Elgin seniors capping track careers at state meet

MARION — Elgin's Cy Starcher hates to think about last year's state track and field championships. But he has to.

Held at Westerville North due to the unavailability of Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, he failed to reach the Division III finals in his two best events.

"I missed the finals by one spot," he said of running the 100-meter dash in 11.26, 0.11 seconds away from the finals. "It was a bad day and a bad ordeal. I’ve run those (advancing) times and that’s all I could think about all season long. I could have done that last year. I try not to focus on that, but I focus on that the whole time."

Also at last year's state meet, he was 14th in the 200 prelims in 23.16. This was after winning the 200 at the Chillicothe Southeastern regional and finishing second in the 100 at the regional.

So yeah, Starcher is mentally and physically prepared this time around.

"Throughout the offseason and throughout the whole season, you try to go from one meet to the next, but it’s always been planning for this moment," the senior sprinter said. "It’s really special. I’ve thought about it all offseason and all leading up to it. My coach (Jeff Ferrell) always told me it’s difficult to make it back. Not everybody makes it back. To make it for a second year in a row in both events, that’s really special."

Starcher turned in the best regional time posted in the state last weekend and enters the 200 seeded first after his 22.17. In the 100, he's seeded sixth at 11.14. There are 18 competitors competing in two heat races Friday at 10:25 and 11:50 a.m. The field then gets sliced to nine for Saturday's finals set for 9:40 and 11:25 a.m..

"This is the closest meet I think I’ve ever seen," Starcher said. "The 200-meter is a little more separated, but the 100 is separated by tenths of a second between everybody at most. It could go either way. It could be special."

Also special will be the opportunity to compete at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Ohio's high school track stars haven't competed in the venue since 2019 due to the pandemic.

"I can’t wait. I’ve never been there. I talked to a kid who went to our school a couple years ago — Jacob Poling — and he was talking about just how crazy it was," Starcher said. "You don’t know it until you’re down there and I can’t wait to just see the place because I’ve never seen it.

"He told me to treat it like it was any other meet and don’t stress about it. I’ve been taking it like a normal week anyways, but it’s hard to take it as a normal week. I’ll try."

Elgin senior teammate Tiffany Hix will be going to Columbus Friday morning as well. She will compete in the girls pole vault for the first time at state.

"It’s been amazing this year. I’m so excited to be able to compete at another state meet for a different sport this time," the two-time state qualifying gymnast said.

She earned her place by finishing fourth in the Chillicothe regional last week, going 9-feet-8 to get the last automatic spot.

"It was a little rainy here and there," Hix said. "I thought I wanted to get a jump in, so I don’t no-height. That went good (at 8-4), 8-8 went good, 9-0 went good, and then at 9-4, I missed my first two attempts and I was getting a little bit panicked. I said you’ve got to make this if you want to go to state. I squeezed over the 9-4, and it was a little close, but I made it."

On the vault that got her to state, she said she hit the bar at 9-8 harder than she's ever hit a bar that did not fall. It stayed up and she earned her chance to compete at state.

"I talked to one of the girls I used to do gymnastics with — Camryn Varner — yesterday," she said of the former Pleasant state qualifier in the pole vault. "She was telling me how it is there and how cool it is and how upbeat and exciting the atmosphere is."

Hix will pole vault in college for Wittenberg, which isn't bad for a rookie vaulter.

"I definitely wish I had done it earlier," she said. "My freshman year I tried it a little bit. It bothered my back because I had a few back injuries. I decided then that I don’t want to do it or hurt it too much, so I stopped."

But last spring she noticed only three pole vaulters in her district advanced to the regional due to a lack of numbers. She sensed an opportunity and took up the event, training in the offseason to learn the nuances of it.

"I thought let’s try it again. I’ve really enjoyed it," she said.

Hix went out to River Valley earlier in the week to work out with state-bound vaulters Eva Moran and Cooper Miller along with pole vaulting coach Kevin Keller.

"He had a lot of very basic things that really seemed to click today," Hix said Monday night. "It’s getting my steps down right and where I need to be on the pole and when to move poles and things like that."

She enters Friday's event at 9:30 a.m. seeded 14th out of 18 vaulters.

"Opening height is 9-foot at state, which is higher than I usually come in at. I’m hoping to maybe PR to 10 feet and just have fun with it," she said.

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Elgin seniors capping track careers at state meet