Ashley Galbraith takes second in the high jump

By JOE SCALZO
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
COLUMBUS -- Earlier this season, an area high jump official watched Struthers sophomore Ashley Galbraith compete and came away pretty impressed.
"The official came over and said, 'You've got a real legitimate shot at a state record,' " said Struthers coach Geoff Malcomson. "I think Ashley got it in her head that if she works at this, she's got a really bright future in it.
"Hopefully, she's just scratched the surface of what she can do."
That's a scary thought, considering Galbraith finished second in the high jump in Division II at Friday's state meet at Jesse Owens Stadium. She jumped 5 feet, 5 inches -- the same height as the winner, Heather Sole of Newark Licking Valley, who won on overall jumps -- despite battling constant rain.
Officials had to squeegee the track after every jump.
"It was miserable," Galbraith said. "I hate being wet."
Missed three 5-6 attempts
Galbraith missed her first two jumps at both 5-3 and 5-4, but was up to the challenge each time. She missed all three attempts at 5-6, which would have tied her career best.
"The water made it really hard to jump," she said. "In the run-throughs, I was worried about falling.
"I didn't get my best, but I did enough to get second, so that's good."
The finish was a little bit of a surprise, since Galbraith finished third at both the district and regional meets.
"At the district meet, she had a little problem with the weather," Malcomson said. "That had me worried about today."
Galbraith also advanced to today's final in the 4x200-meter relay but her future seems brightest in the high jump.
Just for the record, the Div. II state record is 5-101/4.
"I think getting down here this year will make her hungry for next year," Malcomson said.
Cofojohn third in discus
Southeast senior Danielle Cofojohn also had to battle bad weather -- the rain didn't clear until late in the afternoon -- but still finished third in the discus.
"It was a little hard because of the rain," she said. "I just stayed calm and I didn't let my nerves get to me."
Cofojohn, who will compete in the shot put today, won district and regional titles in the past two weeks. She fought back tears when she talked about Friday's performance.
"I think the only person happy is the person at the top of the podium," she said.
On the boys side, Salem seniors Mike Downs, Aiman Scullion and Paul Shivers closed out a terrific distance running career by joining junior Patrick Gorby to finish fifth in the 4x800 relay.
"These guys are like brothers to me," said Gorby. "It's going to be tough not having them here."
Final race bittersweet
The Quakers, who have won back-to-back state cross country titles, were hoping to finish in the top two, which made their final race a little bittersweet.
"With all the history and with winning cross country, our goal was to come in here and win," Shivers said. "We're not satisfied with fifth."
Salem junior Jeremiah Folger wasn't satisfied with his finish in the shot put, either, placing seventh.
"I was hoping to do a little better, but it's my first time at state so I'm pretty happy," he said. "If you look at the [result] sheets, everyone was down a few feet. The conditions were tough."
Mooney senior Mike Mazerik had a strong day in the preliminary races, qualifying for the 100 and the 4x100 with the day's best times. West Branch senior Eric Balputnis had the second-best qualifying time in the 100.
scalzo@vindy.com