State Track and Field Preview: Hillsboro looking for great success
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
(Editor’s note: McClain state track and field features will be added later this week.)
The Hillsboro Indians are sending a 4x100-meter relay team to the Division II State Track and Field Championships, and within that team, there is a duo who could make some history by earning top placements in individual field events as well.
The 4x100m relay team consists of seniors Luke Gallimore and Jeremy Hayton, plus juniors Austin Goolsby and Austin Kimball. Two of those athletes in Goolsby and Hayton can make some Hillsboro history with their individual field events, as both have an excellent chance to not only place, but stand at the top of their respective podiums.
To qualify for state in the 4x100m race, the Indians placed fourth at regionals with a time of 44.19.
Goolsby has “high expectations” for state pole vault
Austin Goolsby enters the state championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, located on the campus of The Ohio State University, with by far the top vault this season at 15-00.00 going into the event, as the next closest are three vaults at 14-00.00 to 14-02.00.
It should be noted Goolsby was the Division II state runner-up last year as a sophomore, and this year during the South Central Ohio League Championships, two weeks before regionals, he vaulted a height of 15-06.00. During indoor track this past winter, Goolsby vaulted 16-02.00.
But with the junior, preparation is never finished as he was out practicing for the state meet before 8 a.m.
“I have been staying pretty consistent above 15 feet this year, so I’m pretty happy about that,” Goolsby said. “I was really happy with what I did at regionals and districts. I was happy with 15 feet, and I think I got 15-06 at the SCOL and broke the record there, and I was psyched about that. That was a blast. It was a fun meet.
“I’ve been trying to get on some bigger poles lately, and I think by state, I should be able to get on them. That’s really what I’ve been working on. You can work on technique, but when it comes to the height, you really need those bigger poles. I’m on a 15-foot pole right now, going about 16 feet, so I think if I had a 15-7 pole, I could have a good chance at the state record.”
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Going off his state performance last year Goolsby said he was “really surprised” with his heights on that June day. This season, however, those type of heights aren’t surprises, but expectations in his second visit to state.
“This year, I’ve kind of been expecting it, but this year first of all I’m going to try to win it and get the state title,” Goolsby said. “I just want to have a shot at the state record at 16-06. I’m definitely more relaxed this year. There’s more focus, and I’m there to win it. I’m going to try my best. Last year, I was just trying to place, and it’s been a blessing just to be where I’m at.
“You set your goals, and once you achieve them, it just gives you so much more motivation. That’s what I’m striving to do.”
With success and practice comes an education in the sport, and for Goolsby, this year he changed up how he’s prepared and competed this season compared to last year, making him an even more complete vaulter.
“Last year, I would always want to practice like every single day, and that really wore me out,” Goolsby said. “This year, I’ve been trying to take it easy because I already have the form down and don’t need to practice that much. I just need to have the energy to try to get on some bigger poles and work on my timing in the jump.
“Going back to state, there’ll still be nerves, but I think I’ll be a lot more relaxed because I’ve been to some bigger meets and have a bit more experience now.”
“Austin Goolsby is a junior and top-ranked now in the state, and he didn’t get 15 until the state,” HHS boys track coach Bud Marsh said. “When we backed off is when he really started excelling. The last two meets, the regional and the state, is when we had the best weather and it was the only event he had.
“He will be fresh, and we tell him just don’t get all frustrated with how your heights are right now. When you’re fresh over the weekend and let the adrenaline pump, you’ll be at your best.”
There is also the 4x100m relay race for Goolsby later that afternoon, and that race is important to the junior as well.
“The 4x1 race is so fun. We made a good friendship with all of our guys, and it’s just been a blast to run with them. Ever since like their second meet, we’ve taken it really serious, and every single time we step on the track we want to get another PR,” Goolsby said. “Even if we don’t, it’s really close, and there’s some good athletes on there.
“Going into the season, our goal was to make state. I think after our second meet or so, we were really thinking about it and knew that we could make it if we did our best. It’s so exciting. Just waiting for the handoff, you get the nerves and as soon as you get it, you’re out. It’s really powerful. You just get really excited.”
Goolsby closed by just giving thanks.
