By Dean Eversole
MaxPreps.com
Tickets to Columbus were being handed out around the state Friday and Saturday in track. Athletes gathered for regional track meets, hoping to put their name in the top four and earn a trip to the state track meet in Columbus this coming weekend.
In Piqua, the small schools in the Southwest District gathered at Piqua High School. Despite Division III being the smallest of Ohio's three alignments, a number of the athletes participating are headed to big time college programs.
The biggest of the big is Yellow Springs Sam Borchers, who has been burning up tracks in Southwest Ohio for four years, dominating the 800 and 1,600 meter races. Every time this Penn State-bound runner steps on the track a record is in jeopardy and Friday was no different.
In his opening act, Borchers dominated the field in the 800 meter turning in a time of 1:52.52 for a new meet record. After catching his breath, he returned a little bit later and wowed the crowd again, this time in the 1,600 meter.
After spending the first couple of laps in the pack, Borchers darted away from everyone, crossing the finish line in 4:14.14, his second meet record on the night. In this meet he spent the last two laps looking behind him where he didn't found much but open track.
"It is a bad habit that I have and something I need to break," Borchers said of his tendency to peek.
Borchers' performance solidified him as the favorite in Columbus.
Minsters' Andrew Meyer has competed in a lot of shot put competitions, but never before has he done it in tennis shoes.
Meyer, who will attend Eastern Michigan next fall, not only won the Regional title Friday night, but he did it with a meet record throw of 59-7. After spending a couple of days trying to adjust to the throwing circle, Meyer made an unusual change.
"I came over here yesterday and the circle was not what I was use to," Meyer said. "I wasn't sure which I was going to wear at first. I knew after my first throw I would qualify for state. For my second throw I wore my shot shoes and on my third I went back to the tennis shoes and that was the 59-7 throw."
Perhaps Meyer will take his black high tops to Columbus, where he is the favorite to win the shot put event although Columbus Grove's Cory Mueleman could push Meyer.
About the only way Versailles Amanda Barlage will be denied the state title in the girls' pole vault is if someone takes her pole. The senior has finished second the last two seasons, but comes into the state meet the clear favorite.
Friday night Barlage broke her own meet record, clearing 12 feet and just narrowly missed going over the 12-6 mark. The next closest competitor comes with a high vault of 11 feet.
Anything short of a state title will be a disappointment for Barlage.
"I am happy where I am at today, but I think I can go higher," Barlage said. "But I am very happy to be going back to state."
One of the oddest sights of the evening was watching Anna's Sarah Schulze run in the 800 and 1,600 meters. The 6-2 Schulze is heading to Ohio State next fall, but for basketball not track. Towering over her competition in both size and ability she easily won the 800 meter, but fatigue caught up to her in the 1,600 as she came up short in a bid to qualify for state.
Schulze's track skills should at least make her the favorite to dominate sprints in practice with the Buckeye basketball program next season.
"I don't know, there a lot of fast girls on the team," Schulze said.
