Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / BONUS: Ohio State Meet featuring Anjanette Whitman from Beaumont School

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BONUS: Ohio State Meet featuring Anjanette Whitman from Beaumont School · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

0:00
It's bonus time here on the Gill Connections podcast.
0:03
In an effort to increase communication, empathy and
0:06
understanding around the country, we're going to be
0:08
running a new episode every day interviewing a coach, a high
0:12
school coach from every state, and yes, even you, Washington,
0:16
DC with explaining how the state qualifying system works in their
0:21
state. We'll be talking with a local
0:23
state expert on how many classes, private versus public
0:27
schools, what events and what is the process?
0:30
Is it areas, districts, regionals, state meet?
0:34
Is it a descending order list? Are there fun things that you do
0:38
a little differently? Like maybe you, I don't know,
0:41
maybe you do double points for relays looking at you, Texas.
0:45
And then we're also going to get to the bottom of is it the state
0:48
meet or do you qualify for states?
0:50
So check us out every day here in April and May of 2024 as we
0:54
run through each state with a local state expert.
0:57
So let's get started right now. All right, you're back.
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You've been following us all along here from Alabama all the
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way to Wyoming. Well, we're right in the middle
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here and we are in Ohio. Help me welcome from Beaumont
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School, The Wise, the Wonderful Miss and Jeanette, Whitman and
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Jeanette, How are you today? Thank you, Mike.
1:24
I'm wonderful. Thank you so much for being
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here. You know, it's quite amazing.
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And we're learning. If you're following along, you
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are learning right along with me here of the different states out
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there. So, so grateful for you to step
1:35
up and represent the great state of Ohio.
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And we're excited to learn the quirks and turns and maybe some
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boring parts. I don't know, somewhere some
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states got to be boring. Just go straight forward in the
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great state of Ohio today. So thanks for being here and
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helping us learn what you guys do there in the Buckeye State.
1:51
Absolutely. So glad to be here.
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It's exciting. Love to share the knowledge and
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what we do here in Ohio, because when has ever a track and field
1:57
coach been boring? I don't think so.
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That is true right there. That's exactly right.
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All right. Well, how about we start with
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kind of give us a 32nd 30,000 foot level introduction of
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yourself. Let us get to know you a little
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bit more. Absolutely.
2:10
So I've been a high school coach.
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I've been coaching for 25 years and for most of that time, for
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20 years, I've been a head coach.
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I've coached at 1234 high schools.
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Started off when I was in law school, just wanted to dabble a
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little bit and was coaching at a great school level and then a
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high school coaching position came open.
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So I took that and just never looked back.
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So high coaching at the high school level at all.
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I've I've coached every single event except for the pole vault
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and the throws because let's face it, I am a distance runner.
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But I can teach a pretty good a skip.
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But I'm also a member and active member of the coaches
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association here in Ohio, the Ohio Association of Track and
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Cross Country Coaches. I'm the Vice president.
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I will be honored to be the vice President coming in January.
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So I've been actively involved on the track and field advisory
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committee in Ohio, working directly and intimately with the
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Ohio High School Athletic Association.
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So I have a good behind the scenes view from what it takes
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to make. Track and field a sport in Ohio.
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And on top of that, I'm also the chairperson for our indoor state
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track and field meet, our state championship meet, It is not run
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by our Ohio association for the athletic associate and instead
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of it's actually run by our coaches association.
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So I'm the chairperson in charge of that to make that happen
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every single year for all of our divisions.
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Yeah, very strong coaches association in Ohio.
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Obviously the Ohio track clinic is one of the nations best well
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attended, great speakers and very well organized.
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So sounds like we got the right person to represent Ohio here.
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So I'm, I'm feeling good. And while while we're going to
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focus on the outdoor state meet near the end, if we have time
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would love for you to touch on that indoor state meet as well.
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Even though we're focusing on outdoors, let's stay there but
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if we have time we'll we'll touch there.
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Alright Miss and Jeanette. So we're finding out that's not
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that common for there to be a separate private school track
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meet, you know organizing body all the way separate of public
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schools. Most of them are are brought
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together in Ohio. What are we doing with public
4:20
and private schools for track and field?