“I thank the Lord for everything He’s done for me and giving me this talent, and I thank my parents,” he said. “They’ve always helped me out. Most of all, my coaches … Coach Marsh has always been out there on the track for me and coming here early in the mornings to help me out.”
Jeremy Hayton is having a career-defining season
Next is Jeremy Hayton, who has completely revamped his track and field career in his final season. After he described the end of his junior season at districts as “embarrassing,” he decided to do something about it. Hayton said he changed how he trained, ate and practiced the high jump event, and that work has more than paid off.
During his indoor track season, Hayton jumped a height of 6-09.00 to win the state championship, also qualifying for nationals. This spring season, he tied for second at districts and regionals, while winning the South Central Ohio League championship too. By the way, his heights will help him continue his athletic career with him signing to compete at a Division I level in college, signing with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.
“I decided to make a chance following my junior year when I went 5-10. It was really embarrassing because I went out and got 5-10 at districts and didn’t make it out,” Hayton said. “I was like man, I’m a junior and I’ve never made it out of districts. That was really embarrassing. So when everybody was going to state, I started coming out here and doing a lot of jumping, plyometric workouts, eating right, working out hard and I was really focused. I told Coach Marsh I was going to go win a state championship, and I did at indoor.
“I put in about two hours a day, six days a week. I would come here and get my form down, get a whole lot of approach work and jump quite a bit with Austin in Court House usually. In the weight room, I would do a whole bunch of hang cleans, squats, really focused on going up and away slowly but surely and not trying to go too big too fast.
“I just kept working at it, and I jumped a whole bunch too – plyometric stuff like normal body power, getting my power up. I eventually got faster and stronger, and I’ve been able to jump higher because of it.”
Hayton said anyone can achieve their goals if they just put in the necessary work.
“If anybody can set their mind to it, they can achieve whatever they want. I never thought I’d be a state champion. I never thought I’d go to state in high school or end up going to UC for track. I never thought I’d be a college athlete,” he said. “But I set my mind to it one day, buckled down and had the dedication for it, and it worked out.”
All of that work and effort has led to a moment when he signed with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats on a track and field scholarship.
“That was an amazing moment because it means I made it,” he said. “I get to get an education and keep doing what I love for four more years. I felt really blessed, honestly. I know I didn’t do it myself, though. My family, my friends, they all had support for me. I didn’t go to any camps. I just had coaching and a lot of YouTube. I watched a lot of videos and practiced what they did.”
“I can’t say enough about where he’s come from the last year. He’s worked harder than anybody I’ve had to get where he is right now,” Marsh said of Hayton. “His biggest thing right now is consistency. He did 6-9 during indoor, he did 6-6 the first week of the season and hasn’t done it since then. It is just consistency and working on that.
“We work on that, and we work on approaches. That’s the big thing, approach. He wasn’t bad Saturday, just his steps were off. We were looking and practicing yesterday and hopefully found out what the flaws were. He has a great shot of winning the high jump.
“Jeremy improved himself so much, working not just the high jump but sprinting and the other things. He was doing a decent job of long jumping, but we pulled him out of that because it was too much mentally on him. For someone to do what he did, I haven’t had anybody that made that big of an improvement in his athletic ability, and that says a lot for what he did.
“Jeremy is a heck of an athlete. I think his best event in college is going to be decathlon because he can high jump, he’s got the physique, he’s a sprinter, he can hurdle. He is strong enough to throw a shot. He’s got arms on him, so people can teach him to throw discus. We re proud of him, and he can do very well at high jump.”
Hayton was asked if he was nervous going into state this weekend, but he said he wasn’t.
“I’m not really nervous. After going to nationals and indoor state, it’s crazy, because I get more nervous at the smaller meets,” he said. “It’s weird, but when I have people watching me and it’s a bigger showcase, I don’t really get nervous. I actually thrive off it.
“Competing at nationals was an electric feeling. The crowd, everybody watching you in this little dome, and there’s a big screen over your head. Everybody can see you, and they zoom in on you when you’re about to go jump and everyone’s cheering and laughing and having fun. There’s music playing in the background, and your heart’s racing, and there’s nothing else like that.”
Even with all that he’s accomplished over the past year, Hayton still has a goal in mind for the state championships … to be the champion.
