COLUMBUS — Joe Ellis was in no condition to challenge for a state championship Saturday afternoon — let alone win one.
That made his upset of defending Division I high jump champ Albert Kalala of Cincinnati Withrow all the more remarkable.
Mansfield Senior’s Ellis cleared 6-foot, 10-inches to claim the crown at the state track and field tournament at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
“I have a sprained ankle. I sprained it while I was high jumping at districts,” the affable Ellis said. “Yesterday I woke up … and I couldn’t breathe. My back was aching. It was horrible.
“I felt horrible the whole time. I just fought through it.”
Ellis missed his first two attempts at 6-4, passed at 6-5 and missed his first two attempts at 6-6 and 6-7. By the time the bar was raised to 6-8, only Ellis and Kalala remained.
Ellis then cleared his first attempt at 6-8 and 6-9. When Kalala clipped the bar on his third try at 6-9, Ellis was the winner. He then cleared 6-10 on his third try and twice attempted 7-0 before retiring.
“When I saw him miss (at 6-9) I thought I must be getting in his head and it gave me a lot of confidence,” Ellis said. “I was feeling confident the whole time.
“It feels great to be a state champion. It doesn’t feel real.”
Ellis’ state title capped a sensational day for north central Ohio boys at the state track meet.
Gallon’s Colin McCullough won a Division II state title in the 300 hurdles, and the Lexington quartet of Mason Kearns, Tony Gerrell, Forest Volz and Hunter Biddle cruised to victory in the 4×400 relay. Colonel Crawford’s Chad Johnson rolled to the Division III title in the 3,200.
The Minutemen ran away and hid from the field, crossing the line in 3:20.17 — more than a full second ahead of runner-up Salem.
Biddle sat out the final of the 200 so he would be ready to anchor the 4×400 team.
“That was the whole reason for sitting out the 200, to be fresh for this,” Biddle said. “I knew it was going to take my best and everybody else’s best if we were going to get it done. All three of these guys brought it to the table.
“I’m really happy I scratched the 200 because I had a little more left in the tank.”
Both Kearns and Volz were members of Lex’s runner-up 4×800 team.
“We were disappointed that we didn’t win (Friday),” Volz said. “Today it’s just the best feeling you could ever imagine, standing on top of that podium.”
Galion’s McCullough out-leaned Milan Edison’s Bryce Ostheimer at the line to win the 300s in 37.77. Ostheimer finished in 37.92.
“I thought I was done before the first hurdle,” McCullough said. “I had to stride to get my steps right.
“But when I hit that curve I knew it was time to start working.”
It was a mixed bag for McCullough. He finished third in the 110 hurdles in 14.61, but was a member of the 4×200 relay team that botched a handoff and finished a distant ninth. The 4×400 team was sixth.
“Both my hurdle events, I couldn’t have been happier with,” McCullough said. “The four-by-two was hard to deal with but it kept me fresher for the 300s.”
Johnson met with little resistance in the 3,200. His winning time of 9:20.38 was 12 seconds faster than the runner-up.
Others: Ashland’s David Amstutz finished third in the Division I shot put (57-9) and fourth in the discus (170-6), while Lexington’s Kyle Johnston took fourth in the 3,200 (9:34.73). Johnston was followed across the finish line by Shelby freshman Caleb Brown (9:39.28).
Ontario’s 4×100 relay team was seventh (43.62), while Shelby’s Danny Friebel was ninth in the 800 (1:56.71). Mapleton’s Drew Roberts was eighth in the 1,600 in Division III (4:27.33).
Lexington’s Ryan Johnston was 11th in the Division II 1,600 (4:25.56) and Mansfield Senior’s Cornell Manns was 11th in the long jump in Division I (22-3.75).
In Division III, Colonel Crawford’s Brad Bauer was 11th in the 3,200 (10:04.37) and Mapleton’s Kris Kopchak was 16th in the 800 (2:03.66).
