Columbus, Ohio - A day most athletes could only dream of left Bekka Simko feeling a little ho-hum.
Gilmour Academy’s Bart Merkel is helped up from the infield, exhausted after his 3,200 run at the Division III state track meet in Columbus. He finished fifth, and said his fast finish ended up costing him in the stretch.
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(John Kuntz / The Plain Dealer )
Columbus, Ohio - A day most athletes could only dream of left Bekka Simko feeling a little ho-hum.
Simko earned three more trips to the podium -- though she made just one -- to help Gilmour Academy to a runner-up finish in the girls team standings at the Division III state track meet Saturday at Jesse Owens Stadium.
"It's kind of mixed emotions," said Simko, who started the day with one state title under her belt, having run Friday on the winning 4x800 relay team.
"I'm really happy. It went really well, but my goal coming in was to win all four, and we wanted to win the team title. But I'm happy."
With Simko doing a lot of the work, the Lancers finished second with 36 points to Versailles' 47.5 points.
Trinity's boys, led by Nick Gliha's runner-up finish in the 3,200, was the top area boys team. The Trojans were tied for 21st with 10 points.
Gilmour was looking to defend its state title despite not having sprint star Candace Longino-Thomas, whose postseason was cut short by an injury. A healthy Thomas would likely have made the Lancers runaway winners. Her teammates performed admirably nonetheless.
"I'm so proud of the girls," Simko said. "They have really stepped it up."
Simko, who won 11 state titles in her four years, started her day by finishing second in the 1,600.
She dropped three seconds off her regional time despite hot, muggy conditions, but Casstown Miami East senior Juli Accurso was just a little better. Accurso went out fast and never seemed to slow. She finished in 4:57.50, more than five seconds ahead of Simko.
"I wasn't mentally ready," Simko said. "[Accurso] took off, and I didn't react well. She is an awesome runner."
Simko bounced back nicely in the 800. She dropped nearly four seconds off her regional time and won by a second over Cedarville's Katie Bunker.
Simko then didn't take her spot on the podium, opting instead to prepare for the 4x400 with her teammates.
"I just wanted to get ready for my next race," she said. "I was so tired after the mile and the eight. I didn't want to just be standing around here [in the awards area]. I felt so bad about that."
The Lancers were looking for their fourth consecutive state title in the 4x400 to match the feat they turned Friday in the 4x800. The foursome of seniors Kathryn Drew, Grace Brennan and Simko, and freshman Alexis Anton, ran a season-best 3:59.85, but finished four-tenths of a second behind Dayton Miami Valley.
"The 4x4 is kind of our thing," Simko said. "It's our pride and joy. It's a little disappointing."
Trinity's Gliha also fell short of defending a state title. He finished second, nine seconds back of Springfield Emmanuel Christian Academy, who was runner-up to Gliha a year ago.
Gliha wanted to win, but was far from moping about his finish.
"I'm actually ecstatic about this race," he said. "This year, there was a lot of competition. I fell for a little bit of a trap and ran the [first] mile in like 4:53."
Gilmour senior Bart Merkel finished 11th in the event a year ago, but had the fastest regional time among the 16 runners. He finished fifth, after what he said was too fast of a start.
"I didn't think people would take it out so hard, and I ran a really fast first lap," he said. "At that point, I knew I was going to die at some time, I just didn't know when."
Cornerstone Christian junior Courtney Reese placed fourth in the 400. Her finals time of 58.84 was just a hair off her prelim time, which had her seeded third. A similar time in the finals would have moved her up one spot.
"I've been improving year by year," said Reese, her school's first state-placer. "Last year, I didn't even make it to the finals. [Friday], I actually broke my PR, so today I didn't exactly race my best race. Next year, I'll definitely come in here aiming for first."
Trinity's girls team of senior Carley Walters and juniors Chelsea Nehez, Jessica Glazer and Claire Lucas finished fifth in the 4x200. The Trojans finished in 1:45.8, one one-hundredth of a second slower than their qualifying time, which was only the seventh-fastest.
Todd Stumpf is a freelance writer in Rittman.