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MANSFIELD − With a high school track and field event as renowned as the Mehock Relays, you always want to stick out amongst some of the top schools/athletes across the state of Ohio. If you get a chance to compete at Mehock Field in Mansfield enough times, you just might get your moment to stand out. But it might not happen right away.
Building blocks are made. Each year you get closer. Then, that year comes when you make the jump into the winners circle.
More: Weekend watch, April 18-19: Mehock Relays, big nonconference tests for area softball teams
For Ashland senior hurdlers Jayden Goings and Vivian Walter, they made the jump on Saturday at the 92nd Mehock Relays. Last year, Goings placed third in the 300-meter hurdles at Mehock. This year, he won the event, clocking a season's best 40.56 seconds. He even made a jump in the 110-meter hurdles — an event he was a Division I state qualifier in last season — going from fifth last year to second, on another season's best time at 15.23.
For Walter, she made her jump in the 100-meter hurdles, where she improved on her third-place finish last year to winning the event this time around with a season's best 15.40.
Goings and Walter's individual wins played a large part in both the Ashland boys (93 points) and girls (131.5 points) finishing second in the team standings, with the girls coming behind Shelby (137 points) and the boys following Ohio Cardinal Conference foe Lexington (116 points).
Even as the rainy weather played a factor earlier in the morning, Walter didn't let that creep into her mindset.
"I was waiting to have a good race this year," said Walter. "I've been kind of slowly getting down and breaking 16 seconds. Today, I tried to ignore the adversity with the weather and ran almost my lifetime PR. I was close."
Before Goings could get could stand on the top of the podium for his 300-meter hurdles win, he was busy battling Shelby's Gavin Baker in the 110-meter hurdles final. It's midway through the track season, but Goings and Baker have become pretty accustomed to going 1-2 in both hurdles events. At the Madison Invitational earlier this month, Baker went first in the 110-meter hurdles, while Goings finished second. Then in the 300-meter hurdles, Goings took his turn and placed first, as Baker came in second.
Saturday the two were at it again, with Baker squeezing past Goings by 0.04 seconds for first-place.
"Gavin is a very talented runner and his start is a little better than mine right now," said Goings. "Today, really woke me up, especially the 110. I haven't really sprinted like that in a really long time."
Why so?
Goings battled a hamstring injury during the winter that cut his indoor season short and didn't allow him to sprint at full capacity for 10 weeks.
"In the second week of indoor, we were at Tiffin. I run a 8.66 in the prelims (60-meter hurdles) and as I was preparing for the finals doing my normal warmups, I went over top the hurdle," Goings said. "As soon as I went down, my left hamstring went POW. It hurt pretty bad and it was hard to sit. I went six weeks straight of doing nothing, then I slowly started lifting and doing a lot of lactate work to get my hamstring back up to that capability."
He's done just that, as the 300-meter hurdles so far, has been Goings go-to event this season. First at the Madison Invitational. Second at last week's Lexington Invitational. Then on Saturday, Goings' push during the second half of the race, especially around the curve, helped him prevail in the 300-meter hurdles final over Lexington's Dantrell Hughes.
"Me and my dad were talking before I ran and he was saying I gotta have that clean form over the hurdles," Goings said, who also collected a medal on Ashland's fourth-place 4x200 relay team. "Can't show my chest or I'm going to get caught up. Off that backstretch, I noticed off the curve that he was still keeping up with me. That's where you find where people are at and they start separating. He ran a good race and he was still with me. I know that I am a better hurdler than he is and that's really what drove me. And I've always had a good finish."
The form that Goings has in the 300 hurdles right now, is quite similar to where Walter is at in the 100 hurdles. She already won at the Madison and Lexington Invitationals, and now at Mehock.
"Oh yeah, my strongest race is the 100," Walter added, who finished fourth in the 300 hurdles and ran the first leg on Ashland's 4x100 relay squad that placed second. "I've gone up and down in the 300 breaking 50 seconds a couple of times."
As the multi-event athlete she is, Walter wasn't finished, as she took herself over to the pole vault, came away with a second-place finish (was second last year too) and got a personal record of 10-06 in a small field of six vaulters.
"I remember in the past, we would have like 15 girls. Today was a small group and I came over after my hurdles race. Most people were already done, so it was between three of us. Then I PR'd with a 10'6" that pushed me to second, which I was really happy about," said Walter, who grabbed four medals Saturday. "I was going for 11 feet at the end. That's the goal for this year. It was mostly a good day."
Stay up to date. More jumps might even be in store for the two senior hurdlers before season's end.
