday, Kyle Otte and Tate dueled with Youngstown Valley and Anna. Valley won in 43.13 seconds while Anna edged Marion by a margin of 43.492 seconds to 43.500 seconds to take second to give the Flyers six big points.
Next up was the 300 hurdles with Rindler, who was the third seed in the nine-hurdler final. Rindler worked his way over the hurdles and finished second behind Ottoville's Kellen Schlagbaum, who posted a time of 38.60 seconds to Rindler's 38.86 seconds, giving the Flyers eight more points.
Marion Local's Owen Rindler (6) competes in the Division III boys 300-meter hurdles final at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University.
"I really didn't want to look at (the scores), said Rindler. "I knew it was coming down to my hurdle performance and how well I placed. I went out and got second and eight points for the team. I'm just glad I didn't have to know that coming in and psych myself out. I got in the zone and did what I had to do."
Heading into the 3,200, Marion Local and Brainbridge Paint Valley were tied with 30 points each, and when Columbus Grove's Luke Ellerbrock finising fourth in the 3,200, the Bulldogs made it a three-way tie for first heading into the last event: the 4x400. Only the Flyers had a team running in the final, meaning that the team only had to finish eighth to secure the one point to clinch the title. A false start or a bad baton pass that could drop them to ninth was the only concern.
"Not false starting to dropping is harder than people anticipate," said Grabowski. "We've dropped the baton and false-started this year."
Marion Local's Wesley Schoen takes off after getting the baton hand-off from Andrew Pohlman in the 4x400-meter relay final at the Division III State Track and Field Championships in Columbus. The Flyers finished second in the race ºto clinch the program's first-ever state title in boys track and field.
Marion Local's Wesley Schoen races with Ashland Crestview's Logan Friges on the third leg of the 4x400-meter relay at the Division III State Track and Field Championships in Columbus. The Flyers finished second in the race to clinch the first state title for boys track and field at the school.
Tate Hess took the first leg and had the team in second. Andrew Pohlman and Wesley Schoen moved the team into first as Schoen handed off to Rindler for the last lap. Down the stretch, Ashland Crestview's Adison Reymer was able to get a head and give the Cougars the win in 3:22.76. The Flyers were less than a second behind at 3:27.70, but it was more than enough to secure the title with 38 points with Paint Valley and Columbus Grove tying for second.
"I knew pretty much before the race, so we were pretty much excited," said Rindler. "I knew we had to go out there and run a pretty good race like we did. It felt awesome! I knew some of (the other runners in the competition) and they were running 48s and 49s (second 400s), but I tried to hold them off the best I could."
"It was a performance we knew they could do and were happy that this 4x4 (relay) was able to do it and finished up strong."
All that was needed - besides his team giving Grabowski a water cooler bath - was to collect the trophy.
"It's a historical performance," said Grabowski.
