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Area athletes tuning up for districts
By JON MOFFETT
YOUNGSTOWN
Coaches often preach a simple doctrine to their athletes come playoff time — go with what got you there.
That saying holds true for many area track and field athletes as they prepare for the upcoming district meets.
Those meets will begin with semifinals on Wednesday for Divisions I and III, and Thursday for Division II. The finals will be Friday and Saturday, respectively.
The district meet will be broken up into three locations, depending on the divisions in the northeast.
The Division I meet will be run at Fitch High in Austintown. Division II will be run at Salem High, and Division III will take place at Springfield High. The winners of those meets will take place in one of 12 regional meets later this month.
The state meet will take place at Jesse Owens Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University in Columbus. Preliminaries will be on June 4 and finals will take place the following day.
Many of those runners, throwers and jumpers said the easiest way to prepare for the meets is to simply treat them like any other meet. No added prestige results in no added pressure.
“We’re just doing the same things in practice,” said Josie McKinley of United. “I just want to treat it like any other meet because I don’t want to get all pumped up and then get let down. I’m just trying to have fun with it.”
McKinley said she hopes to be in the top three in both of her throwing events – shot put and discus – at the district meet. The top four finishers in each event earn a trip to the regional meet.
Mineral Ridge senior Kristen Basista hopes to make it to her fourth-consecutive regional meet in the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. She agreed with McKinley on the preparation.
“I try not to prepare any differently and just take each meet as it comes,” Basista said. “I just go out there and run the best race I can and am just proud of what I can do. I trust in God that whatever is meant to happen will happen.”
Also hoping to continue its winning ways in the district meet is the Columbiana girls 4x800-meter relay team.
The team, comprised of senior Alyssa Mellott, junior Caroline Kimpel and sophomores Chanel Brown and Ashley Lydic, finished first in the Inter Tri-County League meet. Mellott said there is a lot of pressure on the team to repeat.
“We’re just going to train hard this week, but not too hard that we get tired,” Mellott said. “We got first in the district last year, so we just want to keep that position.”
But East Palestine’s Shane Peterson offered a different perspective on the meet.
“I don’t treat it any differently, but I’m a little bit more focused than I am for a regular meet,” Peterson said. “I just have to make sure I have my steps down and am ready.”
Peterson, a senior, hopes to win the long and high jump events, as well as the 4x100-meter relay team.
He offered advice to his peers, and reminded everyone that the district meet is just the first hurdle on the track until the state meet.
“Don’t work too hard in practice; don’t kill yourself,” he said. “Just know that there is more than just the district. You’ve got to stay just as focused for the regional meet and the state meet.”