Bobcats repeat as 4x100 champs
Norwayne girls fifth in Division III standings
Norwayne’s girls track team stood atop the Division III 4x100-meter relay world for the second consecutive year. Photo by BRUCE BILLOW
On her way to the start of her first race at the Division III state track meet, Norwayne’s Grace Sullivan tripped and nearly face-planted. The sophomore gathered herself and the Bobcats went out and had one of their best state meets ever.
That included a title defense in the 4x100-meter relay, a third-place finish in the 4x200, a spot up from a year ago, and three other trips to the awards podium inside Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Led by the win in the 4x100, the Bobcats piled up 21 points to finish fifth in the state. Anna won with 38.
“The platform was kind of slippery,” Sullivan said of her near-trip. “I wasn’t that nervous actually.”
Experience will do that. Defending champs in the 4x100, the Bobcats dismantled the field this time. They qualified first in the prelims, winning their heat by more than a second, then held off Anna by 0.18 seconds in the final, in which Norwayne posted a season-best time of 49.29.
Juniors Rachel Schmidt and Audrey Bishop, and sophomores Sullivan and Allie Studer made up the team that won for the second consecutive season.
“I’m very proud of Audrey, especially,” Schmidt said. “She felt like if we didn’t get it, she would be the reason why, because we changed people, but I think we ran a better time than we did last year. I’m very proud of that whole team overall.”
The Bobcats were three-tenths of a second faster than last year, a huge gain in 4x100 circles.
As the new kid on the squad, Bishop replaced Kierra Graham, who graduated last year, not that the track announcer seemed to care.
“We were kind of feeling a little pressure, because they kept announcing, ‘They were the defending champions,’ and they announced it like, ‘They had no seniors last year,’” Schmidt said. “I was like, ‘Are you trying to psych us out here, guys?’”
About 30 minutes before winning the 4x100, Sullivan, Studer, and seniors Kelly Hess and Savannah Powley placed third in the 4x200. They trailed champ Anna and Archbold by more than two seconds each, so third was the best they could hope for.
Nobody was happier than Hess, who qualified for state a year ago only to be replaced on the squad before the meet.
“It was a whole lot of fun,” she said. “It was just good to be able to run with them. Practice every day was fun and it was a good time being down here with them, and I’m really going to lose it and start crying.”
And then Hess lost it and started crying. While her teammates laughed at her. You can do that when you’re piling up state medals.
Schmidt, a four-event qualifier, tacked on a couple more points for Norwayne in the 200, placing seventh. She capped the meet by finishing eighth in the 4x400 with Hess, Powley and senior Maddie Ball.
“Last year we got DQ’d in this event, so it’s nice to be back in this event,” Powley said. “Getting on the podium is the best. It’s amazing.”
Schmidt started the day with a disappointing ninth-place finish in the 100 hurdles. Disappointing because it’s the second time she’s finished the event in that spot, having also done it as a freshman, but also because she had the sixth-fastest qualifying time.
“I knew afterwards that we had another race we have to focus on and don’t dwell on that one,” she said. “It was a full day of races.”
Studer missed qualifying for the final in the 100 by 0.02 seconds, placing 10th, one spot from the final. The sophomore placed 14th in the pole vault, third among 10th-graders.
“I was happy just to get down here and experience it,” Studer said. “It was still fun.”
Senior Kasey Keith added a couple points in the shot put with a seventh-place finish. She also was a finalist in the discus, placing ninth. Keith was Norwayne’s first four-time qualifier.
Ball was a first-timer. She was on the 4x400 team a year ago, which was headed for state before the DQ earlier in the postseason.
“After that, it honestly makes me just happy to be at state,” she said. “Then to get a medal is the perfect ending to high school track for me.”
That included a title defense in the 4x100-meter relay, a third-place finish in the 4x200, a spot up from a year ago, and three other trips to the awards podium inside Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Led by the win in the 4x100, the Bobcats piled up 21 points to finish fifth in the state. Anna won with 38.
“The platform was kind of slippery,” Sullivan said of her near-trip. “I wasn’t that nervous actually.”
Experience will do that. Defending champs in the 4x100, the Bobcats dismantled the field this time. They qualified first in the prelims, winning their heat by more than a second, then held off Anna by 0.18 seconds in the final, in which Norwayne posted a season-best time of 49.29.
Juniors Rachel Schmidt and Audrey Bishop, and sophomores Sullivan and Allie Studer made up the team that won for the second consecutive season.
“I’m very proud of Audrey, especially,” Schmidt said. “She felt like if we didn’t get it, she would be the reason why, because we changed people, but I think we ran a better time than we did last year. I’m very proud of that whole team overall.”
The Bobcats were three-tenths of a second faster than last year, a huge gain in 4x100 circles.
As the new kid on the squad, Bishop replaced Kierra Graham, who graduated last year, not that the track announcer seemed to care.
“We were kind of feeling a little pressure, because they kept announcing, ‘They were the defending champions,’ and they announced it like, ‘They had no seniors last year,’” Schmidt said. “I was like, ‘Are you trying to psych us out here, guys?’”
About 30 minutes before winning the 4x100, Sullivan, Studer, and seniors Kelly Hess and Savannah Powley placed third in the 4x200. They trailed champ Anna and Archbold by more than two seconds each, so third was the best they could hope for.
Nobody was happier than Hess, who qualified for state a year ago only to be replaced on the squad before the meet.
“It was a whole lot of fun,” she said. “It was just good to be able to run with them. Practice every day was fun and it was a good time being down here with them, and I’m really going to lose it and start crying.”
And then Hess lost it and started crying. While her teammates laughed at her. You can do that when you’re piling up state medals.
Schmidt, a four-event qualifier, tacked on a couple more points for Norwayne in the 200, placing seventh. She capped the meet by finishing eighth in the 4x400 with Hess, Powley and senior Maddie Ball.
“Last year we got DQ’d in this event, so it’s nice to be back in this event,” Powley said. “Getting on the podium is the best. It’s amazing.”
Schmidt started the day with a disappointing ninth-place finish in the 100 hurdles. Disappointing because it’s the second time she’s finished the event in that spot, having also done it as a freshman, but also because she had the sixth-fastest qualifying time.
“I knew afterwards that we had another race we have to focus on and don’t dwell on that one,” she said. “It was a full day of races.”
Studer missed qualifying for the final in the 100 by 0.02 seconds, placing 10th, one spot from the final. The sophomore placed 14th in the pole vault, third among 10th-graders.
“I was happy just to get down here and experience it,” Studer said. “It was still fun.”
Senior Kasey Keith added a couple points in the shot put with a seventh-place finish. She also was a finalist in the discus, placing ninth. Keith was Norwayne’s first four-time qualifier.
Ball was a first-timer. She was on the 4x400 team a year ago, which was headed for state before the DQ earlier in the postseason.
“After that, it honestly makes me just happy to be at state,” she said. “Then to get a medal is the perfect ending to high school track for me.”