Boys Track & Field: Pickerington North Panthers eye state title repeat

The banner commemorating the Pickerington North boys track and field team’s 2021 Division I state championship hangs on a fence at the south end of the Panthers’ stadium, and dozens of plaques honoring all-state performances throughout the program’s 18-season history are displayed on a nearby brick wall.

The Panthers pass them every day before, during and after practice, doing their best not to ignore the honors, but rather to build on them.

“We might be more competitive than last year, to be honest,” senior sprinter Derrick Amapps said. “Everyone is coming for the top spot (in each event). No one wants to be at the bottom. We won state last year and everybody wants to be a part of doing that this year. They want to contribute.”

Amapps and classmate Carl Allen are two of the three state qualifiers back from a year ago, having participated on the winning 1,600- and 800-meter relays, respectively. Amapps and junior Keegan Matheny also were on the 17th-place 400 relay.

North also won state in 2015 and was runner-up in 2013.

“This year does feel different, but we’re still trying to get ourselves together one day at a time and make sure we’re worrying about each other more than anybody else. We’re just worrying about Pickerington North right now,” said Allen, a Saginaw Valley State football recruit who has not ruled out running track in college. “We know the work it takes to get there. We’ve competed hard and worked hard every day. We’re all tight this year, like we were last year.”

Allen, Amapps and Matheny are expected to lead a group of sprinters that also includes seniors Jalen Ford and Colin McNatt, junior Josh Colbert and freshman Richard Simpson. Other key returnees include senior Hunter Haskins (jumps) and juniors David Alabi (throws), Aidan Eberhardt (distance) and Justin Reitano (distance).

Alabi was OCC-Ohio Division champion and district runner-up in the discus.

“It should be a nice balance. Sprints will be the strength at first glance, but we have some solid field events and a very good distance group to go along with them,” 14th-year coach Dave Spring said. “We have some talented kids back that were part of the championship last year and also some that have progressed very nicely and could do very well this year.

“Team goals start coming together (when it comes to) league, district and regional championships. We always want to advance as many kids as possible through each level, including to the state meet.”

There also is championship pedigree on the coaching staff, as 2021 graduate Daylon Duncan — who was on both winning relays last year — is a volunteer assistant and former Panthers great Desmond Palmer is a full-time assistant coach.

Palmer was 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles state champion and anchored two first-place relays at state as a senior in 2013, then was a three-time All-American at Pittsburgh.

Amapps said those types of achievements drive him and his teammates, even on bad days.

“Even if you feel like you can’t do something, if your coaches are telling you you can, believe your coaches and believe in yourself that you can,” Amapps said. “You have to eat better, get your rest and take care of academics to be out here and be a part of this.”

dpurpura@thisweeknews.com

@ThisWeekDave

CANAL WINCHESTER

•Coach: Kurtis Robinson, ninth season

•Top athletes: Isaiah Coleman, Elike Heh, Karson Martino, Ishmael Moss, Dexter Mounts and Dylan Randall

•Key losses: Jonathan Chandler, Ian Lewis, Korbin Martino and Michael McKeon

•2021 OCC-Capital standings: Canal Winchester (174), Big Walnut (142.5), Westerville South (99), Dublin Scioto (70), Worthington Kilbourne (62.5), Westerville North (60), Delaware (49), Franklin Heights (4)

•2021 postseason: First at district, third at regional, fifth at state

•Outlook: Senior Dylan Randall should be among the team’s leaders after finishing eighth in the 100 at last year’s Division I state meet and helping the 400 and 1,600 relays to fourth- and sixth-place finishes, respectively. He was fifth in the 60 at the indoor state meet and seventh in the 200.

Otherwise, even without three-time state qualifier and Penn State recruit Korbin Martino, coach Kurtis Robinson expects the Indians to be as balanced as they were a year ago. Five other state qualifiers, all of whom are sprinters and participated in relays, are back in seniors Dexter Mounts, Hayden Hull, Elike Heh and Ishmael Moss and sophomore Karson Martino.

Other returnees include seniors Avante Johnson (sprints) and Poom Tresukosol (throws) and juniors Isaiah Coleman (jumps, sprints), Jack Howard (pole vault) and Ian Metzler (jumps).

Freshman Julian Amabile is expected to contribute in the pole vault.

•Quotable: “Most meets we attend, we should be able to score someone in almost every one of the 17 events. Some events, we’ll be able to score two guys. We’re very well-balanced. So was last year’s team, but the difference is we had some unknown commodities who developed during the course of the season. This year, they’re known commodities.” — Robinson

CENTRAL

•Coach: Jason Roach, 16th season

•Top athletes: Josh Harlan, Gavin Kelly, Troy Lane, Roman Pearson and Jailen Willis

•Key losses: Josiah Adams, Kwabena Asamoah, Chase Balko, Brycen Rogers and A.J. Sanders

•2021 OCC-Buckeye standings: Lancaster (168), Pickerington Central (153), Reynoldsburg (115), Groveport (51), Newark (30), Central Crossing (6)

•2021 postseason: First at district ahead, fourth at regional, tied for eighth at state

•Outlook: Whether the Tigers contend for their third state championship in four years remains to be seen, but Central got off to a blazing start March 30 when senior Troy Lane ran a 10.37 in the 100 during a tri-meet at Watkins Memorial.

That time bested by 0.01 of a second the 16-year-old state record held by Piqua’s Brandon Saine, but does not count as the new record because fewer than five teams were competing.

Senior Josh Harlan — the point guard on the Division I state championship boys basketball team — and senior Roman Pearson, who was injured to end last season, should further boost the sprinters.

Seniors Gavin Kelly and Jailen Willis return from the third-place 3,200 relay at state and should lead the distance runners with senior Owen Sauer and junior Andrew Scrape.

Junior R.J. Keuchler is an emerging thrower for a unit that lost shot put state-placer Kwabena Asamoah to early graduation, as he is now playing football at Rutgers. Sophomore Grant Garrison already has gone 21-1 in the long jump and 5-6 in the high jump.

•Quotable: “It’ll be an interesting year. Last year was disappointing and great wrapped up into one. We made great strides in so many areas and I think we’ll keep doing that. We might finish second or third in some (regular season) invitationals here and there, but I think we’ll be in the mix at the end of the season.” — coach Jason Roach

NORTH

•Coach: Dave Spring, 14th season

•Top athletes: David Alabi, Carl Allen, Derrick Amapps, Aidan Eberhardt, Keegan Matheny and Justin Reitano

•Key losses: Daylon Duncan, Steven McElroy, Zamen Siyoum and Nick Whitehead

•2021 OCC-Ohio standings: Gahanna (143), Pickerington North (131), Westerville Central (106), New Albany (88), Grove City (16), Westland (8)

•2021 postseason: First at district, second at regional, first at state

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: Boys Track & Field: Pickerington North eyes state title repeat