Margaretta's Jenny, JT Patrick aim for twinning state titles

CASTALIA — JT Patrick was sitting in the hospital, awaiting surgery, and all he could think about was his baby. That's the term he uses to describe his shot put career. On Saturday, May 13, JT was dealing with excruciating stomach pain. On Sunday morning his mother, Cindy, took him to the hospital, only to discover he needed an appendectomy. "We're like, 'There goes the season, we're done,'" his father Ted said. "He's upset, everybody's upset." The moment could not have come at a more inopportune time. JT finished his junior year throwing 53 feet, 2.50 inches at the state meet, clinching the eighth spot on the podium at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. A month later, he was back in the weight room training to climb even higher in his senior season. He had thrown as far as 58 feet at the Edison Invite, but with districts less than a week away the emergency surgery could've closed the door on his hopes of advancing. "Immediately I'm like, 'This is not going to be good,'" JT said. The surgeon at Firelands Regional Medical Center, Dr. Fredric Itzkowitz, gave the Patricks two options. The first was an incision in JT's abdominal wall, which would sideline the senior indefinitely, closing the book on his high school throwing career that he's shared with his All-Ohio twin sister, Jenny. The second option, called a laparoscopy, would allow the surgeon to access the inside of the stomach without opening it, pulling the appendix through JT's belly-button. The district stage for the discus was on a Wednesday, three days out from the surgery, with the shot put district taking place on Friday. Itzkowitz explained that with the laparoscopy, JT would potentially be able to compete in the disc, but would be better off waiting until Friday to begin competing again. "Friday was shot put and that's my baby," JT said. "If I have to give up the discus on Wednesday I will, but I can't miss the shot put." "I told the nurse, 'When it comes Friday, I'm going to be out there,'" he added. After a successful surgery, JT decided to get greedy. He competed on Wednesday, throwing 144 feet on his third throw, clinching a spot in the regional. Two days later, he broke a district record in the shot put, throwing 57-0.25. "We had a follow-up and told the doctor and he was amazed," Ted Patrick said. A week passed and JT qualified for state in both events, throwing a 164 in the discus and a 57-1 in the shot at regionals in Fostoria, returning to the stage he excelled at a year ago. He heads to state with the third-best regional distance in the shot in what looks like a three-athlete battle for the top of the podium. "It was nerve-wracking not knowing what the outcome was," JT said. "I've done so much and everything is focused on regionals and the state meet and I was like, 'Am I going to lose that?'" Itzkowitz told the Patricks that the timetable to get back to 100% was around two weeks. Now that he has qualified for the state meet, that milestone has come and gone, giving JT a chance to compete one final time as a Polar Bear on June 2 in Columbus. "You've got to think positive. "t is what it is and you're not going to change it," JT said. When a groggy JT got out of surgery, the first person who greeted him was his twin sister, Jennifer. If anyone knows the depth of her twin's dedication to his craft it's Jenny, who has trained and worked alongside JT since he got her started throwing in their sophomore year. "When I first found out I was crying like, 'He's worked so hard for everything,'" Jenny said. "But when I found out they were taking it out of his belly-button I was like, 'He'll be throwing tomorrow.'" If JT claims the shot put as his baby, Jenny agrees the disc is hers. The senior threw 131-2 at Jesse O last year, claiming runner-up in Division III discus in her penultimate season. She's president of her class and National Honor Society. She'll cross the stage at Margaretta High School on June 4 as a valedictorian. She even claimed a regional championship in basketball this winter as a starter on the Polar Bears' final four team. But in her eyes, winning a state title in the discus would be a greater achievement than anything else. "That's been the biggest goal I've had these past couple years," Jenny said. "It's been a crazy year but I definitely want to leave my mark on the school." She took the next step toward that goal on May 26, throwing a 144-5 in the discus at the regional in Fostoria, a mark that would have won a D-III state championship last season. It was the best regional mark statewide and sent her to state as the favorite. "These last few weeks it's really starting to click," Jenny said. "I'm ready to hit a big one." That's a far cry from two years ago when, in her first full season throwing, Jenny went 78 feet at the regional stage, missing the state cutoff by a large margin. It became a point of motivation, driving her to become great at a sport that hardly piqued her interest a few years ago. "I hate losing. I am a sore loser," Jenny said. "Ask anybody. It doesn't matter if it's throwing, basketball or family game night. I'm a very competitive person." She also clinched a berth to Jesse Owens in the shot put with a throw of 40-8. Last year, the twins competed at the same time in one event. This year, they'll be side-by-side for two events instead of one. "There's probably no other girl in the state of Ohio that has thrown as much and lifted as much as she has," JT said. "She's a machine. I don't know what it is about her but she does not quit." Through the hard work, dedication, and intense focus on her goal, Jenny still enjoys the grind and is having fun on the road to Columbus. On April 7, at a meet in Logan, she set a school record in the shot put at 43-5, which would have also clinched the 2022 state title. She ran over to her high school coach, Steve Gravenhorst, with an ear-to-ear smile to share the good news. "The excitement they have is really neat to see," Gravenhorst said. "That's fulfilling to me seeing these two have success." Each of the twins embrace that payoff that comes through hard work. Whether it's through athletics or academics, the Patricks have tackled each obstacle that comes their way. "They'll put in the time," Ted said. "They're not going to cut themselves short of working at it." There will be more opportunities to throw at a high level when they attend Ashland University in the fall, but the chance to leave Margaretta with a couple All-Ohio finishes and maybe even a state title holds a lot of weight with the Patricks. Even though throwing is an individual sport, JT and Jenny Patrick are taking on this final challenge together, just as they've always done. "It's always been me and Jen and we just get after it," JT said.