The Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches (OATCCC) had their division one indoor track state meet on Saturday, March 8th in Geneva, and five Highlanders went to represent Oak Hills.
The meet is located in Geneva, Ohio at Spire Academy, which boasts facilities that are nothing short of pristine. The track our athletes competed on is 300m around, which is larger than the usual 200m indoor tracks and smaller than the 400m tracks that are used for the outdoor season. Spire’s indoor track has eight lanes around the oval, and ten lanes for the straightaway. There is also a separate indoor field events area, composed of two long jumps, two high jumps, 2 pole vaults, and two shot put/discus circles. This plethora of up-to-date equipment in such a beautiful facility makes it an easy choice for the OATCCC to host the indoor track state meet here. The process to qualify for the meet is pretty straightforward: Be one of the top for your event in the state, and you are invited to come compete in Geneva. The amount of people taken for each event ranges between 16 and 22. The five Highlanders who qualified are Ryan Linenkugel, Matthew Bertram, Dakota Randazzo, Julius Jones, and Mandy Gehring.
Senior Ryan Linenkugel, who committed to the University of Indianapolis, was ranked 14th out of 16 in the 60m hurdles with a seed time of 8.54, and went on to finish in 10th place. Linenkugel has his name cemented in Oak Hills legacy being a part of school-record 4x100m relay. During the outdoor season, Ryan competes in the hurdle events, sprint relays, and long jump, making him one of the more versatile athletes on the team.
Dakota Randazzo (Sr.) was seeded in a five-way tie for 5th place out of 22 in the high jump with a personal best of 6 ‘2″. Randazzo started track his sophomore year, and first jumped a 5’4”, and is aiming for a 6’9” by the end of the season “I’ve always been a jumpy kid” Randazzo remarked when it came to why he decided to come out for track. When it comes to track, Randazzo has completely zoned in on the high jump, making it his sole event. “When I sprint I get a lot of shin splints…when I jump I jump for God, who gave me this ability” Randazzo went on to place 14th with a jump of 6 ‘0″, being one of eight athletes who jumped that height.
Julius Jones, a sophomore in his first season of high school track and field, was tied for 8th place out of 16 coming into the long jump, with a best of 21 ‘3″. This kind of performance for a first-year athlete, and an underclassman on top of that, is insane. Julius also competed in some relays during the winter season. Ultimately, Jones placed higher than expected, coming in 5th place by jumping a 21’ 6.5”, which is a three-and-a-half inch personal best.
Matthew Bertram (Sr.) is in a four-way tie for 6th out of 17 in the pole vault, having jumped 13 ‘6″. Bertram picked up pole vaulting in his sophomore year. “It looked fun and I just stuck with it,” he remarked. When he first started pole vaulting, Bertram could clear 9’6”, and clearly has been making massive strides. On top of pole vaulting, Bertram likes to run the hurdle events. Bertran ended up tying for 13th with a jump of 12’ 6”.
Junior Mandy Gehring, the sole representative for the girls track team at the state meet, is tied for 4th place out of 16 in the high jump. Gehring is absolutely dominant in the field events, setting the girls’ long jump record her freshman year by jumping a 17’ 10 ¼“, which broke an eight-year-old record by almost two feet. Her next school record came in the high jump in her sophomore year, when she jumped a 5’4” breaking the record set in 2021 of 4’10”. Gehring ended up placing 5th in the state with a jump of 5’ 0” even.
While it’s not a given that qualifying for the OATCCC Indoor State Meet will guarantee that someone will qualify for the Ohio High School D1 State Track Meet in May, there is a pretty strong correlation between the two meets. Hopefully, after a strong outdoor season the Highlander track team can send even more than five athletes to the state meet at the University of Dayton’s Welcome Stadium. Either way, we congratulate Ryan, Dakota, Matthew, Julius, and Mandy for their performances last weekend in Geneva.