Stone, 4×100 relay team lead the way for Galion at state

Galion junior Miranda Stone stands at the No. 6 spot on the podium after a 39-7 throw in the shot put.

Submitted | Ryan Scribner

Galion's 4x100 relay team made the podium at state with a personal best time of 42.93.

Submitted | Ryan Scribner

COLUMBUS — Galion sent multiple athletes to the Division II state meet in Columbus just a few days ago. The Tigers came away with a relay team reaching the podium, as well as an individual.

The Tigers 4×100 relay team made up of senior Jack Hart, junior Gabe Ivy, and freshmen Zach Sallee and Jacob Chambers proved they belonged on Saturday. With a personal record time of 42.93, the relay sprinters finished in seventh place to reach the podium. Despite coming into state as a No. 11 seed, the group proved that it did not mean much.

For this relay team, it's pretty exciting to think about that they’ll only lose one runner in Hart to graduation. Hart was the second sprinter in the group at the state meet, taking the hand-off from Ivy. Sallee passed the relay stick to Chambers who had the final leg. Gallon just edged Brookville (43.03) and Napoleon (43.55) to reach their accomplishment.

"It's unfortunate we’re going to lose Jack Hart to graduation. We will have Gabe (Ivy) and obviously Jacob (Chambers) and Zach (Sallee) back for next year. Just looking back at it after everything was done, what a way to send Jack out in his senior year."

Chambers is not just an anchor on the relay team, he can do a bit of everything including competing in field events. The impressive freshman ran the 200-meter dash at regionals, was third place in the 100-meter dash, and long jump at the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference Championships.

"Jacob Chambers is like having a Swiss pocket knife," said Scribner. "You can put him anywhere and he's going to score points for you as a team."

Replacing the senior Hart won't be an easy task, teams grow chemistry over the course of a season as they run together more and more. But the Tigers have some talented middle school students coming up.

"We’ve got some upcoming eighth graders that we’re hoping will come on up and maybe fill out his spot for next year," explained Scribner. "Hopefully get us back down to Jesse Owens next year."

Junior Miranda Stone accomplished sixth place in the shot put with a toss of 39-7. Salem's Makenna Rudy was the state champ with a toss of 41-7.75. At regionals, Stone broke the school record with a throw of 41-11.25.

"As an assistant for the last few years, I was the throwing coach. Working with Miranda (I saw) she's a hard worker," stated Scribner. "Not just out in the field, but in the classroom too. She does whatever she can do to perfect her craft."

Many athletes struggled with a slippery circle at state and the heat certainly played a factor. But Scribner reiterated that Stone is a no-excuse kind of worker.

"I think maybe that first throw when she threw a foul. She made a comment about having to adjust and keep going, she's the type of girl that's not going to make an excuse. She's going to keep going no matter what the elements are."

As just a junior, Stone will have a shot to make it back to state again next year.

Linkon Tyrrell ran in the 110-meter hurdles at the state meet and placed 12th overall. It wasn't a spot on the podium but the improvements that Tyrrell made in his junior year were not hard to see. Tyrrell excelled on the football field, then in the winter with indoor track, and that carried into the spring.

"Linkon Tyrrell is another one of those guys where you can go and put him somewhere and he's going to score points for us," said Scribner confidently.

Both Tyrrell and Stone were awarded Academic All-Ohio during the state meet for their work in the classroom. The criteria for making the list was to make state with a 3.5-grade point average or higher.

Going away, the Tigers plan to make it back next year possibly even heavier represented.

"We put kids in situations they may not have been used to but they didn't back down from the challenge. They went out and competed and did some things they’ve never done before."