Whiteoak's Kittner set to make state return; Blair prepared for state debut
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Whiteoak High School has two runners representing their school this upcoming Friday and Saturday at the Division III OHSAA State Track and Field Championships, and for one runner it will be her final time running for the orange-and-black.
Qualifying for the state meet are Whiteoak senior Lydia Kittner and sophomore Weston Blair, with Kittner qualifying for state in two events this season, as this is her second trip to state, while Blair is making his state debut.
Also remember, Whiteoak doesn’t have a track of their own, and they practice on the elementary school parking lot for their running events.
Kittner qualified for state in the 100-meter dash and the 400m dash, as the prelims for those events are on Friday morning at 10:20 a.m. and 11 a.m. Blair will make his state debut in the 800-meter run on Saturday around 11 a.m.
Though they are at different points of their high school careers, the two athletes are ready for state as it will be the first time these two runners will be competing at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, located on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Last year, the state championships were held at three high schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so after two years away from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, the state championships return, allowing Kittner to have the excitement of running at the stadium for the first time as a senior.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Kittner said. “I was very, very happy to go, especially in two events. That was pretty cool. I would say I was less surprised to go to state. Last year, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I'm going to state,’ I couldn't believe that. This year I was really happy about my placement in my 400 especially, so that was pretty cool.
“I talked to another girl who is going to state, and she said her freshman year they had it there (Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium). She said there is going to be like 20,000 people, and I was like, oh my gosh, I've never run in front of that many people before. That’s going to be crazy.”
To qualify for state at the Division III Regionals held at Southeastern High School, Kittner — who is the only WHS athlete to qualify for four regional events twice — was the regional champion in the 400m dash with a time of 58.93, setting the WHS girls school record in the event.
“That was really cool,” Kittner said of breaking the school record and improving on her time. “I know last year, I had gone for the record at the school and I didn't get it, but this year, I got it.”
In the 400m race, Kittner has knocked off three seconds on her time in one year, as last year she qualified for state in the 400m dash with a time of 1:01.10. She won the Southern Hills Athletic Conference title (59.25) and a district championship (58.90) in the 400m to go along with her regional championship.
Kittner finished the 100m dash in fourth place in the finals with a time of 12.78. She also earned an SHAC championship in the event with a time of 12.65 and was district runner-up at 12.67.
“Lydia Kittner is an amazing athlete. She has won meet medalist at several of the very large invitationals that we've been to this year, scoring 38, sometimes 40 points,” WHS head coach Kim Roush said. “She's amazing. It really wasn't too big of a surprise to us that she qualified. She qualified last year, and she lifted heavy over the offseason, and she came back even stronger. We kind of knew this is probably where she would end up.
“She ended up cutting almost three seconds off of her 400 time. That's hard to do. She literally could have her name on every event on the record board. She's that athletic. If she trained for distance, she could win those races. She just decided she wanted to pursue the sprinting avenue last year, so that was all new. That's a whole different muscle group, and she's been training for that, and obviously, it's worked well for her. She's just an athlete.”
Assistant coach Brian DeAtley spoke about how during the middle of the season Kittner decided to race the distance events, and his story tells how great of an athlete Kittner is.
“We had a meet in the middle of the year where she decided to run the mile and the two-mile, right, and she was almost a school record on both of those,” he said. “She just said, ‘hey, I want to try this.’”
Becoming a state-qualifying sprinter wasn’t easy, as Kittner originally began her running career as a distance runner, competing in cross-country and the distance events in track.
“I've always been a distance runner. It sounded kind of cool to try sprinting, so I was always like intrigued by that, because I'd never really done it,” she said. “And then the 400, I don't know, it seems like ‘the event’ because the track is 400 meters. That's the event of track, to me anyway, and that's why I wanted to do that.”
The senior described the two races and explained their differences.
“The 100, it goes so fast. It's like you get out of the blocks, and I'm thinking ‘move my feet,’ because turnover is a big part of that,” Kittner said. “And so then you just think ‘move your feet as fast as you can until you cross the finish,’ versus the 400, I see this as more fighting going on in that.
“There's a little bit more strategy. I have things I do at certain parts of the race that I think about, so there's definitely more strategy with the 400.”
Kittner said with each race she believed she improved, and that’s how she’s enjoyed this season, as each race was better than the last one.
“I did feel really good at the regional finals’ 400. At league, that was the first time I'd ever gotten the 59, so that felt really good,” she said. “Honestly, after every meet, I think this is the best meet ever, and then the next week, and I think that was the best meet ever. It just keeps getting better.
“That's what you want, so to get that, to get the times to go down, is very rewarding.”
“Honored” is the word that came to mind for Kittner as she reflected on what it means to be a two-time state qualifier, and to compete at the highest level one last time for her senior season.