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They're all together, OK? They're all together, always
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have been. So that's that they keep them
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all together and they they there's no, there is competitive
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balance in Ohio for other sports, but not for track and
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field. OK, perfect.
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All right. So let's talk about classes.
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How many? How are we breaking up the state
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there? So we have 3 divisions, they're
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called division 1-2 and three, one being the largest, 2 the
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middle, and then three is the smallest division.
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So we've got three boys teams that are working to earn a state
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team title and we have 3 girls teams that are going to win and
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earn a state team title. Correct.
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Perfect. All right.
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So let's talk about how we do that all around the country.
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We call this first round to get into state.
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So many different names, areas, districts, regionals,
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sectionals. What's the first round there in
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Ohio? Our first round is the district
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round, which then advances you to the regional and then finally
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to the state. So there are three tiers.
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All right, perfect. Let's start with district.
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How do I enter district? And what I mean by that is I'm
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assuming there's no qualifying standard because it's the first
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round, but how many athletes can I per put in each event?
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Is there any if it's only two? But is there a time qualifier
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for a third? Help help us with the district
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meet. It's strictly 2 individuals per
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individual event and then one relay per school for each of the
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events. So there's no time qualifier,
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there's no standard. If your school is a member of
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the OHSAA, then they are qualified to be in the district.
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Meet two no exceptions. I have three girl shop putters
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that I'll throw 50 feet or more. The third one better be good at
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the discus. Correct.
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Or have another year being underclassmen or something.
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OK, all right, good. So we've got two per event, of
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course, one relay that's in our district meet.
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How do I go from districts to our next round which is
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regionals you? Have to be top four in that
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event in order to qualify on. That's it.
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There are no time standard. There's no mark standard.
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There's nothing. You're either first, second,
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third or fourth. If you're 5th you stay home.
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All right we're Ohio. Don't mess around.
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We when there's I've yet to hear of any kind of time qualifiers
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we've had that in a lot of states we are place and position
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only. So top four, top 4 relays.
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Top four pole vaulters. Top 4/2 milers you get to go on.
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Now to the state meet. Correct.
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No, that's from district to regional and then regional to
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state is the same. I'm jumping ahead.
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OK, so districts to regionals. OK, now regionals.
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So now regionals, there's a little bit more of, there's a
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little grace in there. So it's four top four in every
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single event, just like we said from districts to regional.
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However, and this is thankfully a part of the coaches
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association that helped make this happen, thanking the, you
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know, the high school association for cooperating and
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working with us. That's why we really love our
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track and field advisory committee.
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We now have two at large. So what happens is they look at
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all of the Marks and times across all four regions because
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there are four regions that are sites.
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And the top two, no matter what site it's from for the the next
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two marks or times can then advance on to the state meet.
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So there's a little bit of grace there.
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So we're trying to get 18 in each event.
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Correct. Because when the nice thing is.
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We typically have and might be jumping ahead a little bit, but
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we typically have our our state meet at Ohio State and they have
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nine lanes. Why not fill all nine lanes?
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There's no sense of having an empty lane for nobody.
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We had another state that used to until recently only score 6
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places because the track they were hosting had six lanes.
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So that's important facts to know is the number of lanes as
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well that'll that'll affect it. So we're doing 18 and we're
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doing 18. Even though we have 9 lanes,
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that doesn't affect the high jump, but we're still doing 18
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for high jump. Yes, yeah, we have it applied to
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the field events too, because why not, That's right.
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There's no reason to not so in districts I can put two people
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per event, top four move on to regionals.
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When I get to Regionals, top four in that event goes on to
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the state meet and then they gather all the other results
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from the 5th place and down and top 2GO on as an at large to the
8:45
state meet. Yes, and what's really nice in
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the running events is that we're filling all nine lanes, only 8
8:52
score at our state meet, but that gives a higher level of
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competition because of course nobody wants to be the 9th
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person. Or the 9th relay.
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So that makes everybody even more excited to really push.
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So I think it creates a higher quality statement.