“I want to win. I’m not seeded first right now because I’ve had a little iffy approaches, but I’m working on my approach and nobody has been able to get to the height I’ve gotten to so far,” Hayton said. “If I get everything right, I don’t think I’ll have any problem pulling out the win.”
There is also the 4x100m event too, and for Hayton, that event is important as well.
“That’s been pretty amazing. At the beginning, we had really bad handoffs, so we never really thought we were going to get almost to a 43 in our times,” Hayton said. “Once we started really gaining chemistry with each other, practicing and getting smoother handoffs, getting faster, it’s been better.
“We dropped from 45, 46 to almost a 43, and the bond I have with those three other members of the team has gotten way better, too. Austin Kimball, we didn’t really talk before this, but now I feel like he’s a pretty good friend of mine from being in the same relay team and I trust him. I know he’s going to give me the baton, and that’s probably the best feeling right there.”
Hayton also had some thanks to give for his success this season.
“I want to thank my coaches, Austin and my parents for all the support throughout indoor and outdoor because they really calmed me down whenever I lost my cool and they kept me on the right track. I appreciate all of them for that,” he said.
Kimball ready for state debut as a junior
Austin Kimball is making his state debut in his very first year competing in track and field. Kimball originally began his track career to prepare for the fall football season for the Indians. Since then, that preparation for football has turned into a love of a second sport that he’s having high success at.
“It’s been pretty great. I’ve met a lot of great people. It’s my first time ever doing track. I did it so I could faster this year for football,” Kimball said. “I just try not to let my nerves get to me before the race.
“The 4x1, we came a long way this year from the beginning and got a lot faster. As the season went along, I started getting faster and started taking it more seriously. This weekend, we’ve got to drop our times so we can be faster and win state.”
Kimball competed in a variety of events, putting in the work needed to improve throughout out his first track season.
“I worked on my blocks a lot and ran a lot of 100s and 200s,” he said. “It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it worked out in the long run.”
Marsh spoke highly of the first-year track runner Kimball, saying Kimball is a big reason the Indians are sending a relay team to state once again.
“We started with the new weight room, and we had the track team in there in the preseason lifting and he was in there for football,” Marsh said. “Of course, a lot of kids were in there for football, and he was one of several we had contacted who came out, and he’s really blossomed.
“Austin has really learned a lot. He had some raw talent, raw speed. Now he’s really developing more of a knowledge as a sprinter with block starts, relays, exchanges and everything. He has really gotten into it. We’re so pleased to have him because really, if we didn’t have him, they wouldn’t be going to state. He’s been a really pleasant surprise and a great addition, and he’s a great kid.”
Kimball showed his unselfishness by saying he was more happy to help get seniors Gallimore and Hayton to state in the 4x100m relay than himself.
“I was happy because Jeremy and Luke, the two seniors, really wanted to go to state. I was happy for them that they got to go to state their last year,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the teams and having two more track meets with my 4x1 team. I’d like to thank Jeremy and Luke and Austin, who have been helping me push myself all season to help me get better in the 4x1.”
Gallimore returns to state
Senior Luke Gallimore was unable to attend the interview, but he’s now a two-time state qualifier, last year qualifying for state in the 4x200m relay event.
Coach Marsh spoke very highly of his senior racer as he enters his final event.
“Luke has struggled with injuries. Last year, he struggled at the end of the year with injuries and this year, it’s the same thing,” Marsh said. “His legs, his shins, we just couldn’t figure it out. Being off all winter, he came in and boom, it was there again. We don’t know if it was the running style or what.
“We had to back him off a lot of events during the year because he just couldn’t do it. At the end of the year, he ran the leg, he ran four events for us to try to help us win it. The recovery afterward was … we went Tuesday, and he was still hurting from last Thursday.”
Even with the injuries, Gallimore has ran at a higher level than most, allowing him to qualify for state for the second straight year, but in a different event.
“I’m happy that he got this opportunity, but he’s done what it takes. He’s done what he’s asked to do,” Marsh said of Gallimore. “Coming from last year, he’s the one that is left from the team that made it to state last year. He’s really helped us.
“For the 4x1, we started really clicking with him, and Luke has risen to the occasion. He’s run in pain, and that’s all you can ask for. You can’t ask for any more out of the kid.”
