Huron girls primed to make run at state title

The Huron girls track and field team has done a lot of winning this season. Its individual members have done a lot of winning as well. The Tigers hope to keep that going this week at the state meet that begins Thursday at Jesse Owens Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University. Huron is coming off a regional championship last week at Marion Harding. "To win regionals was a huge accomplishment for these girls, and they continue to defy expectations for being such a young group," Tigers coach Mike Lemponen said. "The way they compete and bring that fearlessness in the crucial moments, it really says a lot about their confidence in each other." Huron has been led by junior Rylie Towns. She will give the Tigers' chance at a team state championship a jolt when she anchors the very first race Thursday in the Division IV 4x800 relay. Laney Schlessman, Claire Putnam, and Andrea Lesnak will be the first three legs before handing off to Towns. The quartet has the second-best qualifying time, finishing the regional in 9:21.93. "The 4x800 team has been highly motivated to get to the top of the podium, and it's been a legitimate expectation throughout the season," Lemponen said. "The most exciting part is that there are no seniors, and they are about half a second away from breaking the school record. They push each other in practice, and that only helps elevate everyone when it comes to meet days. "Our distance coach, Joel Duffield, has built a machine with both the boys' and girls' distance programs, and I have the utmost trust in him to put them in the best position to be successful." Towns will then have a pair of individual finals where she has a chance to be a state champion. She will run the 3200 final at 2:55 p.m. Thursday and the 1600 final at 2:35 p.m. Friday. She has the top time in both, winning the regional in the 3200 in 10:51.43 and the 1600 in 4:59.71. "Rylie has an uncoachable competitiveness that sets her apart from other athletes," Lemponen said. "She has bounced back from an injury-filled sophomore year and has been dominating on the track the entire season. I probably sound like a broken record, but what she has been doing is not normal, even though she has made it seem like it. "Almost every time she touches the track, she's making history and we get a whole other year with her." Towns has been a great example for Lesnak, a freshman who also races in the 1600 and 3200. Lesnak has the fifth-best time in the 1600 (5:06.46) and the third-best mark in the 3200 (11:09.10). "Andrea is one of my favorite athletes to watch because every time she competes, she runs every race like her hair is on fire," Lemponen said. "The way that girl competes is so much fun to watch, and to think she's just a freshman is insane to think about. She is another one that is willing to do anything to help her team, and that attitude is contagious. "I think that running with Rylie and our other distance athletes only helps raise the level of competition at practice for all of them, and I think it's great for Rylie to have those girls push her as well." Huron qualified a team for each of the four relay races. In the 4x100, Avery Bork, Khloe Wagoner, Sasha Fry, and Kate Ryan have the 12th-best time in 50.31 seconds. In prelim races, there are two heats of nine entries. The top two finishers in each heat automatically advance to the final, as well as the five fastest times after that. "Those girls have been consistently working on improving every aspect of the relay," Lemponen said. "Avery has continued to improve her block starts, and the girls have been hyper-focused on getting their take-off timing and handoffs as clean as possible. "The 4x100 is always mass chaos, and it comes down to execution, and we know that for us to have the success we want, we are going to have to get a little reckless, but that's the beauty of that relay. High risk, high reward." The 4x200 quartet of Ava Manner, Olivia Kohlmann, Fry, and Ryan take the seventh-best qualifying time into the semifinals. They finished the regional in a time of 1:45.12. "Much like the 4x100, the biggest factor with the 4x200 team is executing timely handoffs and getting faster in practices," Lemponen said. "The experience that girls like Olivia, Sasha, and Kate bring has helped a track rookie like Ava tremendously. We took a risk by trusting Ava in the leadoff spot, and she has exploded in the last few weeks. "Every time she competes, she looks more and more comfortable, and she puts us in such a great spot with that first leg. At the regional finals, they were one hundredth away from breaking the school record, so we are very much looking forward to trying to break that at the state meet." In the 4x400 relay, Kohlmann, Schlessman, Fry, and Ryan enter with the eighth-best time. They finished the regional in 4:04.76. "The 4x400 wasn't really an A-team until the last couple of weeks because we had so many girls that were running around the same times," Lemponen said. "Once we solidified the group, I think they have excelled most at being competitive, with each leg trying to keep it close and handing the baton off with an opportunity to be in the mix to win it. "Olivia has been a huge factor with her leading off and handing the baton to Laney with a lead or very close to it. Laney has done a great job with maintaining the gap and allowing Sasha to close a gap, and finishing with our anchor Kate to bring it home." Schlessman will also compete in the 800-meter dash. Although she has the 18th of 18 qualifying times, the freshman has the ability to slice some time and perhaps make the final. "Laney has been amazing, and she's just barely scratching the surface of what's to come," Lemponen said. "She has a quiet demeanor, but don't mistake her kindness for weakness. That girl wants to PR every time she competes. I love her attitude and her willingness to do anything to help the team win. Watching her qualify for state in the 800 on Friday was such an awesome moment to see her fight to the end and secure the last at-large bid." Freshman Makenna Conley will compete in the 100 hurdles. The biggest surprise of the season, according to Lemponen, is that Conley has cut her time from 20.48 seconds the first time she ran the 100 hurdles to the 10th-best qualifying time at 15.7 seconds last week. "Since the first time, she has gotten a personal best nine out of the 13 times she's run it," Lemponen said. "Dropping almost five seconds is unheard of in all the years I've been coaching hurdlers. The biggest key to her success has been focusing on her block start and getting a bend in her lead leg so she can snap it down quicker. With her background as a dancer, a straight leg and pointed toes are the exact opposite of what you want as a hurdler. "As a freshman, she has grown exponentially from the beginning of the season and has put herself in a position to get on the podium at state." Huron has just one athlete in the field events, and that is freshman Hadley Barkema in the pole vault. She has the eighth-best qualifying mark at 10 feet, 8 inches. "Seeing her qualify for state was such a great moment for her," Lemponen said. "Our pole vault coach, Dan Smith, has been phenomenal at working with Hadley. She has been so coachable and flexible throughout the season. "She was also one spot from making a regional final in the 300 hurdles, taking almost two seconds off her personal best in less than a week, showing her versatility and ability to bring her best when her best is needed." It has been a record-setting year for Huron, which won the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title. Finishing it off with the big gold trophy is one of the final goals for the Tigers. "The girls broke two school records this past weekend, both in number of athletes qualified with 12 and number of events with nine," Lemponen said. "What excites me most about the girls team is that out of the 12 athletes we advanced to state, only one of them is a senior. "The future looks bright for the girls, and they have put themselves in a position to be a legitimate contender for a team title this weekend."