COLUMBUS — It may not be his main sport, but one of the country’s top 20 football talents and Ohio State commit, Jamier Brown, didn’t leave anything on the table for what will likely be his final state track and field tournament.
Brown claimed three state titles to help lead Big Walnut to its first state track championship as a team at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on Sunday.
The historic feat was a Division II co-championship; the Golden Eagles’ 41 team points tied New Philadelphia.
Brown started with a 10.42-second mad dash in the 100-meter, squeaking by Toledo Scott junior W.T. Young III’s 10.51 run.
Fittingly, Brown signaled the Buckeye faithful from his Number 1, 100-meter podium spot with a big “O-H” gesture. Fans will see more of Brown sooner rather than later, as he intends to graduate early and head to Ohio State soon after.
Yet, celebrating isn’t always common with Brown. He won the event last year and simply expected to win it again, despite what others thought.
“Everybody thought I was a fluke,” Brown said. “[I just wanted to] show everybody that what I do is real, it ain’t no faking.”
“It’s just straight business, ain’t no point in celebrating. I got high expectations for me to win, so there’s no point in me celebrating.”
Later, Brown ran in the 200-meter, the event he said he likes more than the 100 because he can build up more speed.
With that in mind, it didn’t come as a surprise when he etched his name in the history books as he ran a Division II record 20.91-second time, the fastest in Ohio this season.
To round out an already beyond impressive day, Big Walnut ran a 41.53-second race in the 4×100 team relay, a race Brown secured as the anchor man over Lima Shawnee’s 41.57-second runner-up run.
“Jamier is a magical kid with a gift that many of us wish we had,” Big Walnut boys track & field head coach Ryan Borland said.
“But we had a lot of kids who have been working hard at this for four years with us, and adding [Brown] was the icing on the cake to what we thought was already going to be a really good team.”
More Big Walnut boys climb the podium
Adding another ten points to Big Walnut’s team total was Chase Bergsten.
The sophomore set his own personal best, leaping his way through the 110-meter hurdles with a 14.39-second, first-place finish.
Bergsten told Delaware Source after the race that he was thinking that if everything lined up right, he could be third in the state.
But when Oregon Clay sophomore Barack James started too early, Fremont Ross junior Mason Englund got disqualified and St. Vincent-St. Mary’s senior also got disqualified — things really lined up for Bergsten.
“Those guys are about a half a second faster than my personal record coming into this race, and one of them false starts — it’s an opportunity,” Bergsten said.
“I capitalized on the opportunity; another guy messed up on one hurdle, and I ran my best race of the year. It just worked out how it worked out. My coach tells me every week, “You never know.” You just got to prepare, go out there and do your best.”
Senior Remy Stanford also added to Big Walnut’s total after taking the eighth spot on the podium with a 39.04-second jump-and-dash in the 300-meter hurdles.
Golden Eagle girls fly high to team runner-up
The Big Walnut girls’ team took home the team state runner-up trophy for the first time since 1982 with 40 team points; Chaminade Julienne claimed the title with 44 points.
Junior Karly Gneiting got the Big Walnut girls’ team its first points with her eighth-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles, with a 15.12-second sprint.
Freshman Lindsey Cochran ran her personal best in the 1,600-meter, claiming the state title with a 4:54.45 run.
“I just wanted to try and stay at the top of the pack, and I was going to try and outlast everyone in the last 200,” Cochran said after the win.
Cochran’s teammate, junior Grace Buskirk, joined her on the podium as well. Buskirk crossed the tape at the 4:56.27 mark to earn a third-place finish in the 1,600-meter.
“It was exciting [to have Buskirk up there with me], I didn’t know where we were going to be placed going into it,” Cochran said. “I was just hoping we’d both be on the podium.”
Cochran’s personal recording setting day didn’t end there. She claimed third in the 800-meter at the 2:13.63 mark.
Big Walnut long jumper Karsyn Klaus rounded out the Golden Eagles’ runner-up team finish with a season-best 18-03.75 leap.
“This is an amazing group of girls, and they’re all coming back — there’s not a senior among them,” Big Walnut girls track & field head coach Joe Evener said.
“We have a little bit of everything across the board, and that’s kind of been my motto of coaching. Stay competitive in 17 events, and good things happen to you.
“They’ve had an amazing dream season, and I’m hoping we can repeat next year and maybe even add a little bit more to find those four points to get to the top.”
