Three Mapleton girls track & field athletes have turned hard work into state berths

NANKIN — Mapleton’s girls track and field team fared well at several invitationals throughout the season.

Senior Jillian Carrick, sophomore Bella Tabler and freshman Madison Bailey were at the forefront of that team success.

They’ve also achieved plenty of individual accolades, including qualifying for this weekend’s Division III state tournament.

Carrick will compete in the 100 meters, while Tabler and Bailey will both take part in the long jump competition.

Carrick has waited a long time for this moment

When Carrick was a freshman, she competed at the D-III state meet as a member of the 4x100 relay.

Making state in an individual event has been one of her biggest goals the past three years.

“I’m very excited,” she said. “It’s been four years coming for an individual event, so I’m really happy.”

Last year, she finished seventh at regionals in the event. Carrick was upset with herself after the race because she thought she didn’t run her best.

“It wasn’t because I didn’t qualify [for state],” she said. “I just knew that I could do better. Making it this year makes me feel a lot better.”

She qualified for state by finishing third in a personal-best time of 12.71 seconds at the regional meet in Massillon on May 27. After running the third-fastest prelims time, Carrick knew making state was a real possibility.

“That’s when I was like, ‘OK, Jillian. Let’s go,’” she said.

Mapleton coach Josh Olin has seen Carrick grow as a sprinter over the past few years. Her biggest improvement, according to Olin, has come in how she approaches each offseason, practice and meet.

“She has kind of learned over the years how to approach the work that needs to be done to get to this level,” he said. “When she qualified [for state] on [May 27], she was so happy because she knew that her hard effort paid off.

“It was nice to see that develop from her freshman to senior year.”

Carrick’s goal at state is to “at least make finals [and] hopefully place in the top six” while breaking the school record (12.60) in the process.

“I’m really close to Mapleton’s school record, so I’m really excited to see if I can break that during state,” she said.

Tabler and Bailey pushing each other to be better

For most schools, it’s an accomplishment to have an athlete qualify for state in an individual event.

To have two athletes from the same school make state in the same event? That’s rare.

To have two athletes from the same school make state by finishing one-two in the same event? That’s almost unheard of.

But that’s exactly what Tabler and Bailey did at regionals. Tabler won the event with a best jump of 16-feet-6¼, while Bailey finished right behind her with a leap of 16-5½.

Both athletes agreed that they have a friendly rivalry, which makes them better in the long run.

“Whatever each of us accomplishes, we’re happy for the other one because we want to see each other succeed,” Bailey said.

“It definitely helps because I have competition at every one of my meets, and she’s one of my good friends,” Tabler added.

Tabler’s state berth almost didn’t happen. On her final attempt at districts, she needed to jump 2 inches farther than her previous personal record to earn a regional-qualifying spot.

Sure enough, she did it.

“I just knew that if I didn’t jump those 2 inches, I wouldn’t be able to make it to state,” she said. “I was really trying.”

Tabler has improved throughout the season by doing a lot of drills with Mapleton jumps coach Joe Ortiz.

“We have to jump over tires or big objects to get that pop,” she said. “[Ortiz] will hold a band, and we’ll have to jump and lean and touch our toes.”

At state, Tabler is hoping to PR again and place well.

Bailey qualified for last year’s middle school state tournament in the long jump, finishing eighth.

That experience gave her confidence heading into high school.

“It gave me reassurance that there was a possibility that I could [make state as a freshman],” she said.

That possibility started to become more of a reality in her mind when she jumped 16-7¾ at the Forrest Pruner Invitational on April 22.

“It was a big confidence booster,” she said.

Bailey’s goals at state are to get on the podium and break the school record (16-11¼).

“[Breaking the school record] would be my top overall goal,” she said. “Either way, I’m happy just to be there.”

Although they’re both underclassmen, Olin said he’s “not surprised at all” they made state this season.

“I know they’re not satisfied [with just making state],” he said. “I know they want to get better. They both have high expectations. Their work ethic is fantastic.”

Reach Chris at csnow@times-gazette.com

On Twitter: CSnow_TG

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Mapleton girls track and field trio ready for state meet