[email protected]
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland's Goings, Walter go home winners at this year's Mehock Relays
Continue reading...
Building blocks are made. Each year you get closer. Then, that year comes when you make the jump into the winners circle.
More: Weekend watch, April 18-19: Mehock Relays, big nonconference tests for area softball teams
For Ashland senior hurdlers Jayden Goings and Vivian Walter, they made the jump on Saturday at the 92nd Mehock Relays. Last year, Goings placed third in the 300-meter hurdles at Mehock. This year, he won the event, clocking a season's best 40.56 seconds. He even made a jump in the 110-meter hurdles — an event he was a Division I state qualifier in last season — going from fifth last year to second, on another season's best time at 15.23.
For Walter, she made her jump in the 100-meter hurdles, where she improved on her third-place finish last year to winning the event this time around with a season's best 15.40.
Goings and Walter's individual wins played a large part in both the Ashland boys (93 points) and girls (131.5 points) finishing second in the team standings, with the girls coming behind Shelby (137 points) and the boys following Ohio Cardinal Conference foe Lexington (116 points).
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Even as the rainy weather played a factor earlier in the morning, Walter didn't let that creep into her mindset.
"I was waiting to have a good race this year," said Walter. "I've been kind of slowly getting down and breaking 16 seconds. Today, I tried to ignore the adversity with the weather and ran almost my lifetime PR. I was close."
Before Goings could get could stand on the top of the podium for his 300-meter hurdles win, he was busy battling Shelby's Gavin Baker in the 110-meter hurdles final. It's midway through the track season, but Goings and Baker have become pretty accustomed to going 1-2 in both hurdles events. At the Madison Invitational earlier this month, Baker went first in the 110-meter hurdles, while Goings finished second. Then in the 300-meter hurdles, Goings took his turn and placed first, as Baker came in second.
Saturday the two were at it again, with Baker squeezing past Goings by 0.04 seconds for first-place.
"Gavin is a very talented runner and his start is a little better than mine right now," said Goings. "Today, really woke me up, especially the 110. I haven't really sprinted like that in a really long time."
Why so?
Goings battled a hamstring injury during the winter that cut his indoor season short and didn't allow him to sprint at full capacity for 10 weeks.
"In the second week of indoor, we were at Tiffin. I run a 8.66 in the prelims (60-meter hurdles) and as I was preparing for the finals doing my normal warmups, I went over top the hurdle," Goings said. "As soon as I went down, my left hamstring went POW. It hurt pretty bad and it was hard to sit. I went six weeks straight of doing nothing, then I slowly started lifting and doing a lot of lactate work to get my hamstring back up to that capability."
You must be registered for see images
He's done just that, as the 300-meter hurdles so far, has been Goings go-to event this season. First at the Madison Invitational. Second at last week's Lexington Invitational. Then on Saturday, Goings' push during the second half of the race, especially around the curve, helped him prevail in the 300-meter hurdles final over Lexington's Dantrell Hughes.
"Me and my dad were talking before I ran and he was saying I gotta have that clean form over the hurdles," Goings said, who also collected a medal on Ashland's fourth-place 4x200 relay team. "Can't show my chest or I'm going to get caught up. Off that backstretch, I noticed off the curve that he was still keeping up with me. That's where you find where people are at and they start separating. He ran a good race and he was still with me. I know that I am a better hurdler than he is and that's really what drove me. And I've always had a good finish."
The form that Goings has in the 300 hurdles right now, is quite similar to where Walter is at in the 100 hurdles. She already won at the Madison and Lexington Invitationals, and now at Mehock.
"Oh yeah, my strongest race is the 100," Walter added, who finished fourth in the 300 hurdles and ran the first leg on Ashland's 4x100 relay squad that placed second. "I've gone up and down in the 300 breaking 50 seconds a couple of times."
You must be registered for see images
As the multi-event athlete she is, Walter wasn't finished, as she took herself over to the pole vault, came away with a second-place finish (was second last year too) and got a personal record of 10-06 in a small field of six vaulters.
"I remember in the past, we would have like 15 girls. Today was a small group and I came over after my hurdles race. Most people were already done, so it was between three of us. Then I PR'd with a 10'6" that pushed me to second, which I was really happy about," said Walter, who grabbed four medals Saturday. "I was going for 11 feet at the end. That's the goal for this year. It was mostly a good day."
Stay up to date. More jumps might even be in store for the two senior hurdlers before season's end.
[email protected]
Twitter/X: @JamesSimpsonII
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Ashland's Goings, Walter go home winners at this year's Mehock Relays
Continue reading...
