COLUMBUS – The Eastwood boys track team laid claim Saturday to the Division II Ohio High School Athletic
Association title.
The Eagles celebrated their win, left, at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Track. Photos: J.D.
Pooley/Sentinel-Tribune
Check under the high
school sports tab for complete covereage of Wood County athletes at the state meet. Click
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COLUMBUS
— Eastwood’s boys won the Division II state track and field championship Saturday afternoon.
Minus their best sprinter. And minus their best middle distance runner.
The Eagles performed so well they survived a pulled hamstring to junior Cody Seifert, who failed to
advance to the finals of the 100 and wasn’t able to run the anchor leg on the 400 relay team.
But Eastwood still had enough points to win the state title at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens
Stadium.
 
The Eagles — with the exception of the 100 — finished fifth or higher in every one of their eight events
in the state meet and totaled 47 points to beat runnerup
Cortland Lakeview with 38.
Junior Justin Welch won the discus in the morning for the second straight year, and the Eagles added
three more All-Ohio performances in the afternoon to wrap up the school’s first boys state title.
Senior Crosby Schemenauer, who won the pole vault Friday, was fifth in the 110 hurdles, the 400 relay
team finished fifth and the 1,600 relay team finished fourth.
The 400 team consisted of sophomore Taylor Depew, seniors Josh Hoodlebrink and Matt Schlumbohm, and
junior Jake Rogers, who replaced Seifert. Running the 1,600 were seniors Jason Faykosh, Lucas
Hoodlebrink, Josh Beaudoin and Josh Hoodlebrink.
The top eight finishers in each event earned all-state honors.
“Winning a state title is unbelievable,” said Josh Hoodlebrink, who ran a sizzling 48.8 split on the last
leg of the 1,600 relay, the final event when Eastwood already had clinched the title.
The Eagles had a time of 3:21.82, just off the school record of 3:19. Columbus Bishop Hartley won in
3:20.43, while Huron was second in 3:20.59 and Dover was third in 3:21.70.
Eastwood finished second in the state last year and graduated only standout sprinter Jeremy Foster.
“We were happy with second in the state, but we wanted more,” Josh Hoodlebrink said. “We talked about it
as a team after the season and we’ve worked hard since then to make it happen.”
“This is really special,” Eagle coach Gary White said. “These guys have done a lot of special things this
season, but this is the best of them all.”
But the Eagles — outstanding all season en route to winning Suburban Lakes League, district and regional
championships as well — easily could have finished behind Lakeview.
Seifert — who suffered pulled hamstrings in both legs this season and was only 95 percent going into
state —
reinjured himself Friday. He was expected to finish in the top eight of the 100 after finishing fourth
last year and the 400 relay was expected to contend for the championship.
The Eagles already were without sophomore Nick Twining, who wasn’t able to run the 800 in the Lexington
regional because of a foot injury. He had a chance to qualify for state, too. That gave Lakeview a
chance to win.
The Eagles figured Lakeview would score 45-47 points, meaning they would need 13 points from their three
running events after Welch won his event to give Eastwood 34 points. The top eight places score with
points awarded on a 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis.
Lakeview’s Ben Moody won the 110 hurdles and the 100, but the Bulldogs were fourth in the 400 relay,
fifth in the 1,600, sixth in the 3,200.
The Eagles actually clinched the title after the 3,200 — the next-to-last event. As soon as the 3,200 was
over, the Eagle coaches and athletes celebrated in the stands on the backstretch where they watched the
meet.
“By no means was it easy,” White said. “We were really scared after Moody scored those 20 points, but our
kids kept their composure and really came through.”
“With Cody being out, we knew we had to step up and help the team pull through,” Schemenauer said. “We
were down for a bit Friday, but after we talked as a team, we knew what we had to do to win it.”
The turning point came in the 400 relay where the Eagles were fourth in 43.13 — the second-best time in
school history. The school record of 43.0 was set a week ago when Eastwood won the regional.