Dublin Coffman graduate Abby Steiner leads central Ohio contingent at NCAA nationals

Moments after running an NCAA-record time while winning the national championship in the 200 meters June 11 in Eugene, Oregon, Abby Steiner told a national TV audience that everything had come together at the right time.

“Every race has been an opportunity,” she told ESPN.

Her performance in the 200 for the Kentucky women’s track and field team – along with three others that day during the outdoor nationals – was the completion of a plan that she and Wildcats sprint coach Tim Hall had been talking about since well before the season began.

“(My season) kind of followed a gradual progression and with me having another year of training under coach Hall,” said Steiner, a 2018 Dublin Coffman graduate and Kentucky senior who has one year of college eligibility remaining. “I wouldn’t say I’ve been surprised (by my success), but these times have been things coach Hall and I have discussed since fall training started. There have been goals in the back of my mind that I’ve been working toward.”

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The top performer in a large contingent of central Ohio athletes who competed at the NCAA nationals, Steiner opened the finals by running on the second-place 400 relay (42.55 seconds) with Shadajah Ballard, Masai Russell and Kamirah Davis.

She then was third in the 100 (11.08) and, about 45 minutes later, ran 21.08 to set the NCAA record in the 200.

In her final race of the day, Steiner took the baton as the third leg of the 1,600 relay with the Wildcats in fourth. She passed all three teams ahead of her with a split of 48.92, and anchor Alexis Holmes clocked 50.22 to complete the title run.

Davis and Dajour Miles ran the first two legs of the relay for Kentucky, which finished third (50) behind Florida (74) and Texas (64).

The Gators are coached by U.S. head coach and 1977 Linden-McKinley graduate Mike Holloway. They also won the men’s title.

Steiner wasn’t the only athlete from central Ohio to end up on the awards podium.

A trio of athletes from central Ohio competed in the women’s nationals for Colorado, including 2016 Granville graduate Michaela DeGenero, who was seeded 16th for the 1,500 but ended up second in 4:09.62. Mississippi’s Sintayehu Vissa won in 4:09.42.

India Johnson, a 2017 Hilliard Davidson graduate, qualified in two events. She turned in a 10th-place finish in the 10,000 (33:34.93) and was 23rd in the 5,000 (16:16.09).

Johnson, who received her undergraduate degree from Michigan State, finished 20th in the 10,000 for the Spartans in 2021.

“I went to nationals last year and ran the 10K, and I honestly am not even going to sugarcoat this, but it did not go very well,” she said. “Things have been much better this year. Colorado has been so much fun not only because I have people here who I connect with, but the coaches are phenomenal.

“I always felt in high school that the (3,200) wasn’t long enough, nor was the 5K, so I made the transition to longer distances and have kind of fallen in love with it.”

Also competing for the Buffaloes was 2021 Watterson graduate Grace Jenkins, who ran on the 23rd-place 1,600 relay (3:40.44) with Emma Pollak, Jaida Drame and Abbey Glynn.

“It’s been a crazy experience,” said Jenkins, who is a walk-on for Colorado. “I knew college was a good chance for me to explore, so I wanted to get out of Ohio and see the best of the U.S. I really liked the landscape here and mountains are super cool. They also have a really good engineering program.”

Turning in an eighth-place finish in the men’s shot put (64 feet, 9 1/4 inches) was Iowa’s Nik Curtiss, a 2016 Lancaster graduate who was a four-time NCAA Division II qualifier for Tiffin.

Jaydan Wood, a 2019 Pickerington Central graduate, and Kainnan Ramsey, a 2017 Thomas Worthington graduate, competed for Ohio State at nationals.

Wood ran on the women’s 12th-place 1,600 relay (3:33.4) with Alyssa Marsh, Bryannia Murphy and Chanler Robinson, and Ramsey competed on the 14th-place men’s 400 relay (39.11) with Eric Harrison, Adrian Curry and Praise Olatoke.

Cincinnati freshman Steven McElroy, a 2021 Pickerington North graduate, finished 19th in the men’s 400 (46.3).

“It’s a blessing,” McElroy said. “This whole process has been an eye-opener. In the regional, I did pretty well. It means a lot to me to go on a stage like this one that not many people get to go to. At the beginning of the season, it was a little bit of a struggle, but as I started to figure out time management and some different study skills, it came a little bit easier.”

Clemson’s Aman Thornton, a 2019 Mifflin graduate, finished 21st in the 800 (1:49.57).

Penn State’s Korbin Martino, a 2021 Canal Winchester graduate, ran on the 21st-place men’s 1,600 relay (3:06.9) with James Onwuka, Savion Hebron and Olivier Desmeules.

Elliott Cook, a 2020 Dublin Jerome graduate and redshirt freshman for Oregon, turned in a 21st-place finish in the 1,500 (3:44.47).

“You kind of get your feet wet the first year of college and give yourselves about a year to develop, and then everything gets easier,” he said. “The fruits of our labor are starting to show. I’ve gotten stronger and my training has gotten easier. I’ve not stepped away from the 800, but with my build and the way I train, the 1,500 is my best event.”

julrey@thisweeknews.com 

@UlreyThisWeek

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Abby Steiner paces Columbus-area athletes at NCAA track nationals