Perkins 4x100 girls place better at state than regional

COLUMBUS — It's not supposed to work like this. Teams qualify for state through regional meets, and usually a team places better at regional than state because the competition isn't as strong. A second-place team at a regional isn't especially likely to win a state championship, for example. Don't tell that to the Perkins 4x100-meter girls relay team. Ashlyn Legando, Taylor Ohly, Emma Sturzinger and Haylie Brunner were sixth at the Division II Lexington Regional. But on Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, the Pirates' quartet was the fifth-best team in the state (50.10 seconds). "We made the most of it," Legando said. It wasn't even a sure thing Perkins' relay would make it to state after a fast regional race. Only four teams automatically qualify from each regional, and then after 16 auto qualifiers from across Ohio, there are two total at-large bids chosen as the next two-fastest racers statewide. As it turned out, both the at-large bids in the D-II girls 4x100 came from Lexington. Perkins was literally the last team to secure a spot in the state meet in that event. "We kind of knew we were in, but we just wanted the official word," Sturzinger said. "It wasn't until Saturday night (we knew)." With such a dicey advancement, Perkins wasn't necessarily expected to move on from the semifinals Friday. The Pirates had the ninth-best seed time before prelims. "We have faith in ourselves because our coaches give us faith," Ohly said. They did have something potentially working in their favor, though. This quartet had only run together in this order for the first time at the regional. "We changed the people in it, and the order, too," Legando said. "I've been anchor all the way up until this year. It was a big change for me, but coach thought it was the best way to get us where we are now." Perkins ran the eighth-fastest preliminary time to advance to the finals and ensure themselves another day of running. That may not have been crucial for sophomores Ohly and Sturzinger and freshman Brunner. But Legando, the lone senior, got to run once more. As Legando settled into the blocks to lead off the relay, she knew this was it. "The whole time, I was definitely thinking of it," Legando said. "It's bittersweet, but I was thankful to make it this far." The newly assembled relay had clean handoffs throughout Saturday's final. After Legando gave Ohly the baton, Ohly did her best to set up Sturzinger. "I was neck and neck with one girl," Ohly said, "and I'm just thinking in my head, she cannot beat me. She cannot beat me." Then it was Sturzinger's turn to put Brunner in a good position. "All I think about is just hugging the curve and giving Haylie the biggest lead possible so we have the best chance at coming across the line with the fastest time," Sturzinger said. Finally, the freshman Brunner got to sprint. Running out of Lane 1, she didn't have a great view of the other runners. "I have no idea," Brunner said of her positioning. "I couldn't see anything. All I did was hear Emma, and I just took off." Brunner made the final dash of her first year of high school a good one. She edged sixth-place Norwayne by a tenth of a second. "It felt great just to finish strong and that we crossed the line," Brunner said. "I had no idea where we were, and I was so excited." So no, Perkins didn't follow the normal path to All-Ohio honors. They were the last team to qualify in the girls 4x100. They were the second-to-last team to advance out of the state semifinals. But then there they were anyway, standing in fifth place on the podium, smiles as big as if they had just won the whole thing. "It's new coming here to this big stadium, a lot of people obviously," Legando said. "The best thing to do is take it all in. You never know if you're gonna be back here."