Coming off a strong cross country season in the fall, Dublin Scioto’s Selah White hopes to produce similar results for the girlstrack and field team.
The sophom*ore entered the season as the Irish’s top distance runner and hopes to improve on last season’s finishof fifth placein the 1,600 meters (personal-best 5 minutes, 13.42 seconds) at district.
In the fall, White led the Irish in cross country, finishing 53rd (19:11.4) in her first state meet.
“Selah looks great,” said coach Stacey Brillon, who is in her fifth season. “She looks strong. Other girls are following her lead.”
White competed in the indoor state meet March 4 at SPIRE Institute in Geneva, finishing 28th in the 3,200 (12:03.48).
“That was exciting,” White said. “That was my first time running indoor, first time trying the (3,200) and I was able to get into state. It was completely different from anything I’ve ever done before.”
White has impressed distance coach Jack Schlabig, who completed his first season as boys cross country coach in the fall.
“She’s definitely a hard worker,” Schlabig said. “She can run through pain.That’s something she is really good at. She takes coaching really well, which is great. She always wants to do more. If I told her to run through a brick wall, she would do it. She’s definitely a great athlete to coach and she’s a joy to work with.”
White is looking to take the next step and qualify for the Division I regional meet.
“That is motivation for this year,” she said. “I’m very hungry to get back and get to the next level.”
White also is eying 1999 graduate Cori Kill Schulte’s program record of 4:59.88 in the 1,600. Kill Schultewon the state title in the 1,600 (5:01.51) in 1997 and was second (4:59.88) in 1998.
Schlabig believes White will eventually focus on the 3,200.
“Once we get closer to the postseason, we’ll probably throw her in the (3,200),” he said. “That will be her better event, but we want to focus on the 800 and (1,600) now, so we can work on her foot speed. She’s only a sophom*ore. We’re going to focus on the 800 and (1,600)and see what is her best chance of advancing.”
White, senior Natalie Beasley (middle distance) and sophom*oreMaddy Johnson (distance) joined 2021 graduate Audrey Bannister on the sixth-place 3,200 relay (9:55.17) at district last year. Bannister is a freshman runner at Northwestern.
“Audrey was amazing,” White said. “A lot of what I know about running, I learned from her. I definitely miss her this year.”
Junior Kaitlyn Bassingthwaite won the high jump (4-8) in the OCC-Capital Division meet and was sixth (4-10) in the event at district.
Other key contributors should be seniors Vishwa Dhinoja (discus, shot put), Ayva Leon (hurdles), Kaylee Pitts (sprints), Kylie Pitts (sprints) and Avery Samms (distance) and juniors Megan Hartman (distance) andAimee Kamau (hurdles).
“We are a very young team,” Brillon said. “I’m happy with the turnout. I like having a smaller team with kids that are willing to get out here and work and be coachable than to have 100 kids who don’t listen. It makes it more fun when you can see improvement of a few kids rather than 100 kids just running around.”
fdirenna@thisweeknews.com
@ThisWeekFrank
COFFMAN
•Coach: Greg King, 13th season
•Top athletes: Kylie Feeney, Melanie Kyriacou, Samantha Miller, Olivia Oiler, Hannah Schober and Kasey Stammen
•Key losses: Abigail Collier, Abigail McGraw and Abigail Scherer
•2021 OCC-Central standings: OlentangyOrange (140), Hilliard Davidson (117), Upper Arlington (93), Olentangy Liberty (75), Coffman (60), Hilliard Bradley (38)
•2021 postseason: Fourth at district, tied for 13th at regional, tied for 25th at state
•Outlook: Of the members of the Shamrocks’ 3,200 relay that finished second (9:07.91) at last year’s state meet, senior Kasey Stammen, junior Olivia Oiler and sophom*ore Kylie Feeney have returned.
Those three, along with senior Kendall Starr,junior Alexis Marsico and sophom*ore McKenzie Vick, were key contributors last fall as Coffman finished 14th at the state cross country meet and will be a part of the distance corps.
