JZ and 4x8 head to State

  • By Kevin Lynch
  • June 1, 2010
  • 491
                        
West Holmes senior Jared Zollars earned a State berth on his own and as part of the 4x800 relay squad at the Meadowbrook Regional meet Thursday and Saturday, May 28 and 30. On Thursday, Zollars joined Grant Strouse, Brett McClain and Joey Alexander to run an 8:12.07, good enough for third place and a berth in the State meet. The top four finishers in each event qualify for State. “Talk about coming together,” said assistant coach Bob Rinfret. “Two weeks ago these guys ran an 8:24. Last week they ran 8:17 and now 8:12. They’re not done.” The 8:12.07 turned in by the Knights quartet at Meadowbrook is 1.5 seconds off the school record. “That’s the fastest I’ve ever coached,” Rinfret said. Zollars did all right as an individual as well on Saturday, clocking in at 1:58.01 in the 800-meter to place fourth, garnering another berth in the State tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday, June 4 and 5, at Jesse Owens Stadium on the campus of The Ohio State University. Indian Valley senior Sean Jones set a new Regional record of 1:53.53 in winning the 800-meter run. “It’s something I’ve always hoped for and have been working for for four years,” Zollars said. “I’ve never competed at a State competition, so it’s a relief to finally get to go.” Zollars put in a lot of extra work this year and it has paid big dividends for him. “I decided to put in a lot of miles this year,” Zollars said. “Last summer I ran a lot of miles, and over the winter, I would run extra miles after basketball practice. I got my speed work in during basketball, and I ran a couple miles after practice just to relax and get my endurance built up.” Zollars will run cross country and track at Malone University next year. As far as the success of the 4x8 team, Zollars credits the coaching and the fact the quartet is friends off the track as well as on. “I think our coaches did a heck of a job peaking us at the right time,” Zollars said. “One thing I like about our 4x8 is that we’re a tight group. We all get along and we’re really close with one another. On and off the track, we’re all good friends.” The Knights 4x400 relay team finished 11th on Thursday and was unable to advance. That foursome was made up of Alexander, McClain, Zollars and Jeremy Anderson. Anderson also finished 10th in the long jump with a leap of 19-3.5. The Lady Knights were unable to advance anyone out of Regionals. Jasmine Troyer was the fast-qualifier in the 200-meter dash preliminaries on Thursday, but she finished fifth on Saturday, just missing out on another trip to Columbus. Troyer ran a 26.67 in a very fast, competitive field. The senior sprinter also finished sixth in the 100-meter dash after running a 13.6 to qualify in Thursday’s preliminaries. She clocked in at 13.39 in the finals. Nichole Peterman finished ninth in the 300-meter hurdles (48.31). The 4x200 relay team of Peterman, Troyer, Kendra Martin and Lorraine Strouse was disqualified for a false start. Strouse also came up short in her bid for State in the long jump, finishing 15th with a leap of 14-1.75 “Jasmine is such a great leader,” said West Holmes head track coach Eric Goudy. “Qualifying the last two years to get to State, it was a sad day to see her come in fifth, a little short of getting back down there. “Lorraine Strouse was another senior who was disappointed in her performance today,” the coach continued. “She’s a wonderful kid who comes from a track family. I reminded both her and Jasmine that they are going to look back on this day with bad memories and great memories. I told them to try and keep it in perspective. Missing out on State may seem important now, but that diploma they received tonight means a whole lot more.” Hiland’s Kendall Sanchez competed at the Division III Fairless Regional in the high jump. The senior finished third at Districts, clearing 4-8. At Fairless, 5-6 was the winning height. Sanchez finished 14th, unable to get in at 4-10.


Loading next article...

End of content

No more pages to load