State track notebook: Lancaster’s Thress turns in a gutsy performance to finish as state runner-up in the 800
COLUMBUS – The mental fortitude that Lancaster senior Colton Thress showed Saturday night during the Division I state track and field championships Saturday night, was remarkable.
Thress was dialed in and ready to run in the 800 before a rain and lightning delay put a pause on the race for over two hours. Once the race finally started, Thress was in a position he hasn’t been in all season, and that was forced to come from behind.
It was made even more difficult because Thress was boxed in for most of the race, but on the backstretch, he made his move from sixth place and started picking off runners, with about 200 hundred meters left, he had moved all the way to second.
Coming down the home stretch, Thress was giving it everything he had and finally caught the leader, Olentangy Liberty’s Jaxon Eckert. At the finish line, Thress stuck out his neck and the two finished in a virtual tie. After a few minutes, it was declared that Eckert had edged out Threes by the narrowest of margins as he finished in at 150.98.973 compared to Thress’ 150.98.975.
Thress was edged out by 2/1000th of a second to finish as state runner-up. He was heartbroken but still proud of the way he finished.
“Leading up to this race, all year, I was leading most of the time, and I really never had to go past people to get to the front,” Thress said. “I guess I wasn’t able to do enough, but it’s okay. Coming in, I felt good and then we have a delay, and mentally, I wasn’t there, and my mind wasn’t there. Then I got to the line and started thinking about the race and that tired me out.
“That first lap I got boxed in and I wasn’t in a good spot. I knew I had to make something happen if I wanted to have a chance and I was able to make it up and got to second. In the last 100 meters, I didn’t know if I had it in me, but I knew I couldn’t give up after working so hard. I tried my best, but I came up a little short.”
As a team, the Golden Gales finished third with 28 points behind first-place Toledo St. John’s (35) and Pickerington Central (29).
The Lady Gales’ Peyton Wilson finished her high school career on a high note by earning All-Ohio honors after placing sixth in the discus (130-3). She was seeded 17th going into the event. She also placed 15th in the shot put (35-8).
Sophomore Marisa Heil ran a personal best and finished 9th (2:14.30) in the 800.
Top finishers in Division II and III
In Division II, Fairfield Union junior Anna Conrad reached the podium and earned All-Ohio honors by placing seventh in the 1,600 (5:04.85) and 14th in the 800 (2:23.77).
“My legs were tired after running on Friday, but I pushed through it as hard as I could, especially the last lap,” Conrad said. “After coming here last year and not doing well, it motivated me to train harder and I have a better mindset.”
In the 3,200, the Falcons’ Andrew Walton placed seventh (9:35.32) to reach the podium, while senior Marcus Runkle tried to overcome sickness and still managed to run the race as he placed 13th (10:01.67).
Fairfield Union sophomore Nathan Phillips placed 12th in the 1,600 (4:31.90) and Liberty Union’s Teddy Jencson finished in 17th place (4:49.44).
In Division III, Fisher Catholic senior Noah Sharp reached the podium and earned All-Ohio honors by placing sixth in the 3,200 (9:34.25).
“My time was okay for a hot day, and it’s not what I wanted, but you learn about yourself in races like this and I will use this to help me for races in the future,” Sharp said. “I wanted to stay conservative the first four laps and then attack that fifth and sixth lap, and although I didn’t do as well as I wanted to in those laps, I’m still happy with the way things turned out this season and thankful to be here.”
Sharp, who will continue his running career at Wright State University next season, broke the school record in the 3,200 earlier this year at 9:11.
Tom Wilson is a sports reporter for the Lancaster Eagle Gazette. Contact him at 740-689-5150 or via email at twilson@gannett.com for comments or story tips. Follow him on Twitter @twil2323.
This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Lancaster’s Thress turns in a gutsy performance to finish as state runner-up in the 800