9:07
I like that. What about on those two time 2
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at larges I should say. How do we do ties?
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That gets a little tricky, but we accept the ties, so there
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could be. There could be a lot of pole
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vulters. Yeah, yeah, exactly.
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That's where it mostly will come in, right.
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High jump. In the whole time and what?
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Of course. Yeah, yeah.
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So got it. OK, well, let's talk about the
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state meat. You already kind of spilled the
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beans here a little bit, so I'm going to ask it my normal way
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anyway. Do we do all three in the same
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venue in the same week? Where do we do that?
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Is it typically at a college or a high school?
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We already know it's at Ohio State.
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Talk to us about this state meat venue and the state meat in
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regards to how, how are we doing these six different state meats
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during this time? Sure.
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So we all with the traditional place to host it is at Ohio
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State and all three divisions compete over a two day period.
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It's a Friday and a Saturday, typically the first weekend of
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June which could be the last day of May depending upon how the
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calendar falls. So it's really, truly the first
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weekend of June. And the Friday are the prelims
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for the majority of the events that need a prelim.
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But there may be some finals involved in there as well, such
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as the four by 8:00 and then some of the field events,
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because the prelims for the field events are the same day
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that they have their final. So that's a little mixed up in
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there. But we have three meets,
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individual meets. So first meet of the day in the
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morning, the morning section starting.
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I can't remember the exact time schedule, but the morning
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section is Division Three. The smaller schools.
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The middle of the day starting at about 1:00 is the division
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two race or the division two meet.
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And then in the afternoon, starting around 4:00 is the
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Division One meet. So we have three meets in a row
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each day. They're identical.
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That's interesting. So not so we don't have the 100
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meter dash and the D 300 meter dash goes off and then the D200,
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it's completely separate meats. It's it's a morning meet and a
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mid afternoon meet and then an evening meet, correct.
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Do do the same officials do all three meats.
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That's a That's a long day. It's a very good conversation
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that we have had about that 'cause it is a long day and we
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know that we're, you know, officials.
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We need more of them. And so they do try to space it
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out. Some of them, yes, they can
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handle the whole day and obviously some of them can't.
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And we make sure that their accommodations are made so that
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we have enough officials for all three mates.
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And there are breaks involved in each.
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It doesn't run white and run 11 into the other.
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There's a lunch break. And so there's some breaks for
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that. We make sure that they're fed.
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Of course, it's always going to be 100 degrees on the track.
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So we make sure that they're hydrated and we have great
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hurdle crews down there that do a fantastic job to keep things
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moving. So it's quite the production and
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a two day meet with Saturday being championship day.
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So in the morning a boys team and a girls team D3 are going to
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win the state title. In the afternoon we've got two
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more. That's a that's a heck of a day.
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That's an awesome. I love when it's all comes to to
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boil on the last day and there's so many championships awarded
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that day. That's cool it.
12:11
Is very exciting and we we we follow a time schedule for each
12:14
of those days. Occasionally since his last
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year, we had to go off of the time schedule for one of the
12:20
divisions because of storms that came through and we had this, I
12:23
was on the games committee and we had to make that decisions
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like, look, we cannot follow a time scheduling where we just
12:29
went to a rolling schedule just to make sure that we got that
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meet in and we were able to get in.
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So we didn't have to spill over to A to Sunday, which could
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happen, but we don't want it to happen obviously, right?
12:41
Those are fun decisions to make on that games committee, Yeah.
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And so hey, what we know in Jeanette that with track and
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field, that is the most inclusive sport there is tall,
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short, big, small. There is a place for you to be
12:54
successful inside of track and field.
12:56
And what we're learning is a lot of states are including some
12:59
type of adaptive unified wheelchair events into their
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state meet series, anything like that happening in Ohio right
13:05
now. Absolutely, absolutely.
13:07
And it's so exciting and thrilling.
13:09
We have the 400, the 800 and the 100 for the running events and
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for the field events. Right now it's only the shot put
13:15
and it there's a qualifying like they they need to qualify.
