DAYTON – It’s been a work in progress for the Ottawa-Glandorf 3,200-meter relay teams.
At last year’s Division II state track meet the O-G girls 3,200 relay placed fourth, while the O-G boys 3,200 relay placed 11th.
On Friday, the second day of the Ohio High School Athletic Association State Track and Field Championships at the University of Dayton, O-G’s 3,200 relays found themselves on the Division II awards podium.
The O-G girls 3,200 relay (Corinne Closson, Liana Fortman, Madelyn Hovest, Anna Buddelmeyer) finished fifth in 9 minutes, 31.01 seconds.
The O-G boys 3,200 relay (Masen Vogt, Ethan Metzger, Isaac Macke, Ty Rosengarten) came in sixth with a time of 7:59.23.
Friday marked the second time this season the O-G boys 3,200 relay went under eight minutes. At last week’s D-II regional meet at Piqua, the boys 3,200 relay broke the school record with a time of 7:58.38 as it finished second to Carroll (7:55.41).
The O-G girls broke their school record at Piqua as well, winning in a time of 9:18.09.
In Friday’s boys 3,200 relay, O-G was sitting in 10th when Ty Rosengarten, the anchor, received the hand-off.
The junior standout managed to clock a split of 1:56.40, en route to passing four runners in the final leg.
“I gave it everything I had, and it hurt,” Rosengarten said. “I just told myself the second I got the baton, ‘We’re getting on that podium. There are no what-ifs. … We’re getting on that podium’.
“We’ve probably said it ten times the past 24 hours, ‘This is the day’. We’ve been talking about this day for so long, and we did it. It wasn’t everything we hoped for, but ultimately, we got on that podium. That’s what we wanted.”
Rosengarten will also compete in the 1,600-meter run today.
Masen Vogt, one of three juniors on the boys 3,200 relay, said the foursome continually improved over the past few years.
“It’s huge. … We’ve come a long way. In my freshman year, we thought we were good with an 8:43. We’ve gotten better as a team. We’ve pushed each other in practice every day to get better,” Vogt said.
Ethan Metzger, a junior, just completed his second season on the 3,200 relay.
“I got on later than they did, but these last two years have been some of most fun that I’ve ever had,” Metzger said. “We bond together. We work really hard. Blood, sweat and tears go into this sport. We’re always together. I just had a really fun year, and last year was awesome too.
“I know it didn’t work out the way we completely wanted it to, but we got on the podium and that’s all we can really ask for. I’d say it was a pretty good year. Three of us are back next year. We’re obviously going to miss Isaac (Macke), but we’re coming back and we’re reloading. We have some guys (on the team) who are trying to run with us. So, we should be back next year and hopefully will get an even better place (at the state meet).”
Macke, the lone senior, said this entire experience seemed surreal.
“This is pretty awesome,” Macke said. “If you would have told me my freshman year, coming in, that I would make it to state in track – track wasn’t even my favorite sport. Then my junior year, we really started getting good and we saw the potential. It (track) became my favorite sport. I’m going to miss these guys a lot.”
There are two seniors on the O-G girls 3,200 relay.
Corinne Closson, a senior, will also compete in the 800 and 1,600 relay.
“I’m really proud of us. I think it’s really cool that we made it here this year,” Closson said. “It’s really eye-opening to see how fast all the teams are at state. It was good to have some people push us. It was a really good experience. I’m really glad we were here.”
Madelyn Hovest, the other senior on this year’s 3,200 relay, said she wasn’t sure how good the 3,200 relay would be this season.
“We lost a lot of talent from last year. So, I didn’t know how this season was going to go,” Hovest said. “We surpassed all my expectations and goals this year. You never know what you’re going to get, coming into a race like this. … Anything can happen. We left everything we had on the track today. That’s all we can ask for.”
Anna Buddelmeyer, a junior and the anchor leg of the 3,200 relay, will also compete in today’s 1,600 and 3,200.
“We thought we were going to be a little farther up (in the race),” Buddelmeyer said. “We thought we were going to be pushed by the girls coming behind us. But at the end of the day, we’re just happy to be here. We pushed our hardest. We know we could have gone faster, but we’re just happy to be here.”
Liana Fortman, a freshman and sister of former O-G standout and state champion Alexa Fortman, gives credit to her teammates.
“It’s amazing – running and hearing the crowd. I couldn’t have done this without this group of girls. They really pushed me through the whole season,” Fortman said.
Fortman will be competing in today’s 800.
“I’ll have to make sure to get a lot of sleep tonight and get ready for tomorrow,” Fortman said with a grin.
The other three girls O-G relays heading to the finals
In all, O-G had seven out of eight relays (between the boys and girls) qualify for this year’s D-II state meet.
O-G’s 800-meter relay (Laney Hedrick, Savannah Recker, Alivia Grothause, Averie Fox) advanced to today’s finals with a time of 1:43.22.
O-G’s 400 relay (Recker, Grothause, Delaney Duling, Fox) qualified for today’s finals (48.91 seconds).
The Titans’ 1,600 relay (Brea Recker, Emma Heringhaus, Closson, Fox) qualified for the finals (4:00.29). In Friday’s semifinals, both the 400 relay and 800 relay broke their respective school records. The O-G girls 1,600 relay set a season-best on Friday.
Area D-II girls that advanced to Saturday’s finals
Bath’s Tatum Walsh (400; 58.97), Ottawa-Glandorf’s 800-meter relay (Laney Hedrick, Savannah Recker, Alivia Grothause, Averie Fox; 1:43.22), Ottawa-Glandorf’s 400 relay (Savannah Recker, Alivia Grothause, Delaney Duling, Averie Fox; 48.91), Ottawa-Glandorf’s 1,600 relay (Brea Recker, Emma Heringhaus, Corinne Closson, Averie Fox; 4:00.29), St. Marys’ Syerra Greber (400; 57.20), Van Wert’s Macy Johnson (200; 25.22).
Area D-II boys that advanced to Saturday’s finals
Bath’s Ethan Cole (300 hurdles; 39.39)
**Complete results from the Division II state track meet can be found on milesplt.oh.
