District Finals Bring Heartache and Disappointment for Spartans
- Ryan Kiracofe
Team's Friday efforts fail to qualify any athletes to regional; Heart wrenching end for Patty
MASON – Had the District Championship’s rules stated that the top six individuals or relays in each event qualify to next week’s Regional meet, Turpin would have won no fewer than eight individual and four relay berths on Friday night at Mason. Unfortunately, at last check, the rules still only qualify the top four. On a perfect night for running, and in a meet that promised so much for this Turpin squad, the Spartans were frequently the bridesmaids, but never the brides. Heartbreak was the theme of the night for those wearing maroon and gold on Friday, as four individuals and two relays finished 5th in their respective events, narrowly missing Regional qualification.
The evening’s saddest moment, however, came from the athlete who quite possibly looked the strongest last night, senior and Baylor-commit Sam Patty. Patty, in complete control of her 3200m race and resting behind frontrunner Alana Sonntag of Sycamore, looked set to qualify to her first Regional track meet, with the fifth-place runner nearly 100 meters behind. Late in the race, however, track officials disqualified Patty for stepping off the track and into the infield while passing a lapped runner. Turpin head women’s coach Missy Siemers vehemently protested the ruling, but to no avail; so ended the individual high school career of one of Turpin’s best women’s runners ever, a late-bloomer that captured cross country All-Ohio honors last fall (Patty will run in the 4x800m relay for Turpin at the Regional next weekend).
Elsewhere, senior hurdler Danny Polaneczky’s Regional bid was cut short once again when he finished 5th in the 300m hurdles and 7th in the 100m hurdles. Junior Pole Vaulter Derek Tucker reached the same height as the 4th place finisher in the event, but took more attempts to do so, and was therefore awarded 6th place. The boys’ 4x200m relay finished 5th (where else?) and the boys’ 4x400m squad was a close 6th. 2007 Regional finalist Kevin Marshall was 5th in the shotput, and 7th in the discus. Senior Dale Becker finished 6th in the high jump. A rare bright spot for the men’s team was senior Kyle Rewick, who despite finishing 7th in the 3200m run, set a crushing personal-best time of 9:42.48. Nicholas El-Khoury was close behind, coming in 8th.
On the women’s side, Kaitlin Price struggled through a late-race meltdown in the 1600m run. In solid position through 1400 meters, the junior locked up on the home stretch, and fell to 5th place, although it was in an impressive personal best time of 5:09.64. Megan Plichta was just behind, finishing 6th in the race. Price would return shortly thereafter in the 800m run, where she never looked herself and finished 14th. A relentless competitor, Price’s body looked exhausted as she failed to challenge the frontrunners in the entire race. Price would claim some measure of redemption later in the night, as she ran a gutsy third leg of the women’s 4x400 relay. Anchor and senior Jesse Harrigan gave a thrilling push in the race’s final lap, but fell just a few meters short, as Turpin finished…well, you know. 5th. The 4x100 meter relay team was 6th, and sprinter Kelly Mulrey had a pair of close losses, finishing 5th in the 100m and 6th in the 200m. After Sam Patty’s unfortunate disqualification in the 3200m, Lauren Young went on to finish 6th. Hannah Plattner scored a point by finishing 8th in the 400m, and Stephanie Valenti did the same in the 100m hurdles.
Aside from Turpin’s two 4x800m relay teams that successfully qualified on Wednesday, the Spartans’ individual hopes in Dayton rest squarely on the shoulders of two underclassman girls: a surprising sophomore pole vaulter and a freshman phenom in the high jump. A year ago, sophomore Hannah Zimmerman was competing on a sunny Saturday morning at the JV FAVC Championships at Kings after failing to make the varsity roster. Things have changed for the determined vaulter, and next weekend she will be going up against southwest Ohio’s best at Dayton’s Welcome Stadium. Zimmerman vaulted 9’0” in the District Finals on Wednesday, earning 3rd place honors. Elsewhere, many would expect the younger sister of distance captain Kyle Rewick to be a cross country star like her brother. It isn’t so, but she’s a star nonetheless, as Meghan Rewick cruised to a conference championship and the city’s second-best regular season height in her freshman campaign. Now, she’ll turn her sights to Dayton, after jumping 5’2” and finishing 2nd this week at Mason.
Congratulations to Hannah, Meghan, and the 4x800 teams (Sam, Adrienne, Lauren, Kaitlin, Kyle, Nicholas, Ben and Rob) on their Regional qualifications! Congratulations to everyone else on a great season!