“I feel very honored to be running with all the people there. That's pretty cool, to feel like I made it. I feel very honored,” Kittner said. “It's humbling to run with so many good people. I admire all of the people that I see. I'm like, wow, they're dedicated. Everyone there's dedicated — you're not going to get there without that — so I’m very, very honored.”
This final trip to state for Kittner is about soaking in the atmosphere and appreciating the moment, while also having fun.
“Well, soaking it all in, pretty much because as a senior, too, this really is it,” she said. “Just knowing that this is it, really, that gives me more reason to give my all, to do my best, to have fun. I’m very excited and wanting to just soak it all in and always remember this.”
Roush finished by giving positive comments on the type of athlete and leader Kittner is for the program.
“She's just a great example. It's easy. It's easy to coach an athlete like that,” Roush said. “She does everything she's supposed to. Even all of the athletics aside, she's a better person than she is an athlete. So she's amazing. She is a wonderful example to everyone. She cares about everyone. She's positive. All the girls love her. There's no animosity whatsoever. You can't say anything bad about her.”
In his sophomore season, Blair qualified for the state championships in the 800m run with a time of 1:58.17 in regionals, a third-place finish. It was his PR, as he improved on his previous best time by three seconds.
Also this season, Blair was first place in the 800m run with a time of 2:07.57 at the SHAC meet, and he was a district champion in the 800m run at 2:02.81.
The sophomore runner had a goal to qualify for state at the start of the season, and he’s put in the work to do so, even after being a state qualifier at cross-country this past fall, and he’s also a member of the boys basketball team.
“It is very rewarding,” Blair said of being a state qualifier. “I was working — this was my goal all year, to make it to state. Being a sophomore, I really wasn't expected to, but I worked all year, was working my time down and just got to it. I still want to go up there and compete, so I'm still ready to go.
“I’m confident in myself. I expected to make it. I don't think many people expected me to, but I felt that I could run it. I felt like I had the strength in me to do it and got it done. That was my goal all year, just to make it to state.”
While at regionals Blair described the experience of waiting to see the final results as “nerve-wracking.”
“It was nerve-wracking because it was a close finish. If I finished third, top four, move on, but I mean, third, fourth and fifth, we were all right there,” he said. “Right after the run, I wasn't sure if I made it, so I had to stay and watch the clock. Once I saw my name flash up there, it was just relief. I was excited. It was a good feeling.”
Blair’s athletic ability was a big part of him getting involved with tack and field in his introduction to the sport, as his speed helped him get involved in the sport.
“I was just fast. We'd have these little runs I'd go to, and I actually remember the first 800 I ever ran, I didn't want to run it,” Blair said, “I was like, ‘800? I’m a distance runner. I don't do that.’ My first time was at West Union High School, and I remember I won it by like 200 meters. And I'm like, ‘maybe I might be good at this one.’
“My times were competitive, and I just kept working at it. What got me in the 800 was my dad was like, ‘Yeah, I think you'd be really good at it’ and it they put me in it, because my mom was the coach that year. So they put me in it, and the rest — I've just been running it ever since.”
Coach Roush spoke highly of Blair and spoke about his progression over the past few seasons.
“Weston has grown up. He's a Whiteoak kid through and through. He's grown up running with our kids, and we've seen him just progress over the years,” Roush said. “Last year, we kind of saw something in him that was a little bit more competitive than what I had thought — you know, what I had him pegged for — which is awesome.
“He has a huge heart. His heart’s the size of Texas, as far as competition, and just if somebody's out there, he's going to catch him. I mean, that's what he does. He's just a hardcore competitor.”
Speaking of work ethic and being a competitor, Coach DeAtley had a story about Blair and about all of the work the sophomore puts in not just during track and field season, but all year long.
“I’d say four days a week, when I show up to school at 7 a.m., he and his dad have already been in the weight room lifting, and that's all year long,” DeAtley said. “They've got a program. They come in, I’m guessing they get there quarter till six or so, and they work every day, basketball season, cross-country season, track season.
“That's another thing with Weston. Literally, I think he's had four days that he wasn't in a sport, all year long. Because cross-country, they made it to state, so that was an extended season, and then they literally went straight into basketball, come out of basketball and we were in track.”
Blair described what he goes through when running the two-lap 800m run because not only is their some distance involved, but there is a battle going at full speed for two laps against a number of opponents.
“The way I run it is I run the first 400 like I'm running the 400 — as fast as I can — and then I just try to hang on … just hang on, don't let anyone pass me,” Blair said. “I always will kick at the last 100 meters, have a decent sprint left in me, just to try to catch someone or fend someone off if I need it.
“My thing is I just go out and hang on. I've trained for it, I know I can do it. I've done it for a while. It's just a matter of me telling myself I can do it, and then just willing myself to do it.”
Blair stated that he is going to treat the state race like any other race and work to do his very best during his final race of his sophomore season.
“It is going to be just another race, and I’m going to go out there and work to run another PR, try to cut time off, go out there and compete with the best of them,” Blair said. “I PRed by three seconds [at regionals]. I was pushed. I had really good competition there to fight with, and I was there fighting with them.