The Hillsboro Indians are sending a 4x100-meter relay team to the Division II State Track and Field Championships, and within that team, there is a duo who could make some history by earning top placements in individual field events as well.
The 4x100m relay team consists of seniors Luke Gallimore and Jeremy Hayton, plus juniors Austin Goolsby and Austin Kimball. Two of those athletes in Goolsby and Hayton can make some Hillsboro history with their individual field events, as both have an excellent chance to not only place, but stand at the top of their respective podiums.
To qualify for state in the 4x100m race, the Indians placed fourth at regionals with a time of 44.19.
Goolsby has “high expectations” for state pole vault
Austin Goolsby enters the state championships at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, located on the campus of The Ohio State University, with by far the top vault this season at 15-00.00 going into the event, as the next closest are three vaults at 14-00.00 to 14-02.00.
It should be noted Goolsby was the Division II state runner-up last year as a sophomore, and this year during the South Central Ohio League Championships, two weeks before regionals, he vaulted a height of 15-06.00. During indoor track this past winter, Goolsby vaulted 16-02.00.
But with the junior, preparation is never finished as he was out practicing for the state meet before 8 a.m.
“I have been staying pretty consistent above 15 feet this year, so I’m pretty happy about that,” Goolsby said. “I was really happy with what I did at regionals and districts. I was happy with 15 feet, and I think I got 15-06 at the SCOL and broke the record there, and I was psyched about that. That was a blast. It was a fun meet.
“I’ve been trying to get on some bigger poles lately, and I think by state, I should be able to get on them. That’s really what I’ve been working on. You can work on technique, but when it comes to the height, you really need those bigger poles. I’m on a 15-foot pole right now, going about 16 feet, so I think if I had a 15-7 pole, I could have a good chance at the state record.”
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Going off his state performance last year Goolsby said he was “really surprised” with his heights on that June day. This season, however, those type of heights aren’t surprises, but expectations in his second visit to state.
“This year, I’ve kind of been expecting it, but this year first of all I’m going to try to win it and get the state title,” Goolsby said. “I just want to have a shot at the state record at 16-06. I’m definitely more relaxed this year. There’s more focus, and I’m there to win it. I’m going to try my best. Last year, I was just trying to place, and it’s been a blessing just to be where I’m at.
“You set your goals, and once you achieve them, it just gives you so much more motivation. That’s what I’m striving to do.”
With success and practice comes an education in the sport, and for Goolsby, this year he changed up how he’s prepared and competed this season compared to last year, making him an even more complete vaulter.
“Last year, I would always want to practice like every single day, and that really wore me out,” Goolsby said. “This year, I’ve been trying to take it easy because I already have the form down and don’t need to practice that much. I just need to have the energy to try to get on some bigger poles and work on my timing in the jump.
“Going back to state, there’ll still be nerves, but I think I’ll be a lot more relaxed because I’ve been to some bigger meets and have a bit more experience now.”
“Austin Goolsby is a junior and top-ranked now in the state, and he didn’t get 15 until the state,” HHS boys track coach Bud Marsh said. “When we backed off is when he really started excelling. The last two meets, the regional and the state, is when we had the best weather and it was the only event he had.
“He will be fresh, and we tell him just don’t get all frustrated with how your heights are right now. When you’re fresh over the weekend and let the adrenaline pump, you’ll be at your best.”
There is also the 4x100m relay race for Goolsby later that afternoon, and that race is important to the junior as well.
“The 4x1 race is so fun. We made a good friendship with all of our guys, and it’s just been a blast to run with them. Ever since like their second meet, we’ve taken it really serious, and every single time we step on the track we want to get another PR,” Goolsby said. “Even if we don’t, it’s really close, and there’s some good athletes on there.
“Going into the season, our goal was to make state. I think after our second meet or so, we were really thinking about it and knew that we could make it if we did our best. It’s so exciting. Just waiting for the handoff, you get the nerves and as soon as you get it, you’re out. It’s really powerful. You just get really excited.”
Goolsby closed by just giving thanks.
“I thank the Lord for everything He’s done for me and giving me this talent, and I thank my parents,” he said. “They’ve always helped me out. Most of all, my coaches … Coach Marsh has always been out there on the track for me and coming here early in the mornings to help me out.”
