Harding’s Richardson makes history

June 7, 2015 at 12:07a.m.

COLUMBUS

The track at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium may be 400 meters, but on Saturday, Warren Harding junior Justice Richardson only needed 100 to come full circle.

Running on the same stretch where she fractured her left foot during last year’s state meet, Richardson sprinted into history, winning the Division I 100-meter dash to become the first Raider girl to capture an individual outdoor state track title.

“It feels good to be the first,” said Richardson, who finished in 11.85 to edge Dublin Coffman freshman Abby Steiner (11.89). “I had to go through a lot of adversity to get to this point and I’m very excited. I worked very hard for this.”

Richardson finished last season with three foot fractures — the last (and worst) came during the 100 final, where she placed ninth — but recovered fast enough to place third in the 60 dash at March’s state indoor meet.

Richardson entered this weekend with the state’s fastest qualifying time in the 100 (11.75) but only had the second-fastest time after Friday’s preliminaries (11.93) behind Steiner, who won the 60 title in March.

“She’s a great runner and great competition,” said Richardson, whose father, Matt, was an All-American on Youngstown State’s football team in 1999. “I was just telling myself to trust my workouts and all my hard work. I knew I could do it.”

FALCON PHENOMS

Austintown Fitch senior Joe Harrington finished his standout career with three more medals, placing second in the 200, eighth in the 100 and helping the Falcons’ 4x200 relay place seventh.

“My No. 1 thing coming in was to try to make podium in all my events,” he said of finishing in the top eight. “I definitely wanted to get in the top three but unfortunately that only happened in one. At least it was my strongest race.”

Harrington, who will run track at Akron, finishes his high school career as a nine-time All-Ohioan, but this was the first year he earned an individual medal.

“He definitely left his mark on our school and the area,” said his coach, Seth Steiner.

“The big thing is I love representing Fitch High School,” Harrington said. “I’m gonna miss that.”

His teammate, senior Dylan Latone, also earned his first individual medal by finishing fourth in the pole vault. Latone battled mono at last year’s state meet and finished 13th.

“It’s satisfying,” said Latone, a YSU recruit. “I’m happy with it. I have no regrets on the whole season.

“This is my career highlight.”

MOVING UP

Canfield junior Andrew Hallof finished third in the discus with a throw of 167-8, just four inches off his career best. Hallof placed seventh at last year’s state meet with a 161.

“This is exactly how I wanted to end [the season],” he said. “It’s a building process and I’m working my way up [the podium]. To jump from seventh to third is awesome.”

The winning throw was 174-11, which was shorter than the state championship throws in Division II (187-9) and Division III (191-2, done by McDonald senior Christian Smith). Hallof said he’s reached 175 a few times in practice, so he admitted there’s a little bit of a “What if?” factor.

“I’ve just got to learn to calm down, take a deep breath and figure out a way to do it next year,” he said. “That’s what I’m looking forward to right now.”