State Feature: Mackenzie Conlon qualifies for 3 state events
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
It has taken a lot of hard work over the years for Hillsboro senior Mackenzie Conlon, whether it be racing in his outdoor competitions, the indoor races in the winter or even working on his own at the Hillsboro track by jumping hurdles when snow has landed on the ground. For the HHS senior, all of that hard work has paid off in a big way this upcoming weekend.
Conlon will race in not one, not two, but three events at the 2016 OHSAA State Track and Field Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium for the Indians this weekend, as the senior will take part in the 110-meter hurdles, 300m hurdles and a 4x200m relay race in Division II competitions.
At regionals, Conlon raced to a time of 15.01 in the 110m hurdles for fourth place and 39.72 in the 300m hurdles for a second-place finish. He and his relay teammates had a time of 1:31.39 for third place at regionals.
During districts, Conlon won district championships with a 110m time of 15.11 and a 300m time of 39.19. At the South Central Ohio League Championships, the HHS senior won the title with a first-place time of 15.33 in the 110m race, and in the 300m race, his time was 39.37 for the league title.
Getting to the state meet hasn’t been easy for Conlon. The Indians just were placed at the Division II level this past season, so he’s had to face much larger schools than Hillsboro in Division I competition the past few seasons, hampering his chances to reach the state level.
This year, though, with the Indians back in Division II, Conlon was on equal ground, and he more than took care of the competition this year, as he overcame some odd situations at regionals in the 110m hurdles event to re-race the event to gain his spot at state.
“Mackenzie just works so hard, and you can just see how much he’s improved,” HHS boys head coach Bud Marsh said. “Last Saturday in the hurdles, you always worry because there are 10 obstacles in front of him and eight runners, and lo and behold, a kid in the inside lane hit a hurdle and threw him off-balanced. They go to the next hurdles and the kid didn’t recover, and it knocked off Mackenzie’s hurdle, and he got seventh place and we were a little upset. The officials ruled he was impeded on, and they would run it again.
“The rules stipulate that, and they compromised they would give the first three places to the kids who finished first through third, and the rest would re-run the race for fourth. The next question was when do you re-do the race, so I went to Mackenzie and asked him could he run it after the 4x100 because he had already run the 4x200 by then.
“He said ‘I think I can do it,’ and he won that race, but when he came to do his 300s, he was already out there for over an hour with all that. He was zapped because it was so hot in the sun, but he got second, but you could tell he was tired after all that.”
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As for Conlon, he spoke about what it was like to qualify for state.
“I was more excited about qualifying for the relay than my own events because I think it was cool to get the whole team to go and qualify, but I was also proud of my hurdles events because I worked really hard to get them to where I’m at.
“For the hurdles, I’ve been to a lot of camps, and I do a lot of drills to get them from where they were as a freshman where they weren’t that special to now, where I won’t say they are super, but they are pretty good.”
The HHS senior began racing the hurdles as a seventh grader.
“I thought it would be fun to get to jump over stuff when I was running,” Conlon said of how he first began the hurdles races. “The coaches were like ‘I guess we can put you in them,’ and it was something I just connected with.
“Looking back to then, and even to my freshman year, I didn't think I would make it at all, and looking at it now, I’m so excited that I’ve made it.”
Conlon is one of the best hurdles racers in the area, but he goes into every race knowing he has to be ready to compete to win, whether it is a regular-season event or one of the postseason events, where he knows he must do well to advance.
“I have to get myself psyched up, because I challenge myself every race, but during the race I’m not really thinking about anything, it is just go out there and race," Conlon said. "I enjoy racing the higher competition, because it helps me drop my times when racing against them.
“During the season, I try to go for a PR (personal record) and think about going to state, and hopefully race fast enough to get a national qualifying time.”
With hurdles racing, a lot of technique is involved, as Conlon knows well, since he’s put in many hours working on perfecting his craft of racing the two hurdles events.
“The 110 is more technique-based because it is a shorter distance, but the 300 is more sprinting and jumping over some hurdles,” Conlon said. “I prefer the 300 because I have more time to pass people with the sprinting.”
Conlon began his training for this season in October.
“I started with indoor to get to where my form and feet are now, and that has helped me in the spring,” he said. “It has really sank in that I’m reaching state. Now I’m ready to show what I got. I’m a little nervous, and my goal is to make the podium.”
The relay event is an entirely different type of race than his two hurdles events, as a lot of teamwork and technique is involved for four runners to perfect in a given race. Conlon likes the fact he can race with teammates and the fact they’ve reached the state meet, as he races second in the event.