Jeremy Hayton is having a career-defining season
Next is Jeremy Hayton, who has completely revamped his track and field career in his final season. After he described the end of his junior season at districts as “embarrassing,” he decided to do something about it. Hayton said he changed how he trained, ate and practiced the high jump event, and that work has more than paid off.
During his indoor track season, Hayton jumped a height of 6-09.00 to win the state championship, also qualifying for nationals. This spring season, he tied for second at districts and regionals, while winning the South Central Ohio League championship too. By the way, his heights will help him continue his athletic career with him signing to compete at a Division I level in college, signing with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.
“I decided to make a chance following my junior year when I went 5-10. It was really embarrassing because I went out and got 5-10 at districts and didn’t make it out,” Hayton said. “I was like man, I’m a junior and I’ve never made it out of districts. That was really embarrassing. So when everybody was going to state, I started coming out here and doing a lot of jumping, plyometric workouts, eating right, working out hard and I was really focused. I told Coach Marsh I was going to go win a state championship, and I did at indoor.
“I put in about two hours a day, six days a week. I would come here and get my form down, get a whole lot of approach work and jump quite a bit with Austin in Court House usually. In the weight room, I would do a whole bunch of hang cleans, squats, really focused on going up and away slowly but surely and not trying to go too big too fast.
“I just kept working at it, and I jumped a whole bunch too – plyometric stuff like normal body power, getting my power up. I eventually got faster and stronger, and I’ve been able to jump higher because of it.”
Hayton said anyone can achieve their goals if they just put in the necessary work.
“If anybody can set their mind to it, they can achieve whatever they want. I never thought I’d be a state champion. I never thought I’d go to state in high school or end up going to UC for track. I never thought I’d be a college athlete,” he said. “But I set my mind to it one day, buckled down and had the dedication for it, and it worked out.”
All of that work and effort has led to a moment when he signed with the University of Cincinnati Bearcats on a track and field scholarship.
“That was an amazing moment because it means I made it,” he said. “I get to get an education and keep doing what I love for four more years. I felt really blessed, honestly. I know I didn’t do it myself, though. My family, my friends, they all had support for me. I didn’t go to any camps. I just had coaching and a lot of YouTube. I watched a lot of videos and practiced what they did.”
“I can’t say enough about where he’s come from the last year. He’s worked harder than anybody I’ve had to get where he is right now,” Marsh said of Hayton. “His biggest thing right now is consistency. He did 6-9 during indoor, he did 6-6 the first week of the season and hasn’t done it since then. It is just consistency and working on that.
“We work on that, and we work on approaches. That’s the big thing, approach. He wasn’t bad Saturday, just his steps were off. We were looking and practicing yesterday and hopefully found out what the flaws were. He has a great shot of winning the high jump.
“Jeremy improved himself so much, working not just the high jump but sprinting and the other things. He was doing a decent job of long jumping, but we pulled him out of that because it was too much mentally on him. For someone to do what he did, I haven’t had anybody that made that big of an improvement in his athletic ability, and that says a lot for what he did.
“Jeremy is a heck of an athlete. I think his best event in college is going to be decathlon because he can high jump, he’s got the physique, he’s a sprinter, he can hurdle. He is strong enough to throw a shot. He’s got arms on him, so people can teach him to throw discus. We re proud of him, and he can do very well at high jump.”
Hayton was asked if he was nervous going into state this weekend, but he said he wasn’t.
“I’m not really nervous. After going to nationals and indoor state, it’s crazy, because I get more nervous at the smaller meets,” he said. “It’s weird, but when I have people watching me and it’s a bigger showcase, I don’t really get nervous. I actually thrive off it.
“Competing at nationals was an electric feeling. The crowd, everybody watching you in this little dome, and there’s a big screen over your head. Everybody can see you, and they zoom in on you when you’re about to go jump and everyone’s cheering and laughing and having fun. There’s music playing in the background, and your heart’s racing, and there’s nothing else like that.”
Even with all that he’s accomplished over the past year, Hayton still has a goal in mind for the state championships … to be the champion.