Feeney also was 15th in the 800 at last year’s state meet.
Seniors Christina Kyriacou, Melanie Kyriacou andSamantha Miller and sophom*ore Hannah Schober are the top sprinters. Senior Katie Brand, who was a state qualifier in the 100 in 2019, is expected to miss the season with injury.
Senior Paige Wilson is the top hurdler and Melanie Kyriacou, sophom*ore Ainsley Jajack and freshman Annabelle Camp are competing in the long jump.
Junior Emily Yoshino is a returning pole vaulter but could be limited as she comes back from an injury that took place while competing for the gymnastics team. Senior Evelyn Crowe also is competing in pole vault, with junior Ava Parrill the top returnee in shot put and discus.
•Quotable: “We have a lot of new kids this year and not a ton of returning veterans, so I’m not sure what to expect. The returning seniors we do have are great kids, so we’ll have leadership. It’s just not clear how good we’ll be. I definitely want to get some individuals to the state meet and maybe a relay team. Overall, it’s definitely going to be a rebuilding year. We had some excellent graduates, including a couple running college track, and a few key athletes with injuries that won’t be competing.” — coach GregKing
—Jarrod Ulrey
JEROME
•Coach: Randi Beatty, 13th season
•Top athletes: Brooke Carpenter, Cari Dupote-Fosnot, Raegan Ernst, Chloe Friedman, Maya Fuller, Alana Gorukanti, McKenna Moritz, Ava Watson, Tory Wiblin, Jenna Wyner and Caroline Zimovan
•Key losses: Megan Keys and Samantha Melican
•2021 OCC-Cardinal standings: Olentangy (123), Jerome (117), Hilliard Darby (117), Marysville (76), Thomas Worthington (63), Olentangy Berlin (27)
•2021 postseason:Sixth at district, 20th at regional, tied for 48th at state
•Outlook: With several key returnees back from last year, coach Randi Beatty expects another strong season.
Leading the way should be senior Raegan Ernst, who finished fifth in the 300 hurdles (44.79) last season at state.
Ernst also advanced to state with the 1,600 relay for the second time. She was joined by senior Maya Fuller (sprints), sophom*ore Chloe Friedman (sprints)and 2021 graduate Samantha Melican as they finished 11th (3:59.43).
Ernst, Friedman, Fuller and senior Caroline Zimovan (sprints) were 11th in the 800 relay (1:47.09) at regional. Friedman finished 18th in the 400 (1:01.09) at the indoor state meet March 4.
Ernst won the all-around state title in gymnastics this winter.
Junior Brooke Carpenter (distance) is another key returnee who competed at regional last spring.
Other key contributors should be seniors Cari Dupote-Fosnot (discus, sprints) and McKenna Moritz (high jump), juniors Alana Gorukanti (discus, shot put) and Ava Watson (sprints) and sophom*ores Tory Wiblin (distance) and Jenna Wyner (discus, shot put).
Moritz holds the program record in the high jump (5-2).
•Quotable: “It’s the biggest team we’ve had in a long time, if not the biggest we’ve ever had. We have about 105 girls. This is by far the largest freshman class we’ve ever had. It shows there’s good interest in the program and kids feel like they’re welcomehere and it’s something that they can be a part of. Hopefully that’s a testament to those kinds of things that we’ve been trying to build.” — Beatty
—Frank DiRenna
SCIOTO
•Coach: Stacey Brillon, fifthseason
•Top athletes: Kaitlyn Bassingthwaite, Natalie Beasley, Maddy Johnson and Selah White
•Key loss: Audrey Bannister
•2021 OCC-Capital standings: Big Walnut (144.4), Westerville South (142), Delaware (87.4), Westerville North (78.5), Canal Winchester (73.5), Worthington Kilbourne (71.2),Scioto(61), Franklin Heights (3)
•2021 postseason: 14th at district
