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McDonald’s Mitchell wins relay on anchor leg
By Charles Grove
COLUMBUS
From like a scene out of a movie, McDonald sophomore Malina Mitchell powered past the anchors of Minford and Archbold to win the girls 4x400 relay in astounding fashion.
Mitchell trailed from the beginning of her leg to Minster’s Madeline Magoto but knew it was going to be more than a two-horse race.
“Abbie [Matig] gave it to me in a great spot and [Magoto] was a little bit ahead of me, but I knew the anchors behind me were coming quick so I couldn’t let up,” Mitchell said. “I came down the home stretch and another girl came on me and I just decided to put it in another gear and it worked out.”
Coming down the home stretch, Mitchell said she wanted to finish somewhere in the top two, but once she saw Archbold’s Dakota Stamm in her peripheral, Mitchell decided to take over.
“I just really wanted to be first or second and when I saw the other girl I didn’t want to be third place so I put it in another gear,” Mitchell said. “It was all just a matter of heart and effort at that point.”
Mitchell crossed the line 0.41 seconds ahead of Minster and the fury of hugs and enormous smiles began.
“I had thought I won because I didn’t see anyone out of the corner of my eye but I had to confirm it with my teammates like, ‘Did we for sure do this?’ But once I saw the looks on their faces I knew for sure that we did.”
McDonald had to fight just to make it to Columbus. The squad finished third in regional competition to secure their spot at the state meet but they won it when it mattered most.
“Our region is very competitive,” McDonald senior Sarah Joseph said. “The top three seeded teams were all from our region. We knew what we were capable of and we hadn’t run our best race together yet so we thought if we put it all together big things would happen and that’s what we did.”
Matig said Mitchell’s final push was ‘insane’ to watch from the infield.
“I got so excited when I saw Malina kick it in the last few feet,” Matig said. “I couldn’t be prouder. I wouldn’t want to be here with anyone else. It’s the best feeling I could ever ask for.”
Iva Domitrovich and Joseph said couldn’t really compare this win to the team state title McDonald won two years earlier.
“It’s a state championship but it’s different,” Domitrovich said. “It’s not that one’s better than the other but it’s exciting.”
“We were still sophomores then so we knew we had next year to come back but this year we knew we had to give it our all,” Joseph said. “We wanted this to be special.”
The accomplishment was even more impressive when you factor in Domitrovich’s 200 meter dash she had run approximately 45 minutes before.
“I’ve been doing the 200 and 4x400 double most of the year, so I knew it was going to be rough,” Domitrovich said. “But I knew it was our last 4x400. Our coach said make this one special and we did.”