13:20
Because that the the population that has been participating in
13:23
those events has grown. When it first started, there was
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no need for the qualification because there weren't enough
13:28
athletes for it. And now we do have that, which
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is really exciting because they have they have a qualification
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that they have to follow so that they can be there.
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And I I'm, it's really exciting. I get, I get really excited
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about this being, you know, the vice president of the coaches
13:43
association, being on the games committee, being involved in all
13:46
of this. I also get the help hand out the
13:49
awards at the at the state meet and handing out those awards is
13:53
unbelievable because they are just, they are incredible
13:57
athletes and it's just it's so fulfilling to make sure that we
14:01
are recognizing everybody that's an athlete in Ohio to be
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included in that opportunity, that experience, that's awesome.
14:08
Kudos to the Ohio coaches that include this that that's the
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right thing to do and I love that you guys are leading the
14:13
way in doing that as well. Thank you for doing that.
14:16
So we have I'm trying, I'm trying to be.
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I keep using the same jokes in the same example.
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So after you know 51, someone's going to get very tired of the
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same example. So I'm trying to use different
14:26
events. So let's go with the discus.
14:27
In the discus there are three state champions and the boys and
14:31
three discus state champions and the girls.
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Some states, whether it's official or unofficial maybe
14:36
through a coaches association will host a meet of champions so
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that we can figure out air quotes here, who the the true
14:43
state champion is. Anything like that going on?
14:46
We don't have that in Ohio and I, you know, other states do it,
14:48
but we do not have that in Ohio. But of course people look at the
14:52
results and just claim their own bragging a 100%.
14:54
Absolutely. Because then I can say, well, I
14:57
only threw that because it was 8 in the morning.
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If I'd have been at 8:00 at night like you guys, I'd have
15:00
thrown farther. So I win.
15:01
Oh yeah, There's always some qualification to that, like a
15:04
lot. But this and that.
15:06
And it's really neat to see the differences between the
15:08
divisions, because of course the bigger school divisions, people
15:11
may assume that they have the better marks.
15:16
Oh no, sometimes, not always. Oh, oh, some of those small
15:21
schools and those field events, you better watch out, 'cause
15:23
they are, they know how they they make it happen.
15:26
It's really very exciting. All right, let's take a look at
15:28
your events. Let's see if you're doing
15:29
anything unique to the rest of the country.
15:32
We can assume you're doing the 1-2, the four and the 8:00.
15:35
Yes, In the next two events, are you doing the 16, the 32, the
15:39
mile, two mile, the fifteen 3000.
15:40
What are we doing in those two? 1532, 1632, that's the most
15:43
common. We're doing 110 high hurdles and
15:46
100 hurdles. For boys and girls, we're doing
15:49
300 hurdles. Yes, we know you're doing the
15:51
four by one and four by four. Because if you're not doing, you
15:54
know if you've listened, you've heard the same joke over and
15:56
over. If you're not doing those two
15:57
relays, you're not doing track and field, which means you would
15:59
not be on this podcast. Any other relays besides the
16:02
four by one and four by four we? Have the four by 200 for both
16:05
boys and girls. And I guess why?
16:08
If you want to know why, let's do it.
16:09
Absolutely. All right, so there are 17
16:13
events for each gender in Ohio. And we always want to make sure
16:17
that there's an even number, you know, the equal number of events
16:19
for both genders. So there used to be pole vault
16:22
only for the boys and no pole vault for the girls.
16:25
So to equalize that out, there was the four by 200 for the
16:29
girls but not for the boys. Oh, interesting.
16:33
Well, there you go. There's your.
16:34
There's your fact that you didn't know.
16:37
But I'm telling you anyway, So what happened was they obviously
16:41
added the girls pole vault. So the big question was.
16:45
Do we get rid of the four by two or do we add the other gender we
16:51
added? So that's we have 4 by 2, that
16:55
is. I love that.
16:57
I love the history behind the events because it looks like,
16:59
why are we doing the four by two?
17:00
Or why are we only doing the girls four by two?
17:02
Well, it's because we only have the boys pole ball.
17:03
I love that. It's great history.
