Duffie has highest goal; Hodson focused to break PR at state championships
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Fairfield has a senior duo in Brandtson Duffie and Bennett Hodson set to make school history on Saturday, June 1, as they’ll become the first two Fairfield High School athletes to compete individually in the same event at the state level.
Both Duffie and Hodson will be competing in the 800-meter relay in the OHSAA Division III State Track and Field Championships, where this will be the third straight year Duffie will be in the event, and for Hodson, this will be his first individual event at the state level.
Duffie — who has placed third and sixth in the state 800m event the past two years — has the highest of goals, and for good reason. He made it clear his aim is to become the first Fairfield athlete to win a state championship, and so far this season, his 800m times back up his high aspirations.
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“Brandtson has made my job really easy,” FHS coach Rodger Marsh said of the senior leader. “I noticed that on the first day of practice. I took him aside and said ‘I need you this year.’ He stepped up and helped me quite a bit.
“It was easy because you get kids that are self-driven and know what they want to do, and they just went and did it. I just encourage them to do it, and as you can see, they did it. They’re self-driven. They had their goals, and their goals haven’t totally been met yet, but they’ll get there.”
Marsh spoke more on Duffie being a leader.
“Brandtson is the leader of the group. A lot of the kids go under his wings, and he led them. A lot of the younger kids see that, and they’re going to benefit because of that leadership,” Marsh said. “One of the things about Brandtson I like is his selflessness. He took one of the kids that was wanting to make time, and instead of worrying about his time, made time for him to get his time to where he needed to be to get into a meet down the road. That shows you a little bit about his character.”
This postseason, Duffie — who also placed 23rd overall at the State Cross-County Championships this past fall — had a regional championship time of 1:56.62. Before that time, he had a district championship time of 2:00.52, and at the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Championships, he was also first place at 2:02.85.
Duffie’s most recent time at regionals is near where he ran at state last season, which was a time of 1:56.23, and his sophomore year, his state time was 1:57.96.
Cutting his times each week he takes to the track isn’t easy, as Duffie spoke about how much work it took for him to cut his time throughout the season.
“It takes a lot of work. I ran 2:02 as a freshman, so it’s taken me three years to get seven seconds faster,” Duffie said. “Just to show the increase, the level that you take on to become elite, but every day is just focusing on getting better. You take very minimal days off, just to focus on doing the right things to get better eventually.
“It’s hard to say that you run 55-60-mile weeks, do two track workouts a week, just to maybe PR by a tenth of a second, but that’s what you work for. You work to run fast, and you work to beat people. At the end of the day, you think to yourself ‘is it worth it to run 10 more minutes, five more minutes, one more rep, to be better than the person who took those five, 10, one more rep off?’”
Duffie said when he finished third last year, it motivated him to not only return to state, but to stand at the top of the podium.
“Being third last year really motivated me to stay on top this year. That’s been the goal since last June,” Duffie said. “There’s nothing I want more than to win a state title for myself and for my community. I went into the year in attack mode. I’ve trained harder, I’ve done little things better and I’ve just focused on being better in general.
“Last year, finishing third, I think I was ranked ninth or 10th going into the meet, but I knew I was better than that. Finishing third just gave me the confidence this year I could finally do what nobody in school history’s done – win the coveted state title. I knew I could do it after last June, and I know I can do it now.”
Having goals like Duffie has, where he wants to be the best, takes discipline and sacrifice, and a strict schedule to work and rest, which he has integrated into his daily routine to get him to the Saturday morning race as one of the top athletes in the event.
“It’s taxing when your friends are out on a Saturday at 10 o’clock and all of a sudden you’re asleep at 9:30. Stretching after you run when it’s 100 degrees and you have to sit out in the sun for 10 minutes longer because you have to stretch. Things like that are just what it takes, and it takes time to get used to it, but once you get used to things like that, it’s hard to break the habit,” Duffie said. “I’m in perfect position to do exactly what I wanted to, which is to finish on the podium on Saturday. I came into the season right where I wanted to be, ran a lot of 400s and miles and not so much the 800, just to fine-tune that 800, but now winding down the season, it looks like my 800 is exactly where I want it to be and puts me in great position to go for a win on Saturday.”
Being a staple at the Division III state race the past few seasons now, Duffie is more motivated than ever as this will be his final two laps around the Ohio State track as a high school athlete.
