Indians, Martin show grit at state
Senior perseveres; Rittman relay conquers expectations
Rittman junior Kacie Dingess springs out of the blocks at the start of the 4x100-meter relay state final. Photo by BRUCE BILLOW
Madison Martin’s sweat and tears co-mingled as she sprinted down the home straightaway at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Her heart would not allow her to worry whether her torn left quad would make it to the finish line.
Martin’s leg held together, even if she didn’t. She senior carried the baton the final 12 seconds or so to give Rittman an improbable fifth-place finish in the Division III 4x100-meter relay state final on June 3, then burst into tears.
“We considered me not running, but there was never a thought in my mind that I would not run it,” Martin said, still choked up well after the race ended. “If I could not physically walk, then maybe I would not run it, but I would crawl to the track and run it before I’d stop running.”
Martin, who also deals with arthritis in both hips, has had the quadriceps tear most of the season. Her thigh was heavily wrapped for both days of state competition, the second of which was not really supposed to be a thing for the Indians foursome, which included junior Kacie Dingess, sophomore Kenedy Bernadine and freshman Briana Busic.
The Indians arrived in Columbus with the 14th-fastest seed time. The top nine preliminary times qualify for the final.
In the prelims, the foursome finished in 50.83, second in Heat 1, to automatically qualify. The time was the fourth-fastest in the prelims. The Indians lopped 0.53 seconds off their regional final time.
“Coming from regionals and being ranked 14th, we just wanted to make it out,” Busic said. “We wanted to make it one more day. One more day was all we needed. It’s all we wanted to do. Our coach (Matt Snyder) just kept telling us we have to do our jobs. Everyone has their own job and we all had to execute it if we wanted to make it through.”
The 4x100 has become almost religion at Rittman. The Indians competed in the event at state for the fifth time in eight seasons, two of which ended in championships. An injury and an early-round disqualification kept that run from being 7-for-8, and possibly cost Rittman one more state title.
This foursome may have been the least probable of the bunch to reach the state meet, yet wound up with the third-best finish in school history.
“Not any two of those kids had ever passed together before this year,” Snyder said “None of them had been to the state meet. To actually come in here without any experience and to perform better than what they were doing, says a lot about their ability to execute under pressure.”
The Indians finished the final in 50.9, a tick higher than the day before. Neighborhood rival Norwayne won in 49.29, the Bobcats’ second consecutive championship in the event.
Snyder continued to employ the strategy that led to state titles in 2010 and 2012, using his fastest runner, in this case Busic, on the second leg. Like he did with five-time state champ Crystal Barber at the beginning of Rittman’s 4x100 dominance, Snyder wanted the most speed possible on the longest straight stretch.
Dingess kicked off the race, Busic pulled the Indians near the lead before Bernadine ran the back curve to set up Martin. All Martin had to do then, was finish before her leg exploded.
“It’s a thought in the back of my mind that something severe like that could happen,” Martin said. “But I know I would die trying for them.”
Even with a healthy Martin, stopwatches don’t lie. There was no way this foursome was supposed to make the state final, let alone place high if it did, which makes the fifth-place finish remarkable.
“I think people underestimate the power of heart,” Snyder said.
Busic also qualified in the 400-meter dash, but did not make the final. She finished 15th overall. Her time of 63.06 was more than three seconds off her regional time.
“I’m glad I was able to come and compete here with such great girls,” Busic said. “Coming in, I knew it was going to be tough because of the way I run it. I started off slow. Coming here gave me an experience of what I need to chase after next year just to get here. I don’t want to not come back next year.”
Sophomore Emily Hovest finished 16th in the high jump. She cleared the bar at 4 feet, 10 inches, but couldn’t hit 5-0, which she had at regionals.
“I’ve been working really hard to get to this point, so I was really thrilled when I made it,” Hovest said. “It’s a little intimating jumping here, but I’ve been focusing on it. I had a picture of the high jump pit and just continued to look at it and I knew what I had to do.”
Martin’s leg held together, even if she didn’t. She senior carried the baton the final 12 seconds or so to give Rittman an improbable fifth-place finish in the Division III 4x100-meter relay state final on June 3, then burst into tears.
“We considered me not running, but there was never a thought in my mind that I would not run it,” Martin said, still choked up well after the race ended. “If I could not physically walk, then maybe I would not run it, but I would crawl to the track and run it before I’d stop running.”
Martin, who also deals with arthritis in both hips, has had the quadriceps tear most of the season. Her thigh was heavily wrapped for both days of state competition, the second of which was not really supposed to be a thing for the Indians foursome, which included junior Kacie Dingess, sophomore Kenedy Bernadine and freshman Briana Busic.
The Indians arrived in Columbus with the 14th-fastest seed time. The top nine preliminary times qualify for the final.
In the prelims, the foursome finished in 50.83, second in Heat 1, to automatically qualify. The time was the fourth-fastest in the prelims. The Indians lopped 0.53 seconds off their regional final time.
“Coming from regionals and being ranked 14th, we just wanted to make it out,” Busic said. “We wanted to make it one more day. One more day was all we needed. It’s all we wanted to do. Our coach (Matt Snyder) just kept telling us we have to do our jobs. Everyone has their own job and we all had to execute it if we wanted to make it through.”
The 4x100 has become almost religion at Rittman. The Indians competed in the event at state for the fifth time in eight seasons, two of which ended in championships. An injury and an early-round disqualification kept that run from being 7-for-8, and possibly cost Rittman one more state title.
This foursome may have been the least probable of the bunch to reach the state meet, yet wound up with the third-best finish in school history.
“Not any two of those kids had ever passed together before this year,” Snyder said “None of them had been to the state meet. To actually come in here without any experience and to perform better than what they were doing, says a lot about their ability to execute under pressure.”
The Indians finished the final in 50.9, a tick higher than the day before. Neighborhood rival Norwayne won in 49.29, the Bobcats’ second consecutive championship in the event.
Snyder continued to employ the strategy that led to state titles in 2010 and 2012, using his fastest runner, in this case Busic, on the second leg. Like he did with five-time state champ Crystal Barber at the beginning of Rittman’s 4x100 dominance, Snyder wanted the most speed possible on the longest straight stretch.
Dingess kicked off the race, Busic pulled the Indians near the lead before Bernadine ran the back curve to set up Martin. All Martin had to do then, was finish before her leg exploded.
“It’s a thought in the back of my mind that something severe like that could happen,” Martin said. “But I know I would die trying for them.”
Even with a healthy Martin, stopwatches don’t lie. There was no way this foursome was supposed to make the state final, let alone place high if it did, which makes the fifth-place finish remarkable.
“I think people underestimate the power of heart,” Snyder said.
Busic also qualified in the 400-meter dash, but did not make the final. She finished 15th overall. Her time of 63.06 was more than three seconds off her regional time.
“I’m glad I was able to come and compete here with such great girls,” Busic said. “Coming in, I knew it was going to be tough because of the way I run it. I started off slow. Coming here gave me an experience of what I need to chase after next year just to get here. I don’t want to not come back next year.”
Sophomore Emily Hovest finished 16th in the high jump. She cleared the bar at 4 feet, 10 inches, but couldn’t hit 5-0, which she had at regionals.
“I’ve been working really hard to get to this point, so I was really thrilled when I made it,” Hovest said. “It’s a little intimating jumping here, but I’ve been focusing on it. I had a picture of the high jump pit and just continued to look at it and I knew what I had to do.”