COLUMBUS – Richland County saw several podium placers in the Divisions IV and V state track meet Friday in Columbus.
Crestview’s Max Durbin made two trips to the podium at the in the Division IV boys 110-meter and 300-meter hurdles. Joey Desterhaft, of Lucas, followed a similar path in those two events in the Division V races.
Starting in lane nine, Durbin ran clean through the 110-meter hurdles, finishing fourth with a time of 14.70 seconds. Though not a personal best, it was an improvement over what he considered a sloppy performance Thursday.
“I didn’t like how (yesterday) went,” Durbin said. My 110s went really bad. I almost ran a second faster today … luckily, I still made finals.”
Just an hour later, Durbin took off in the 300-meter hurdles. The race – featuring many of the same runners as the 110-meter event – was less tidy overall. Durbin finished seventh, with a time 40.54 seconds, in a race that saw two runners stumble and fall at the finish line.
Mansfield Christian runner takes 5th in girls 1,600-meter
Riley Patrick came from behind to finish on the podium in her second long-distance run of the last two days. She placed fourth in the girls’ 3,200-meter dash Thursday and fifth in the 1,600-meter dash Friday with a time of 5:10.75.
Patrick was at an early disadvantage, starting inside of Lane One and at an early deficit. However, lap after lap she made gains with timely moves.
“You have to be really patient,” Patrick said. “You can’t go out and panic, and when you make a move, you have to be really assertive so they can’t move with you. I didn’t get to practice that much in my regular-season meets.
“There’s not very much competition for distance for girls, but when you come here, you definitely have to remind yourself to stay calm.”
Lucas runner 5th in boys’ 300-meter hurdles
Lucas’s Joey Desterhaft was not able to finish on the podium in his first event of the day, the boys’ 110-meter hurdles, finishing ninth overall. However, with just over an hour to reflect and change his strategy, he came back and finished fifth in the 300-meter hurdles, with a time of 39.13 seconds.
“I didn’t run so well (in the 300-meter hurdles yesterday), so I ended up in Lane One,” Desterhaft said. “I thought it was going to affect me more than it did, but I’m glad I was able to just push through it.”
