Track & Field: Dublin Jerome Celtics’ Raegan Ernst wraps up school year to savor

Senior Raegan Ernst capped a memorable school year by helping the Dublin Jerome girls track and field team’s 1,600-meter relay earn the best state finish in program history in the event.

Ernst teamed with senior Maya Fuller, junior Ava Watson and sophomore Chloe Friedman to finish fifth in 3 minutes, 57.97 seconds in the Division I state meet, which was held June 3 and 4 at Ohio State.

“That’s our best finish ever of all time (at state),” coach Randi Beatty said. “That was really exciting for them. They really had two special seniors on that relay, who we really care about, so we were glad that they were able to work together as a team to finish out on top.”

The relay was seeded 11th heading into the preliminaries June 3 and earned the finals berth by placing eighth as the top nine teams advanced.

“We were really happy to get into the finals, so we figured we might as well give it all we’ve got,” Friedman said.

Jerome’s previous best finish in the 1,600 relay at state was eighth in 2019. The relay included Ernst and Fuller.

“I was excited to have one more race with my teammates,” said Ernst, who also finished fourth in the 300 hurdles (44.55).

“It’s really enjoyable to run in a race like that,” Ernst said. “All the girls are super nice. We like competing against each other.”

Ernst holds the program records in the 100 hurdles (15.23) and 300 hurdles (44.5).

“She was all-Ohio in two events, coming off winning the all-around title in gymnastics. It’s an incredible senior year for anybody,” Beatty said. “She certainly deserves it. She works hard. She’s super coachable and she cares. We just love her. We’re happy to see her end her high school career the way that she did. ... She has to be one of the most accomplished athletes to come through our building, male or female.”

Ernst was coming off a gymnastics season in which she won the state all-around title with a score of 37.6, becoming Jerome’s first all-around state champion. She will focus on track at the next level and will compete at Dayton.

“Once I decided to leave gymnastics and focus on track, I knew it was the right decision,” she said.

Sophomore Syna Sony tied for ninth in the high jump (5 feet, 2 inches) at state.

“Competing at the state level as a team is super difficult,” Beatty said. “Considering that we qualified in just three events, the fact that we were able to place in two of those three in the top five, that was a really good showing for our program. I was really happy with the way that the girls showed up. They finished it out. They did their best in the end. That’s all I can ask from them.”

•Competing in his first state track meet, sophomore Sam Ricchiuti led the Jerome boys team by placing fourth in the 3,200 (9:07.78).

Ricchiuti earned all-state honors despite his left heel slipping out his shoe during the race after making contact with a competitor.

“If I didn’t lose my shoe, I could have maybe performed a little bit better,” he said. “That had never happened to me before, so I wasn’t too sure what to do. I was debating whether to try to put it back on or take it off. After 200 meters of running with a flat shoe, I realized the only option was to take it off.”

In the fall, Ricchiuti finished 45th (16:01.8) at state in cross country.

Junior Joonho Oh joined Ricchiuti at state, finishing 17th in the pole vault (13-0).

•Sophomore Kylie Feeney took a big step up in her second Division I state appearance for the Coffman girls team.

After placing 15th in the 800 at last year’s state meet and then being the Shamrocks’ No. 2 runner when they competed at the state cross country meet last fall, Feeney turned in a fifth-place finish in the 800 (2:14.07) on June 4.

“I’m pretty happy with the race,” she said. “This was the best I’ve been mentally in a race this season. Especially coming into the last 200, I feel like I pushed it more than normal. It was a lot better than last year. My approach to the race is usually pretty consistent.”

Feeney also competed June 3 on the 13th-place 3,200 relay (9:36.63) with seniors Kasey Stammen and Kendall Starr and junior Olivia Oiler.

“We didn’t race as well as we would have liked,” Feeney said. “We had kind of an off day, but the chance to be (at state) was pretty cool. I think it was a pretty good season for a lot of our distance individuals and a lot of our relay teams.”

Oiler also finished 13th in the 1,600 (5:14.12).

“It was my first experience in the outdoor track and field state meet and I was just kind of getting a feel of things,” said Oiler, who was Coffman’s top finisher at the state cross country meet last fall. “I had some big goals for this season. I’m ready to come back next year with goals to do better and come back harder for cross country.”

Others eligible to return include juniors Saanya Jaiswal (discus), Ava Parrill (discus, shot put), Angeline Savage (hurdles) and Emily Yoshino (pole vault), sophomores Elle Crenshaw (sprints), Ainsley Jajack (high jump, sprints), Hannah Schober (sprints) and McKenzie Vick (middle distance) and freshmen Anna Breen (distance), Annabelle Camp (long jump, sprints), Brenna Hicks (sprints), Willow Pecek (shot put), Grace Rizzo (sprints) and Ashby Stearns (sprints).

