NEW track stock 2021
ORRVILLE — The curtain hasn’t been completely drawn on the storied high school track and field career of Ryne Shackelford, but the Keystone senior certainly isn’t going to go out with the hoped-for blaze of glory he envisioned.
The defending Division II state champion in the 100 and 200 dashes and the two-time defending champion in the long jump has battled a balky hamstring all season. It jumped up and bit him once again May 18 in the Division II district meet at Orrville High School, forcing him to drop out of the 200 dash and 4×400 relay and making him wonder just what he can accomplish in the next few weeks.
“It really sucks being hurt during districts when you know you need to run fast to qualify for Saturday and then on Saturday you try to qualify for regionals,” Shackelford said. “But I was not able to do it. I know I’ve got it in me, I really want to do it. But I’m just not able to. It just really irritates me.”
The meet started well for Shackelford, as he soared 23 feet, 6 3/4 on his first attempt in the long jump, the eventual winning distance. Before his jump he was seen grasping his left hamstring and trying to rub it out. From there, it just went downhill. His second jump was nearly a foot shorter at 22-8.
“I felt pretty good coming into today,” he said. “I did some run-throughs and they felt good. But the last run-through I did I felt something. I was like, ‘I hope it’s not what I think it is.’ After I jumped the first jump, it started hurting more. I put Biofreeze on it and it felt OK on my second jump, but I didn’t really jump that far.”
Shackelford passed his third attempt and then went to run a preliminary in the 100, which saw him awkwardly run a time of 11.57 to finish second in his heat.
“When I got to the 100, the gun went off and it felt like my left leg was lagging behind,” he said. “I didn’t feel like I could fully extend it. It felt kind of like I was limping. I ran a whole second slower than what I was running last year.”
He then went to the trainer and was examined and treated, but no amount of stretching and treatment could make the pain go away and he didn’t compete in any further events. Although he did qualify for the finals in the 100.
“His hamstring has been tight,” said Keystone coach Jeff Holzhauer. “The trainers did a strength test, and they were happy with the strength. He just said it hurts. He said that was as fast as he could run the 100 and he elected not to run the 200.”
The question now is, what does the future hold? Will he run in the 100 final on May 20? Will he compete in the regional meet in the long jump and possibly some relays? Right now it’s all up in the air.
“If I feel like I’ll be able to run and win, yes, I’ll run,” he said. “But if I’m not feeling a lot better by Saturday, I’m not sure I will. I know you need to be in tip-top shape for regionals in the 100 because there’s four or five dudes who are running 10.7 or lower. It’s stacked in the region.
“I’m hoping to long jump next week. I’ve got to take what I can get. Even if I can get in only one jump next week, I’ll take that. If I’m not able to run the 100, it’s going to be a bummer because I was hoping to do what I did last year and have a great season. To have it ruined by one simple nagging injury, it doesn’t feel too good.”
In the meantime, the Firelands girls appear to be on their way to winning their first district title since at least 1999. Coach Steve Lias said he doesn’t know what happened before 1999 but that he’s certain there have been no district crowns since then. But, truthfully, that’s not the main goal for the Falcons.
“My ultimate goal is getting as many Firelands Falcons as possible to regionals next week at Austintown-Fitch,” Lias said. “I’d love to have to take two buses. I told our bus guy today that we’re going to plan on taking two buses. That’s our goal, and if it comes out that way, that’s fantastic.”
Firelands doesn’t have any standout individuals, but the team is solid across the board. The Falcons are led by sophomore Ariannah Floyd, who had the fastest qualifying time in the 300 hurdles, anchored the top-qualifying 4×400 relay and qualified second in the 100 hurdles.
Others who will figure prominently in Fireland’s quest for a gold trophy include senior Bella Simmons, juniors Hailey Urban and Caley Bomback, and freshmen Jordyn Copley and Audrey Smith. The Falcons qualified either first or second in all three sprint relays and had at least one runner move on to the finals in every preliminary.
“We got Bella this year as a senior, and she has had a real impact on the team,” Lias said. “She’s a bulldog, She’s a go-getter. She isn’t backing down from anybody. That’s what makes her a great 400 runner. And then you add in all these freshmen. Then you add in Urban and Bomback, who have been right there in years past. It’s a great combination.”
It’s a formula that has led Firelands to victories in the Lorain County League, the Brookside Invitational, the Nelson Howe Invitational at Firelands, and the Vermilion Invitational.
“We got some people through,” Lias said. “We put it there. Our deal now is we’ve got to make sure we step up on Saturday. We’ll be ready to go. The girls have stepped up before and I’m hoping they’ll do it again.”
The boys meet looks to be a contest between three teams, Bay, Keystone and host Orrville. The Wildcats probably would be the favorites with a healthy Shackelford. But even without him they will score well because of their overall depth. Bay and Orrville are very strong in certain areas, but they both have big holes in their overall lineup, which could make for a close battle that goes down to the wire.
Bay is led by freshman Jayden Perrine, who suffered a bitter disappointment in the long jump when he was bumped out of the fourth and final regional qualifying spot by a half-inch on the final jump of the competition. But he came back to have the fastest qualifying times in the 100 and 200 and also ran a leg on Bay’s top-qualifying 4×100 relay. The Rockets also should score well in the distance events and the shot put.
There were three district champions from the Morning Journal area, as Fairview won the 4×800 relay for both the boys and the girls. The foursome of Ryan Hinojosa, Ben Myers, Owen Darnell and Tyson Crandall combined to run 8:23.23 for the boys, while Meghan McDonald, Eva Koczur, Allison Karliak and Lacey McQuate added up to 10:32.92 for the girls.
The other area champion was Brookside’s Zuriah Radeff Koonce, who won the shot put with a toss of 36-4 1/4. She was sitting in second, an inch behind top-seeded Jaclyn Jundzilo of Doylestown Chippewa heading into her final attempt, but added nearly 10 inches to her best on that final attempt.
“I knew what I had to do,” she said. “I knew the top seed had a higher PR than me. But she wasn’t doing as well, so I knew I had to compete. Going into my last throw, I knew I was not going to let myself lose by an inch. So, I gave it all I could, and I got her.”
Radeff Koonce also qualified into the finals in the 100 and 200 dashes. She was just a sprinter as a freshman, but on a whim she tried the throws in a JV meet as a sophomore with great success, so now she does both. Some might say that’s an odd combination of events, but to the junior it makes perfect sense.
“I feel like as a sprinter you have to be powerful, coming out of the blocks and things like that,” she said. “Everything works together. It’s the same thing with the shot put. Before I compete in the shot put, I do the same warm-up I do as a sprinter. I know I need to get my whole body ready, because with the shot put, you have to be fast and explosive, just like a sprinter.”