“Knowing it’s my last one honestly just makes me want to perform better. There’s no pressure on me to win,” he said. “There’s no pressure on me to run a better time. It’s just going to the state meet again – sure, it’s nerve-wracking. It’s the state meet.
“You’re running in front of 20,000 people. But just being there the last three years, I’ve had the experience indoor and had the experience running cross-country, I’ve had outdoor experience. Now I’m ready to finish it out on the last note.”
Getting to run against his teammate one final time is Bennett Hodson, as the senior too has worked very hard and put in the long hours this high school season on the track and on the cross-country courses, as he was a member of the Fairfield state cross-country team as well.
Hodson’s goal this season was to qualify as an individual for state track, which he’s accomplished, but his other goal is to run the 800m race in under 2:00.00, and he’s on the right track to do so.
“Bennett is a young man that’s self-driven too,” Marsh said. “One of his goals, naturally, was to go to the state meet. The other goal was to break the two-minute 800. I think he has an opportunity this weekend to break that goal, with the competition he’s going to go against.”
This postseason, Hodson has had a SHAC time of 2:16.57, followed a week later at districts at 2:03.54, and then this past weekend at regionals — where he was third overall — he finished with a time of 2:00.09, his new PR time.
“Going into this year, it was a big surprise to me, honestly,” Hodson said. “I was never predicted to move on to state. All the rankings and everything had me not even qualifying. It was awesome. Just qualifying for state, it shocked me badly.”
Getting to state saw Hodson run the race of a lifetime as the senior was in eighth place going into the second and final lap in the regional race. From there, he worked his way up to fifth place, and in a dead sprint down the final stretch of the event, Hodson raced his way to the state championships by passing two more runners, with the final burst moving him to third place.
“Going into the second lap [at regionals], I was in eighth place. The last 300 meters — as Brandtson likes to call it, the first lap is placing, the second lap is racing. The last 300 meters, I don’t know what got into me, but I just started kicking down, and I just started sprinting as hard as I could,” Hodson said. “The last 100 meters, I came around and I was in fifth, and I started sprinting harder and harder and started throwing my arms and just caught up to third and just took it.”
Improvement has been a key for Hodson all season long, as he spoke about all he’s worked toward this season to get to state as an individual, as last year he was a state qualifier in the 4x800m relay.
“I think that relay last year gave me a taste of what state was. It motivated me to try harder. I was in other events, but the 800 was the event where I had a chance to qualify for state this year,” Hodson said. “At the beginning of the season, it wasn’t like where I was expecting it. Coming toward the middle of the season, running a 2:03 and qualifying for Eastern Relays, and after that not able to run faster than 2:05, it was tough. Then all of a sudden districts come and I hit 2:03 again and run a 2:00 at regionals. It was insane for me.”
Hodson is taking in the moment of being a state qualifier, with not only his goal of under 2:00 in mind, but also getting to run with his teammate.
“Brandtson’s always there motivating me. He helps push me, even in practice. Even though he’s ahead of me by a lot, he still pushes me, and he’s always there. Even when I’m struggling, he’s always there helping me, motivating me and pushing me to get better,” Hodson said. “I love the competition. Everywhere we race, even though it’s just me and Brandtson racing each other, I still see it as competition. I push myself to keep up with him. Competition is what makes me enjoy this.
“I’m just going to try to break two minutes. That’s my goal at the state meet. I’m happy I made it, but I’m going to be pushing myself to break two minutes, and if I’m close to being on the podium, I’m going to try to get it.”
Both athletes wanted to say thanks to those who have helped them.
“I’d like to thank Brandtson and my coaches. I want to thank my family for motivating me, and I want to thank God for being there every step of the way,” Hodson said.
“I want to thank my coaches for helping me throughout these last four years. Coach Marsh this year is taking over a program with success and high pressure to succeed, and he’s done an absolutely marvelous job,” Duffie said. “I’d like to thank my parents for always helping me, always motivating me, always pushing me to be the best.
“And I’d like to thank the community for the uncanny support that they give out. We’re always out running, and people offer us water, people offer us everything you could ask for. The support from the community makes this a whole lot easier.”
Marsh spoke highly of both of the senior runners.
“Both these kids are self-driven, good workers. You tell them what to do, or didn’t even have to tell them what to do, and they went and did it themselves. That made my job easy, and we are very proud of them,” he said.
