SPRING 2019 TRACK: Dylan Huff Crestview

Dylan Huff knows some things about construction.

The big summer project for the Crestview High School senior and some of his football and track teammates before heading off to college is building a fort named “The Fort.”

“We started it back in July. We were sitting inside and thought we should do something outside. We dug holes for the quarter posts and we just started getting everything together,” Huff said. “We’ve got all the walls and interiors mostly done with a metal roof and everything.

“Right now, we’re trying to put in a porch. It’s like a cabin in the woods.”

Huff helped provide the foundation for another project this spring: Crestview’s stellar track and field season.

The senior was a four-event qualifier in this year’s OHSAA State Track and Field Tournament. He anchored the state-championship winning 4x200 and 4x100 relays, teaming up with Ethan Powell, Jayce Meredith and Brandon Yanssens.

Huff also took third in the 200 and competed in the long jump, where he was a half-inch short of the podium in ninth place. That performance, combined with Dominic Perry’s second-consecutive state title in the shot put, made the Rebels the Division III runner-up in the team standings.

Huff’s coaches lobbied for him to compete in more individual events, like the 400 meter run. After the first meet of the season, Huff saw the potential of the relays.

“We ran a [1 minute, 32-second time in the 4x200] in the rain and cold and we thought ‘OK, we’ve got this,’” Huff said. “Midway through the season, [Coach Greg Woolman] wanted to take me out of the [4x100] and I thought we were going to do special things. After the state meet, I went up to him and said ‘do you still want to take me out of the 4x100?’”

In the 4x200, the Rebels broke the meet record for the event with a time of 1:27.71. After setting a new record, the Rebels had to head back out on the track at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium for the 4x100 relay after three events.

“I just fed off the adrenaline. After we won the 4x200, we had to check in for the 4x100,” Huff said. “After that, it was like ‘Oh my goodness. We’ve won the 4x200, let’s go get another one.’”

Huff will continue his track career at Youngstown State.

Huff doesn’t regret forgoing individual events in favor of the relays. Like the fort, there’s plenty of joy to be had a group project.

“You get to share it with three guys and that lasts a lifetime,” Huff said.

— Brian Dzenis, The Vindicator