“The relay event we’re in is just a sprint, but a lot of the technique is with the handoffs and things like that,” Conlon said. “We work on that to make sure things are perfect for when we run. It is pressure to make sure I get it right (the handoff), because if I don’t, the rest of the team doesn’t get to run.”
Conlon will race in not one, not two, but three events at the 2016 OHSAA State Track and Field Championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium for the Indians this weekend, as the senior will take part in the 110-meter hurdles, 300m hurdles and a 4x200m relay race in Division II competitions.
At regionals, Conlon raced to a time of 15.01 in the 110m hurdles for fourth place and 39.72 in the 300m hurdles for a second-place finish. He and his relay teammates had a time of 1:31.39 for third place at regionals.
During districts, Conlon won district championships with a 110m time of 15.11 and a 300m time of 39.19. At the South Central Ohio League Championships, the HHS senior won the title with a first-place time of 15.33 in the 110m race, and in the 300m race, his time was 39.37 for the league title.
Getting to the state meet hasn’t been easy for Conlon. The Indians just were placed at the Division II level this past season, so he’s had to face much larger schools than Hillsboro in Division I competition the past few seasons, hampering his chances to reach the state level.
This year, though, with the Indians back in Division II, Conlon was on equal ground, and he more than took care of the competition this year, as he overcame some odd situations at regionals in the 110m hurdles event to re-race the event to gain his spot at state.
“Mackenzie just works so hard, and you can just see how much he’s improved,” HHS boys head coach Bud Marsh said. “Last Saturday in the hurdles, you always worry because there are 10 obstacles in front of him and eight runners, and lo and behold, a kid in the inside lane hit a hurdle and threw him off-balanced. They go to the next hurdles and the kid didn’t recover, and it knocked off Mackenzie’s hurdle, and he got seventh place and we were a little upset. The officials ruled he was impeded on, and they would run it again.
“The rules stipulate that, and they compromised they would give the first three places to the kids who finished first through third, and the rest would re-run the race for fourth. The next question was when do you re-do the race, so I went to Mackenzie and asked him could he run it after the 4x100 because he had already run the 4x200 by then.
“He said ‘I think I can do it,’ and he won that race, but when he came to do his 300s, he was already out there for over an hour with all that. He was zapped because it was so hot in the sun, but he got second, but you could tell he was tired after all that.”
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As for Conlon, he spoke about what it was like to qualify for state.
“I was more excited about qualifying for the relay than my own events because I think it was cool to get the whole team to go and qualify, but I was also proud of my hurdles events because I worked really hard to get them to where I’m at.
“For the hurdles, I’ve been to a lot of camps, and I do a lot of drills to get them from where they were as a freshman where they weren’t that special to now, where I won’t say they are super, but they are pretty good.”
The HHS senior began racing the hurdles as a seventh grader.
“I thought it would be fun to get to jump over stuff when I was running,” Conlon said of how he first began the hurdles races. “The coaches were like ‘I guess we can put you in them,’ and it was something I just connected with.
“Looking back to then, and even to my freshman year, I didn't think I would make it at all, and looking at it now, I’m so excited that I’ve made it.”
Conlon is one of the best hurdles racers in the area, but he goes into every race knowing he has to be ready to compete to win, whether it is a regular-season event or one of the postseason events, where he knows he must do well to advance.
“I have to get myself psyched up, because I challenge myself every race, but during the race I’m not really thinking about anything, it is just go out there and race," Conlon said. "I enjoy racing the higher competition, because it helps me drop my times when racing against them.
“During the season, I try to go for a PR (personal record) and think about going to state, and hopefully race fast enough to get a national qualifying time.”
With hurdles racing, a lot of technique is involved, as Conlon knows well, since he’s put in many hours working on perfecting his craft of racing the two hurdles events.
“The 110 is more technique-based because it is a shorter distance, but the 300 is more sprinting and jumping over some hurdles,” Conlon said. “I prefer the 300 because I have more time to pass people with the sprinting.”
Conlon began his training for this season in October.
“I started with indoor to get to where my form and feet are now, and that has helped me in the spring,” he said. “It has really sank in that I’m reaching state. Now I’m ready to show what I got. I’m a little nervous, and my goal is to make the podium.”
The relay event is an entirely different type of race than his two hurdles events, as a lot of teamwork and technique is involved for four runners to perfect in a given race. Conlon likes the fact he can race with teammates and the fact they’ve reached the state meet, as he races second in the event.
“The relay event we’re in is just a sprint, but a lot of the technique is with the handoffs and things like that,” Conlon said. “We work on that to make sure things are perfect for when we run. It is pressure to make sure I get it right (the handoff), because if I don’t, the rest of the team doesn’t get to run.”