The 2019 OHSAA Division III State Track and Field Championships will take place Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus. The 800m run for Division III will be at 10:55 a.m. on Saturday.
Both Duffie and Hodson will be competing in the 800-meter relay in the OHSAA Division III State Track and Field Championships, where this will be the third straight year Duffie will be in the event, and for Hodson, this will be his first individual event at the state level.
Duffie — who has placed third and sixth in the state 800m event the past two years — has the highest of goals, and for good reason. He made it clear his aim is to become the first Fairfield athlete to win a state championship, and so far this season, his 800m times back up his high aspirations.
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“Brandtson has made my job really easy,” FHS coach Rodger Marsh said of the senior leader. “I noticed that on the first day of practice. I took him aside and said ‘I need you this year.’ He stepped up and helped me quite a bit.
“It was easy because you get kids that are self-driven and know what they want to do, and they just went and did it. I just encourage them to do it, and as you can see, they did it. They’re self-driven. They had their goals, and their goals haven’t totally been met yet, but they’ll get there.”
Marsh spoke more on Duffie being a leader.
“Brandtson is the leader of the group. A lot of the kids go under his wings, and he led them. A lot of the younger kids see that, and they’re going to benefit because of that leadership,” Marsh said. “One of the things about Brandtson I like is his selflessness. He took one of the kids that was wanting to make time, and instead of worrying about his time, made time for him to get his time to where he needed to be to get into a meet down the road. That shows you a little bit about his character.”
This postseason, Duffie — who also placed 23rd overall at the State Cross-County Championships this past fall — had a regional championship time of 1:56.62. Before that time, he had a district championship time of 2:00.52, and at the Southern Hills Athletic Conference Championships, he was also first place at 2:02.85.
Duffie’s most recent time at regionals is near where he ran at state last season, which was a time of 1:56.23, and his sophomore year, his state time was 1:57.96.
Cutting his times each week he takes to the track isn’t easy, as Duffie spoke about how much work it took for him to cut his time throughout the season.
“It takes a lot of work. I ran 2:02 as a freshman, so it’s taken me three years to get seven seconds faster,” Duffie said. “Just to show the increase, the level that you take on to become elite, but every day is just focusing on getting better. You take very minimal days off, just to focus on doing the right things to get better eventually.
“It’s hard to say that you run 55-60-mile weeks, do two track workouts a week, just to maybe PR by a tenth of a second, but that’s what you work for. You work to run fast, and you work to beat people. At the end of the day, you think to yourself ‘is it worth it to run 10 more minutes, five more minutes, one more rep, to be better than the person who took those five, 10, one more rep off?’”
Duffie said when he finished third last year, it motivated him to not only return to state, but to stand at the top of the podium.
“Being third last year really motivated me to stay on top this year. That’s been the goal since last June,” Duffie said. “There’s nothing I want more than to win a state title for myself and for my community. I went into the year in attack mode. I’ve trained harder, I’ve done little things better and I’ve just focused on being better in general.
“Last year, finishing third, I think I was ranked ninth or 10th going into the meet, but I knew I was better than that. Finishing third just gave me the confidence this year I could finally do what nobody in school history’s done – win the coveted state title. I knew I could do it after last June, and I know I can do it now.”
Having goals like Duffie has, where he wants to be the best, takes discipline and sacrifice, and a strict schedule to work and rest, which he has integrated into his daily routine to get him to the Saturday morning race as one of the top athletes in the event.
“It’s taxing when your friends are out on a Saturday at 10 o’clock and all of a sudden you’re asleep at 9:30. Stretching after you run when it’s 100 degrees and you have to sit out in the sun for 10 minutes longer because you have to stretch. Things like that are just what it takes, and it takes time to get used to it, but once you get used to things like that, it’s hard to break the habit,” Duffie said. “I’m in perfect position to do exactly what I wanted to, which is to finish on the podium on Saturday. I came into the season right where I wanted to be, ran a lot of 400s and miles and not so much the 800, just to fine-tune that 800, but now winding down the season, it looks like my 800 is exactly where I want it to be and puts me in great position to go for a win on Saturday.”
Being a staple at the Division III state race the past few seasons now, Duffie is more motivated than ever as this will be his final two laps around the Ohio State track as a high school athlete.
“Knowing it’s my last one honestly just makes me want to perform better. There’s no pressure on me to win,” he said. “There’s no pressure on me to run a better time. It’s just going to the state meet again – sure, it’s nerve-wracking. It’s the state meet.