17:04
Thank you for that. So 4 by 1, four by two, 4x4.
17:08
Oh, we have a say again. Do you have the four by four?
17:12
For sure? Yes, do we have 4 by 8?
17:15
Oh, yes, absolutely. OK.
17:17
It's not. It's not every state.
17:19
Oh really? I have learned to stop assuming
17:23
anything after. After about 10 states in, I
17:25
stopped assuming anything at all.
17:27
Yes, yes, 4 by 8, four by eight, we're learning is common, but
17:31
it's not everywhere and it's been added in probably the last
17:35
5-6 years to several states meaning.
17:37
So it's not very you know it's not 100% so we're we're still
17:40
adding that to make it 200%. So 4 by 1, four by two 4x4, 4 by
17:43
8. Anything Sprint medleys.
17:45
No, we don't have that. Yeah.
17:46
OK, let's go to the field event. We have a triple jump.
17:49
I see. This is why you're a good coach,
17:52
cuz. That was my very next question.
17:54
Let's go to the field events. Long jump and triple jump for
17:56
boys and girls. We do not have triple jump for
17:58
boys and girls, cuz I can assume it's not for either because Ohio
18:03
has proven themselves to be very equal on our things.
18:05
OK, so no triple jump for boys and girls.
18:08
You're not alone. Just so you're aware you're not
18:10
alone. Unfortunately, you're not alone,
18:13
you. Have it for the indoor state
18:15
meet though. I'll put that out.
18:17
There you go shopping. Discus for boys and girls.
18:21
Oh yes, and pole vault and high jump for boys and girls.
18:24
Oh wait, take that back for the triple jump for the state indoor
18:27
meet. We have it.
18:28
Do we have for the first day meet?
18:30
Oh goodness, we have it for our All Star Meets is where we have
18:32
it. It's still.
18:33
Involved in Ohio, but just not at the outdoor level.
18:36
Not the outdoor state meet. OK, and just make sure we heard
18:38
that Shop and discus, yes, and pole.
18:40
Bolton High Jump for boys and girls.
18:42
Any javelin, hammer, steeplechase, multis, anything
18:45
like that? No, sadly we only have two
18:48
throws in the Much like that meet of champion.
18:51
Some states will do an unofficial heptathlon, decathlon
18:55
state meet, hammer state meet, etcetera, anything like that
18:57
that you're aware of. Yes, the there is an unofficial
19:01
Hammer State meet for Ohio that's actually held on the
19:05
Sunday after the state meet at the same location.
19:09
It's really, it's unfortunate that the Hammer cannot be a part
19:13
of what we're doing as far as the, you know, the mainstream
19:16
state meet itself. And until there are more
19:19
facilities available, I don't know if it'll be a part of the
19:22
conversation, but to me, I think it would be very exciting.
19:25
We need another throw. One of the many reasons that we
19:28
started this specific bonus series here in April and May of
19:32
2024 was for other states to see how other states are doing it.
19:36
So maybe one state doesn't have a wheelchair adaptive athletes
19:39
and goes wait a minute, Ohio is doing it.
19:42
We need to call them up then and figure out how how are they
19:44
getting it happen so we can make it happen.
19:45
And we know there are states it's hard to make that plural.
19:48
There is a state that has the hammer.
19:51
So it's like you know if Ohio's doing this unofficial and says
19:53
you know what how do we make this happen maybe we get Rd.
19:57
I didn't want to spoil it. We get the other state to.
20:01
And we create communication amongst our states to figure out
20:04
how do we continue to help and bring opportunities for for our
20:08
young kids. So maybe go on to do college and
20:10
who knows after that. OK, so we do an unofficial
20:13
statement for the hammer though hey, that is better than
20:16
nothing. So I love that.
20:17
That's it is better than nothing.
20:18
And it's very well attended and it's been growing.
20:20
I love that, love that, love that.
20:22
All right, before we get to a couple of fun questions here and
20:24
Jeanette, anything that we missed.
20:26
Anything that we should know about Ohio.
20:29
Anything that you do, you only score.
20:31
Well, we're going to know you score 8 out of nine.