“I want to win. I’m not seeded first right now because I’ve had a little iffy approaches, but I’m working on my approach and nobody has been able to get to the height I’ve gotten to so far,” Hayton said. “If I get everything right, I don’t think I’ll have any problem pulling out the win.”
There is also the 4x100m event too, and for Hayton, that event is important as well.
“That’s been pretty amazing. At the beginning, we had really bad handoffs, so we never really thought we were going to get almost to a 43 in our times,” Hayton said. “Once we started really gaining chemistry with each other, practicing and getting smoother handoffs, getting faster, it’s been better.
“We dropped from 45, 46 to almost a 43, and the bond I have with those three other members of the team has gotten way better, too. Austin Kimball, we didn’t really talk before this, but now I feel like he’s a pretty good friend of mine from being in the same relay team and I trust him. I know he’s going to give me the baton, and that’s probably the best feeling right there.”
Hayton also had some thanks to give for his success this season.
“I want to thank my coaches, Austin and my parents for all the support throughout indoor and outdoor because they really calmed me down whenever I lost my cool and they kept me on the right track. I appreciate all of them for that,” he said.
Kimball ready for state debut as a junior
Austin Kimball is making his state debut in his very first year competing in track and field. Kimball originally began his track career to prepare for the fall football season for the Indians. Since then, that preparation for football has turned into a love of a second sport that he’s having high success at.
“It’s been pretty great. I’ve met a lot of great people. It’s my first time ever doing track. I did it so I could faster this year for football,” Kimball said. “I just try not to let my nerves get to me before the race.
“The 4x1, we came a long way this year from the beginning and got a lot faster. As the season went along, I started getting faster and started taking it more seriously. This weekend, we’ve got to drop our times so we can be faster and win state.”
Kimball competed in a variety of events, putting in the work needed to improve throughout out his first track season.
“I worked on my blocks a lot and ran a lot of 100s and 200s,” he said. “It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, but it worked out in the long run.”
Marsh spoke highly of the first-year track runner Kimball, saying Kimball is a big reason the Indians are sending a relay team to state once again.
“We started with the new weight room, and we had the track team in there in the preseason lifting and he was in there for football,” Marsh said. “Of course, a lot of kids were in there for football, and he was one of several we had contacted who came out, and he’s really blossomed.
“Austin has really learned a lot. He had some raw talent, raw speed. Now he’s really developing more of a knowledge as a sprinter with block starts, relays, exchanges and everything. He has really gotten into it. We’re so pleased to have him because really, if we didn’t have him, they wouldn’t be going to state. He’s been a really pleasant surprise and a great addition, and he’s a great kid.”
Kimball showed his unselfishness by saying he was more happy to help get seniors Gallimore and Hayton to state in the 4x100m relay than himself.
“I was happy because Jeremy and Luke, the two seniors, really wanted to go to state. I was happy for them that they got to go to state their last year,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing the teams and having two more track meets with my 4x1 team. I’d like to thank Jeremy and Luke and Austin, who have been helping me push myself all season to help me get better in the 4x1.”
Gallimore returns to state
Senior Luke Gallimore was unable to attend the interview, but he’s now a two-time state qualifier, last year qualifying for state in the 4x200m relay event.
Coach Marsh spoke very highly of his senior racer as he enters his final event.
“Luke has struggled with injuries. Last year, he struggled at the end of the year with injuries and this year, it’s the same thing,” Marsh said. “His legs, his shins, we just couldn’t figure it out. Being off all winter, he came in and boom, it was there again. We don’t know if it was the running style or what.
“We had to back him off a lot of events during the year because he just couldn’t do it. At the end of the year, he ran the leg, he ran four events for us to try to help us win it. The recovery afterward was … we went Tuesday, and he was still hurting from last Thursday.”
Even with the injuries, Gallimore has ran at a higher level than most, allowing him to qualify for state for the second straight year, but in a different event.
“I’m happy that he got this opportunity, but he’s done what it takes. He’s done what he’s asked to do,” Marsh said of Gallimore. “Coming from last year, he’s the one that is left from the team that made it to state last year. He’s really helped us.
“For the 4x1, we started really clicking with him, and Luke has risen to the occasion. He’s run in pain, and that’s all you can ask for. You can’t ask for any more out of the kid.”