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Marion boys repeat as Division III champs
By Tom Haines
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's 4x200-meter relay - Aiden Grieshop, Justin Knouff, Wesley Schoen and Victor Hoelscher - pose after receiving their championship medals after winning at the Division III state track and field championships in Dayton. The Flyers repeated as state team champions.
DAYTON - Marion Local repeated as the boys Division III state track and field champion Friday night at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.
Last year, the Flyers won their first state title from among a tight group, getting the winning eight points in the 4x400-meter relay to end the day.
This year, they permitted no drama.
"Last year when we won, they set the bar pretty high," senior Toby Kremer said. "Coming in this year, we knew what we could do."
Kremer won pole vault and the 4x200 team also took first, with a second-place finish by the 4x100 and Justin Knouff (100) and Victor Hoelscher (200) adding podium berths.
With all that, even before picking up eight points in the 4x400, Marion led by 15, and it finished with a 51-35 win over Lowellville.
"Jack Knapke was seeded sixth in the discus and he finished runner-up," coach Kyle Grabowski said. "Toby Kremer was seeded ninth and he ended up as the event champion. I'm so proud of them. Everyone performed or overperformed what was asked of them when called into service."
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Toby Kremer clears the bar on a pole vault attempt at the Division III state track and field meet.
Kremer became the second straight Flyer to take the pole vault title, following in the footsteps of Findlay vaulter Nate Buschur.
Kremer said he got some encouragement from Buschur before the competition started Friday.
"He texted me this morning, actually," Kremer said. "He said, 'Go get 'em.' "
Buschur came in with the top seed after placing second the year before. Kremer, in his senior year, was making his first trip to state, came in seeded ninth and had never cleared 15 feet. In order to get more height and a better handhold, he switched to longer poles, which he had never used in a meet.
He came in at 13-0 and cleared it on his first try, then kept going through 14-8. He made 15-0 on his first try too for a new personal record, and that left him and Lakota's Braxton Quaintance alone to vie for first.
After both missed their first vaults, Kremer made his second try at 15-4. Quaintance didn't make either of his last two, giving Kremer the state championship.
"Me and Lakota were right next to each other, and we talked to each other before we jumped, said good luck," he said. "Both missed our first attempts. Second attempt was pretty good."
Marion's 4x200 relay became the first track event in school history to win a state title.
Photo by Paige Sutter/The Daily Standard
Marion Local's Brayden Pavelka bolts out of the blocks for the first leg of the 4x100.
Heading into the third leg, the Flyers were down in fourth, but Justin Knouff closed the gap for Aiden Grieshop going into the final 200.
"Usually when Vic's up there with those outside lanes, I know we're ahead a little bit," Knouff said. "I was just trying to
Grieshop was still trailng heading into the homestretch, but he turned on the jets and pulled ahead to secure the win by .17 seconds.
"I want 'em," Grieshop said of his mindset in the final sprint. "I just kept saying that. 'I want 'em, I want 'em, I want 'em.
"Never had that much of a push at the last leg," he added.
Wesley Schoen was the only returner on the 4x200, which didn't make state last year, and ran the first leg for the state title team.
"We have Wes at the beginning because he's really good getting out of the blocks," Hoelscher said. "Me, I can just catch. Aiden is really good in the last leg."
Schoen also took the last leg of the 4x400, pulling away from third place but unable to catch Lowellville.
Knouff and Hoelscher, meanwhile, were both all over the standings for Marion Friday.
Hoelscher ran fourth in the 200, ran the second leg of the 4x200 and finished with a strong final sprint in his leg of the 4x400 to briefly give the Flyers the lead before Lowellville took it back.
"My first 100 is terrible," he admitted, on why he shines in the 200. "But top speed, I can get up there."
All told, he contributed to 23 of the Flyers' 51 points.
Knouff was the other individual Flyer to place, running seventh in the 100. He also ran the third leg of the 4x200 and the second leg of the 4x100, giving him a hand in 18 points.
After running third by .008 seconds last year, the 4x100 team moved up a place but found itself behind in another tiebreaker in a three-way photo finish, as United took first by .004 seconds.
"It wasn't what we were expecting," Knouff said, "but second place can't be that bad. First would've been nice."
Brayden Pavelka and Kyle Otte came back in that relay and were joined by Knouff and Carter Jones.
Knouff said the four had already meshed at the start of the spring.
"Last year at the beginning of the season, our coach started to rope me into the 4x1 a little bit," he said. "So I kind of had experience with that."
The win gives Marion its 25th state championship across all sports.
"I know it means the world to us as coaches and to this community," Grabowski said. "So many people from town who aren't even related to these kids came to support them. That's the great thing about small towns in Ohio. They really showed up for them."