20:32
That's that's unique though, the 9:00 to the finals.
20:35
Double I like it, yeah. Do you double relay points?
20:37
Do you you have A1 legged sack relay that used to be on there.
20:42
Anything that we should know in the state of Ohio and maybe?
20:45
This is where it's pretty straightforward, and maybe this
20:48
is where you give us a quick overview of that indoor state
20:50
meeting you guys do as. Well absolutely.
20:52
So for an indoor state meet it's a completely different
20:55
qualification. It is by stand, it's by marks,
20:59
it's by times and by marks. So whoever the top you know our
21:03
we take our top 24 so we have a Top 40 list that we publish as
21:08
an association. We keep all of the of the
21:11
information up to date on mile split and we go from there and
21:14
when in the we have a cut off date.
21:17
And at that cut off date, if you're in the Top 40 then you're
21:19
eligible to qualify into the state meet.
21:22
It's similar where it's only two entries per school per event for
21:25
individual events, and then one relay of course, but you
21:31
declare. So not everybody made it clear.
21:33
So even though you're 39, who knows something crazy could
21:37
happen or if there are, you know, a lot of people that are
21:40
involved in that event, you might just you might just go
21:42
right up that list pretty quickly.
21:44
So we take the top performances in each event.
21:48
It is unbelievable. Our our indoor state meet is off
21:52
the hook. It's fast.
21:53
Where is that usually done and is there a team title part of
21:57
this as well as or the individuals?
21:59
Yes, it's both. So it's held at Spire in Geneva
22:03
and it's a nice 300 meter track super fast.
22:06
And then here they just redid their surface which is even more
22:09
exciting. It's already fast, it's going to
22:10
get that much faster, but it's held there and it has really
22:14
great facilities as far as you know seating is concerned, it's
22:17
wonderful. They have multiple pits for both
22:20
high jump. Well they they've only used the
22:22
one pit for high jump, but they can accommodate for two high
22:24
jump pits. You can do 2 pole vault pits.
22:26
We have two, you know, long jump pits.
22:29
It's really it's it's an amazing facility and yeah it's fun since
22:36
that's run by the coaches association where the outdoor
22:39
state meet is run by the Ohio Athletic Association.
22:42
Any unique events you mentioned you started mentioned triple
22:45
jump, any other unique events that you do indoor that you
22:47
don't do outdoor weight throw, pentathlon, etcetera?
22:51
Yes, the weight throw, we don't do the multis, but we have the
22:53
weight throw. So we have for the throws, we
22:55
have the weight throw in the shot and then we have the we
22:58
have the long jump with the high jump we have the all the the
23:01
feel the the relays that we have.
23:03
We don't have the four by one, but we keep the four by two.
23:08
So that four by two that is unique to the state of Ohio for
23:11
outdoor, it stays through for the indoor season.
23:14
So there's the four by eight, the four by four and the four by
23:18
two. Those are our three relay
23:19
events. And yes, there is a team title
23:22
and the way we divide it up instead of there being there's
23:26
really two divisions. So what we do is we have a
23:29
Division One meet on one day and then we have a division 2-3
23:34
combined meet. On the other day and we flip
23:37
flop the day, so if one is on the subdivision, one is on
23:41
Friday, then the division 2-3 combined meet is on on Saturday.
23:46
And we find that works well because when you get to the
23:48
smaller schools, a lot of those athletes are very much multi
23:51
sport athletes. So they might be doing a winter
23:54
sport. So the the size of the team is
23:58
smaller. So that's yeah.
23:59
So that's why we and we've looked at the data the to see
24:02
how deep the the results go if we were to split them out and it
24:06
keeps it a very nice competitive level at the combining the two
24:10
divisions. So that's really exciting and
24:12
it's, it's a lot of very cool. Well, help us settle an
24:15
argument, a debate, if you will. I see this on Twitter all the
24:19
time. So I figured I'm going to have
24:20
51 of the brightest people that are coaches out here.
24:23
We're going to settle this debate.
24:24
When you're talking about the state meet.