—Jarrod Ulrey 

•The Coffman boys team was led at the Division I state meet by junior Will McGraw, who finished sixth in the 1,600 (4:13.94).

He also ran on the 12th-place 3,200 relay (8:02.39) with seniors Noah Clemens and Isaac Frank and junior Liam Shaughnessy.

“I knew I needed to get out fast and I did that pretty well,” McGraw said. “Maybe around lap three, some people came up on me and I didn’t respond like I should have, but I’m happy with my race.”

Also competing at state were Frank in the 3,200 (13th, 9:28.18) and junior Will Smith in the shot put (14th, 51-1 1/2).

Shaughnessy was a regional qualifier in the 1,600. Others who competed at regional were junior Nathan Buchman in the 300 hurdles, senior Kyle Buckley in the shot put and the 400 relay of senior Evan Jajack and juniors Michael Anderson, Jaden Cooper and Jalen Manu.

Others eligible to return include juniors Sukhjit Butalia (sprints, high jump), Blake Grisvard (sprints) and Tre’Ante Terrell (sprints), sophomores Zachary Beckman (sprints, high jump), Kevin Hagerty (pole vault), Evan Killworth (sprints), Kieran McCallister (discus) and Caden Ozbun (middle distance) and freshman William Crotty (pole vault).

“It was a really nice season,” McGraw said. “To get the (3,200 relay) to state was really cool. It was nice to have one last race with our seniors.”

—Jarrod Ulrey 

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COFFMAN 

•OCC-Central standings: Boys — Olentangy Orange (176), Olentangy Liberty (124.5), Coffman (100), Hilliard Davidson (68), Hilliard Bradley (29), Upper Arlington (25.5); Girls — Davidson (118), Orange (108), UA (98), Liberty (84), Bradley (73), Coffman (42) 

•Seniors lost: Boys — Kyle Buckley, Noah Clemens, Matt Ehlert, Isaac Frank, Evan Jajack, Dane Piekarski and Benjamin Woodmansee; Girls — Evelyn Crowe, Addison Heyob, Christine Kyriacou, Melanie Kyriacou, Samantha Rane-Miller, Kasey Stammen, Kendall Starr and Paige Wilson 

•Key returnees: Boys — Michael Anderson, Nathan Buchman, Jaden Cooper, Jalen Manu, Will McGraw, Liam Shaughnessy and Will Smith; Girls — Kylie Feeney, Olivia Oiler, Ava Parrill, Hannah Schober, McKenzie Vick and Emily Yoshino

•Postseason: Boys — Fifth (63.5) at district behind champion Lancaster (119.5), seventh (29) at regional behind champion Westerville Central (55), tied for 57th (3) at state behind champion Pickerington Central (31); Girls — Fifth (49) at district behind champion Gahanna (134), ninth (24) at regional behind champion Gahanna (73), tied for 51st (4) at state behind champion Gahanna (47) 

JEROME 

•OCC-Cardinal standings: Boys — Thomas Worthington (111), Jerome (93), Marysville (85.5), Olentangy Berlin (83), Olentangy (75.5), Hilliard Darby (75); Girls — Olentangy (116.5), Jerome (97), Marysville (93), Darby (84), Berlin (69.5), Thomas (63) 

•Seniors lost: Boys — Nolan Boyea, Garrett Cicci, C.C. Ezirim, William Gyimah, David Hartman, Noah Hartner, Connor Havenstein, Pranav Kakarla, Adam Khalil, Muneeb Khan, Avery Korb, Nicklaus, Lambert, Paul Miller, Charles Owens, Graham Randolph, Carson Smith, Oluwadara Sofowora, Qiang Sun, David Tang, J.J. Thomas, Varun Thotli, Mihir Vador, Dhruva Vanakeri, Patrick Wang, Luke Wardrip, Joseph Woolley and Dylan Yang; Girls — Jordan Bahnub, Medha Bhimaraju, Emma Cleary, Ava DiMasi, Cari Dupote-Fosnot, Raegan Ernst, Maya Fuller, Kareena Jain, Gwyn Lai, Meryl LaRue, Madison Miller, McKenna Moritz, Haley Murlin, Giovanna Ozoude, Shree Thikkamaneni and Caroline Zimovan 

•Key returnees: Boys — Peter Hollern, Joonho Oh and Sam Ricchiuti; Girls — Chloe Friedman, Ryan Janiak, Helen Randolph, Syna Sony and Ava Watson 

•Postseason: Boys — Ninth (34.5) at district behind champion Gahanna (122), tied for 20th (14) at regional behind champion Westerville Central (55), tied for 45th (5) at state behind champion Pickerington Central (31); Girls — Second (80.5) at district behind champion Gahanna (134), 14th (19) at regional behind champion Gahanna (73), tied for 24th (9) at state behind champion Gahanna (47)

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Track & Field: Dublin Jerome’s Ernst wraps up school year to savor