Nine state records were tied or broken at the state meet in the three divisions last year at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. The number was 10 in 2022 and five in 2021.
Records are meant to be broken, and they’re broken often — many times at the state meet but sometimes at other meets earlier in the year. Here’s a look at athletes from the Dayton, Springfield, Hamilton and Middletown areas who own current state records.
DIVISION I GIRLS
4x100-meter relay: The Lakota East relay team of junior Dawn Hilton, senior Kaylyn Heath, freshman Azariyah Bryant and junior Serena Clark raced to victory in 45.82 seconds on June 1, 2019, at the state meet in Columbus.
The previous record of 45.99 was set by Reynoldsburg in 2012. The Lakota East time is also an all-divisions record.
Lakota East beat the second-place relay team by more than a second.
“I’ve got to bring it home,” Clark told Oh.MileSplit.com after the race about running the final leg. “I’ve got to do it. I’ve got to get this record. It’s all we’ve been aiming for the whole entire year. We finally got it. It’s exciting.”
Heath also won the 100 and Clark the 200 as Lakota East claimed its first team state championship in girls track and field.
Pole vault: Greenville junior Riley Hunt set what was then an all-divisions state record height of 13 feet, 7 inches at the state meet on June 1, 2019.
“It sounds good,” Hunt told Oh.MileSplit.com after the event. “I’m just so excited to be going that high as a junior.
She already owned the record at that point, having cleared 13-6½ at the Greater Western Ohio Conference meet that May.
The current all-divisions record (14-6¼) was set by Castalia Margaretta’s Kenna Stimmel in 2022 at the state meet.
Hunt did not get a chance as a senior to break her own D-I record because the spring sports season was canceled by the pandemic.
DIVISION I BOYS
200: Dayton Dunbar senior Chris Nelloms set the record of 20.47 on June 2, 1990, at the state meet at Ohio Stadium. That remains the all-divisions record. This was his third straight state championship in this event.
400: On the same day he set the 200 record, Nelloms also set an all-divisions state record (45.59) that still stands. He won this event four years in a row at the state meet.
1,600: Lakota East senior Dustin Horter set the record (4:03.40) on May 4, 2018, at the Rod Russell Mason Invitational. He ran that time while running the 1-mile race. FinishTiming had clocks at the 1,600-meter mark and the 1-mile finish.
110 hurdles: Nellom’s time of 13.30 in this event as a senior also still stands as an all-divisions state record.
Dunbar won its third state championship in a row in 1990. It has won four state championships since then (2012, 2014, 2015 and 2017). It ranks third in Ohio history with 10 state championships in boys track.
4x100 relay: The Middletown team of senior Tyran Thompson, senior Nasir Ahmad, junior Marc Johnson and senior Darrell Hunter set the state record of 40.79 on May 30, 2002, in the regional meet at Welcome Stadium. That still stands as the best time in any division.
“It’s very special,” coach Floyd Horton said after the event. “When you think about all the great All-American type of sprinters from Ohio that ran. These four beat all of them. No one will be able to take that away from them. They’ll always be remembered as the first team in state history to break 41.”
Nearly the same team with Thompson, Ahmad, Hunter and Dennis Gates set the previous state record (41.36) at the state meet in 2001, and that 2001 time broke the state record (41.45) set by another local relay team, Wayne, in 2000.
4x400 relay: The Trotwood-Madison team of junior Julius Ruby, senior Jordon Paschal, junior Renon Lorenzo and senior William Henry set the record (3:13.05) at the state meet on June 5, 2010, in Columbus. It was the third straight year a Trotwood-Madison relay team broke the state record in the event.
In 2009, the record-breaking time (3:13.32) was set by Paschal, Henry, Ruby and Michael Jordan. In 2008, the record (3:13.46) was set by Henry, Paschal, Donte Lyons and Derricus Purdy.
Trotwood-Madison won four straight state championships in the event (2007-10).
DIVISION II GIRLS
4x800 relay: The Oakwood team of sophomore Bella Butler, senior Hannah Moulton, sophomore Emma Almoney and junior Grace Hartman set the record (9:08.72) at the regional meet in Piqua on May 27, 2021.