24:25
When you're talking about we're going to the state meet, do you
24:28
say it like that or we're, you know, we're qualifying for the
24:30
state meet? Do you say I'm trying to go to
24:32
state? Do I call it, am I going to
24:34
states, at least in your area, what are we saying here?
24:37
State. State.
24:38
State. Meet.
24:39
Something else? It's 100% the state meet you are
24:43
going to state. There are no other states
24:45
invited here. Stop using the S on the end,
24:49
please. If you've been following along,
24:52
you know how passionate this answer has been on all three
24:56
sides. We've seen passionate states,
24:58
we've seen passionate state, and we've seen passionate state
25:00
meet. Here we have a A state meet.
25:03
It is state. It's state.
25:06
State no S. One state.
25:09
Nobody else is invited and Jeanette, you have been awesome.
25:13
So grateful for you again here to teach us these intricacies of
25:15
the state of Ohio. I love what we've learned and so
25:19
to thank you, we'd like to give you a magic wand.
25:21
If you could change one thing and only one thing, that in your
25:26
opinion would make the outdoor track and field in Ohio better
25:30
for high schoolers, it could be adding event, It could make the
25:33
meet a three day meet. It could be going to six
25:35
divisions. You get the magic wand, not me.
25:38
What would that be in your opinion?
25:40
We had a fourth division where where would you put it?
25:48
There's the there's the argument of just having them equalled out
25:51
1234. So 25 percent, 25 percent, 25%
25:55
there's there has been talk about.
26:01
Not letting Division One be so loaded and to bring it down,
26:05
that's that's been an argument. You know that that's out there.
26:08
But regardless of how that happens, the reason why I say 4
26:12
divisions is this track and field in Ohio, especially on the
26:17
girls side, is the most populated.
26:21
As of 2019, it was the most populous sport in Ohio for boys.
26:26
It's only second to football, OK?
26:29
And that's that's the whole, you know?
26:31
Take out the football and there's no football equivalent
26:33
for on the girls side. So track and field as a dual
26:38
gender sport is the most popular sport in Ohio and it's the most
26:44
populated one. Let's give all those kids that
26:47
work so hard the opportunity to compete.
26:51
We're taking 19 kids, sometimes more, in a field event to the
26:55
state meet in each event in three divisions.
26:59
What about those other 19 kids that are working just as hard,
27:03
who probably should also be represented at that at that
27:07
level and get that recognition? It doesn't require anything more
27:11
than working with the schedule. And we actually, as a coaches
27:14
association already have one ready to go.
27:17
We're very, we're very prepared forward thinkers there.
27:21
Forward thinkers right here. And we have been in really I
27:26
will say this we've been in wonderful talks with the with
27:29
the Ohio High School Athletic Association they they've been a
27:32
very good audience to this and it's just it's going to take
27:37
some time and we're we're we're getting closer to that.
27:42
But really, the biggest benefit is for the kids and that's why
27:48
we're here. Well, if you have listened to
27:51
the other A through low states, you may have been surprised at
27:56
some states that are bigger and then have as many divisions as
27:59
you thought in some states that are smaller and you thought they
28:01
had a lot more. And I'm sure we're going to
28:02
continue to learn as we roll all the way through Wyoming, just
28:05
how many classes, how they split up, track and field.
28:07
So I like that that's a good use of the magic wand.
28:10
I I, I'm supposed to be non political and say I, you know, I
28:13
don't want to endorse that, but that's a good one.
28:15
I like that one. I like inclusivity in our and
28:19
Jeanette, thank you so much. This has been absolutely
28:21
fascinating to learn about Ohio in the outdoor state meet series
28:24
and even the indoor series here. Very grateful for your
28:27
leadership inside of Ohio track and field and know there are
28:29
just many, many wonderful coaches in that great state.
28:32
I've been to the clinic many, many times, blows me away every
28:35
time. One of the top clinics in the
28:38
country honestly and look forward to always showing up
28:41
there again. So Anjanette, thank you so much
28:42
for helping us learn Ohio today. Thank you so much, Mike, and
28:46
thank you to Gil for everything that you do to support our
28:48
sport, absolutely.