“You’re running in front of 20,000 people. But just being there the last three years, I’ve had the experience indoor and had the experience running cross-country, I’ve had outdoor experience. Now I’m ready to finish it out on the last note.”
Getting to run against his teammate one final time is Bennett Hodson, as the senior too has worked very hard and put in the long hours this high school season on the track and on the cross-country courses, as he was a member of the Fairfield state cross-country team as well.
Hodson’s goal this season was to qualify as an individual for state track, which he’s accomplished, but his other goal is to run the 800m race in under 2:00.00, and he’s on the right track to do so.
“Bennett is a young man that’s self-driven too,” Marsh said. “One of his goals, naturally, was to go to the state meet. The other goal was to break the two-minute 800. I think he has an opportunity this weekend to break that goal, with the competition he’s going to go against.”
This postseason, Hodson has had a SHAC time of 2:16.57, followed a week later at districts at 2:03.54, and then this past weekend at regionals — where he was third overall — he finished with a time of 2:00.09, his new PR time.
“Going into this year, it was a big surprise to me, honestly,” Hodson said. “I was never predicted to move on to state. All the rankings and everything had me not even qualifying. It was awesome. Just qualifying for state, it shocked me badly.”
Getting to state saw Hodson run the race of a lifetime as the senior was in eighth place going into the second and final lap in the regional race. From there, he worked his way up to fifth place, and in a dead sprint down the final stretch of the event, Hodson raced his way to the state championships by passing two more runners, with the final burst moving him to third place.
“Going into the second lap [at regionals], I was in eighth place. The last 300 meters — as Brandtson likes to call it, the first lap is placing, the second lap is racing. The last 300 meters, I don’t know what got into me, but I just started kicking down, and I just started sprinting as hard as I could,” Hodson said. “The last 100 meters, I came around and I was in fifth, and I started sprinting harder and harder and started throwing my arms and just caught up to third and just took it.”
Improvement has been a key for Hodson all season long, as he spoke about all he’s worked toward this season to get to state as an individual, as last year he was a state qualifier in the 4x800m relay.
“I think that relay last year gave me a taste of what state was. It motivated me to try harder. I was in other events, but the 800 was the event where I had a chance to qualify for state this year,” Hodson said. “At the beginning of the season, it wasn’t like where I was expecting it. Coming toward the middle of the season, running a 2:03 and qualifying for Eastern Relays, and after that not able to run faster than 2:05, it was tough. Then all of a sudden districts come and I hit 2:03 again and run a 2:00 at regionals. It was insane for me.”
Hodson is taking in the moment of being a state qualifier, with not only his goal of under 2:00 in mind, but also getting to run with his teammate.
“Brandtson’s always there motivating me. He helps push me, even in practice. Even though he’s ahead of me by a lot, he still pushes me, and he’s always there. Even when I’m struggling, he’s always there helping me, motivating me and pushing me to get better,” Hodson said. “I love the competition. Everywhere we race, even though it’s just me and Brandtson racing each other, I still see it as competition. I push myself to keep up with him. Competition is what makes me enjoy this.
“I’m just going to try to break two minutes. That’s my goal at the state meet. I’m happy I made it, but I’m going to be pushing myself to break two minutes, and if I’m close to being on the podium, I’m going to try to get it.”
Both athletes wanted to say thanks to those who have helped them.
“I’d like to thank Brandtson and my coaches. I want to thank my family for motivating me, and I want to thank God for being there every step of the way,” Hodson said.
“I want to thank my coaches for helping me throughout these last four years. Coach Marsh this year is taking over a program with success and high pressure to succeed, and he’s done an absolutely marvelous job,” Duffie said. “I’d like to thank my parents for always helping me, always motivating me, always pushing me to be the best.
“And I’d like to thank the community for the uncanny support that they give out. We’re always out running, and people offer us water, people offer us everything you could ask for. The support from the community makes this a whole lot easier.”
Marsh spoke highly of both of the senior runners.
“Both these kids are self-driven, good workers. You tell them what to do, or didn’t even have to tell them what to do, and they went and did it themselves. That made my job easy, and we are very proud of them,” he said.
The 2019 OHSAA Division III State Track and Field Championships will take place Friday, May 31 and Saturday, June 1 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus. The 800m run for Division III will be at 10:55 a.m. on Saturday.