»RELATED: Samari Curtis on signing with Nebraska — ‘It’s all I could ask for’
Last season Ivery finished seventh with his best throw of 130-04. He fouled on his final three attempts as most of his throws came in the rain.
“I’m just glad I made it out this year. After last year I just wanted to come back and finish this year,” Ivery said. “That was just a bad day.”
After a friend’s suggestion, Ivery started throwing the discus as a sophomore to give him a spring sport and help keep him shape for football season. The 6-foot-2, 235-pound Ivery once thought his college future involved football. He was being recruited by smaller Division II and D-III programs but track programs started to take notice, too.
Ivery now plans to attend Ohio State University as a preferred walk-on with the track team.
“I just did this as another sport to get by until football. Then I started loving doing this,” Ivery said.
»RELATED: Longtime CJ baseball coach to retire
Ivery enters next Wednesday’s regional meet with the top throw from the four district meets, topping the next-best throw of 154-10 by senior Ricco Hambrick of Colerain at the Ross district. Ivery also holds the top overall throw in the district with his 172-10.
To win state, though, Ivery will have to make up some distance on Madison senior Nolan Landis. The thrower from Northeast Ohio near Cleveland uncorked a throw of 198-02 to win his district meet.
“That’s hard to catch in two weeks. But I’m going to go for it,” said Ivery, who welcomes the challenge. “I’m not nervous or anything. Maybe with more competition I’ll get better and better. When I came out leading (district) with a bad throw it didn’t set the bar too high. Pressure helps a lot.”
In other finals from Wednesday:
• Troy’s 3,200-meter relay team of Olivia Tyre, Dinah Gigandet, Katie Castaneda and Emma Kennett won the district title. Butler’s team of Evan Davis, Adam Gunckel, Gabe Warren and Austin Neff claimed the boys title to advance.
• Greenville’s Emma Klosterman won the high jump at 5-02 with a tiebreaker over Troy’s Hallie Westmeyer. Klosterman needed one attempt to clear 5-02 and Westmeyer needed two tries.
• Troy’s Lenea Browder was the shot put champion with a throw of 44-00.5. Browder was the only competitor with a throw over 40 feet, doing it twice before fouling on her final four attempts.
• Butler’s Dalton Shepler won the pole vault with an effort of 15-00.
The meet resumes Friday with the track finals and remaining field event finals at Piqua High School. The top four finishers in each event advance to the regional meet next Wednesday and Friday at Wayne High School.
About the Author