DIVISION II BOYS
100: Brookville junior Coy Hyre tied the record (10.48) at the Wayne Invitational on April 26 this year. Toledo Central Catholic’s Solomon King ran the same time in 2023.
400: Stivers senior Tyler Johnson set the record (46.52) on May 28, 2016, at the regional meet at Welcome Stadium.
Johnson broke the record (47.22), which was shared by Thurgood Marshall’s Alante Oliver (2012) and Roth’s Laron Brown (1982).
“I was trying to make a statement,” Johnson said.
110 hurdles: Dayton Christian senior Lamar Hill set the record (13.71) in qualifying at the state meet on May 31, 1996, in Columbus. He also won the long jump that year at the state meet and helped carry Dayton Christian to the team championship.
4x400 relay: The Dayton Roth team of Quinthony Brown, Michael McCray, Juan Mosby and Laron Brown set the record (3:14.57) in the regional at Welcome Stadium in 1982.
“We wanted to go out in style since this was our last time running in the stadium,” Brown said.
DIVISION III GIRLS
High Jump: Catholic Central junior Mallory Mullen won the second of three state championships with a record jump (5-10½) on June 4, 2021, at Westerville North High School. She broke the record (5-10) set by Ottoville’s Brooke Mangas in 2016.
“I’ve been aiming for that record all year,” Mullen said, “and I’m so happy I finally got it at the right spot: the state meet. That was exciting.”
Long jump: Miami Valley junior Taylor Middleton set the record (19-1½) on May 29, 2015, at the regional meet in Troy. She beat the previous record (18-11½) which was set by Bedford St. Peter Chanel’s Ina Jackson in 1999.
“I came down and I was looking and I was like, ‘OK, this is probably a good 18 (feet),’” Middleton said. “The official said this might be a new record. I started flipping out. I was just so excited.
DIVISION III BOYS
100: Jefferson Township senior Tony Lee set the record (10.4) at the district meet at Welcome Stadium on May 21, 1988. The previous record (10.68) was set by Joe Banks, of Columbus Wehrle, in 1980.
200: On the same day he set a record in the 100, Lee set the 200 record (21.1). The old record (21.79) was set by Joe Bradley, of East Canton, in 1981.
Both records were considered unofficial at the time because they were timed by hand. The OHSAA lists them in the state record book with “(MT)” next to them. That means the races were manually timed by a stopwatch. The OHSAA assistant commissioner, Fred Dafler, was at the meet when Lee set the records and submitted both times to the National High School Federation.
“I’m just happy they’re going to consider them as possible state records,” Lee said. “You don’t get too many races where you get a chance to run record times. I kept looking up at the flag before the 100 and 200 to see if it was moving, but it was dead. I knew if I ran well I had a shot at some good times.
“The 100 is the race I’m most pleased with. My start has been good all season and was real good today. I just want to keep going and get a chance at winning the state title for myself and us as a team again.”
Jefferson won its third straight state title season and has since won two more (1994 and 2004). It has won nine state championships in all.
Lee won the 100 (10.67) and 200 (21.63) at state that year and set meet records in both events.
The official OHSAA record books lists other record holders in both events because their times were not manually timed.
• Two athletes share the 100 record (10.55): Denver Williams, of Cadiz (1995); and Chad Zallow, of Warren John F. Kennedy (2015).
• Josh Verhoff, of Kalida, set the 200 record (21.39) in that category in 2019 at the state meet.
400: Yellow Springs senior Andrew Pierce set the record (47.36) in a district meet at Welcome Stadium on May 24, 1997. The previous record (47.6) was set by Kent State High School’s Gary Linstedt in 1968.
“Today was a perfect day to run because there was no wind and it was cool,” Pierce said. “I knew I might not get conditions like this again. So I went out a little harder on the back stretch and coming into the turn.”
4x800 relay: The Yellow Springs team of freshman Alex Onfroy, junior Andy Peters and seniors Evan Firestone and Sam Borchers set the record (7:48.39) at the state meet on June 1, 2007, in Columbus.
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