“Like I said, when I go out, I run my first lap as hard as I can and just hang on. When you’ve got those people chasing you, it's a more of a reason to hang on, you know, they're right behind you.”
Roush talked about how she was excited for Blair when he qualified for state.
“I really wanted him to make it this year. He was a little nervous going in, I think, and I'm just glad that he was able to prove to himself that he's got what it takes,” she said. “He understands his event. He understands his times, he understands what kind of competition he has and how to improve. I think that's a pretty good goal. I'd say he can do it.”
Both runners gave thanks to their parents, family, teammates, friends and coaches for helping them and being a part of their journey to the state championships.
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Qualifying for the state meet are Whiteoak senior Lydia Kittner and sophomore Weston Blair, with Kittner qualifying for state in two events this season, as this is her second trip to state, while Blair is making his state debut.
Also remember, Whiteoak doesn’t have a track of their own, and they practice on the elementary school parking lot for their running events.
Kittner qualified for state in the 100-meter dash and the 400m dash, as the prelims for those events are on Friday morning at 10:20 a.m. and 11 a.m. Blair will make his state debut in the 800-meter run on Saturday around 11 a.m.
Though they are at different points of their high school careers, the two athletes are ready for state as it will be the first time these two runners will be competing at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, located on the campus of The Ohio State University.
Last year, the state championships were held at three high schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so after two years away from Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, the state championships return, allowing Kittner to have the excitement of running at the stadium for the first time as a senior.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Kittner said. “I was very, very happy to go, especially in two events. That was pretty cool. I would say I was less surprised to go to state. Last year, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I'm going to state,’ I couldn't believe that. This year I was really happy about my placement in my 400 especially, so that was pretty cool.
“I talked to another girl who is going to state, and she said her freshman year they had it there (Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium). She said there is going to be like 20,000 people, and I was like, oh my gosh, I've never run in front of that many people before. That’s going to be crazy.”
To qualify for state at the Division III Regionals held at Southeastern High School, Kittner — who is the only WHS athlete to qualify for four regional events twice — was the regional champion in the 400m dash with a time of 58.93, setting the WHS girls school record in the event.
“That was really cool,” Kittner said of breaking the school record and improving on her time. “I know last year, I had gone for the record at the school and I didn't get it, but this year, I got it.”
In the 400m race, Kittner has knocked off three seconds on her time in one year, as last year she qualified for state in the 400m dash with a time of 1:01.10. She won the Southern Hills Athletic Conference title (59.25) and a district championship (58.90) in the 400m to go along with her regional championship.
Kittner finished the 100m dash in fourth place in the finals with a time of 12.78. She also earned an SHAC championship in the event with a time of 12.65 and was district runner-up at 12.67.
“Lydia Kittner is an amazing athlete. She has won meet medalist at several of the very large invitationals that we've been to this year, scoring 38, sometimes 40 points,” WHS head coach Kim Roush said. “She's amazing. It really wasn't too big of a surprise to us that she qualified. She qualified last year, and she lifted heavy over the offseason, and she came back even stronger. We kind of knew this is probably where she would end up.
“She ended up cutting almost three seconds off of her 400 time. That's hard to do. She literally could have her name on every event on the record board. She's that athletic. If she trained for distance, she could win those races. She just decided she wanted to pursue the sprinting avenue last year, so that was all new. That's a whole different muscle group, and she's been training for that, and obviously, it's worked well for her. She's just an athlete.”
Assistant coach Brian DeAtley spoke about how during the middle of the season Kittner decided to race the distance events, and his story tells how great of an athlete Kittner is.
“We had a meet in the middle of the year where she decided to run the mile and the two-mile, right, and she was almost a school record on both of those,” he said. “She just said, ‘hey, I want to try this.’”
Becoming a state-qualifying sprinter wasn’t easy, as Kittner originally began her running career as a distance runner, competing in cross-country and the distance events in track.
“I've always been a distance runner. It sounded kind of cool to try sprinting, so I was always like intrigued by that, because I'd never really done it,” she said. “And then the 400, I don't know, it seems like ‘the event’ because the track is 400 meters. That's the event of track, to me anyway, and that's why I wanted to do that.”
The senior described the two races and explained their differences.
“The 100, it goes so fast. It's like you get out of the blocks, and I'm thinking ‘move my feet,’ because turnover is a big part of that,” Kittner said. “And so then you just think ‘move your feet as fast as you can until you cross the finish,’ versus the 400, I see this as more fighting going on in that.
“There's a little bit more strategy. I have things I do at certain parts of the race that I think about, so there's definitely more strategy with the 400.”
Kittner said with each race she believed she improved, and that’s how she’s enjoyed this season, as each race was better than the last one.
“I did feel really good at the regional finals’ 400. At league, that was the first time I'd ever gotten the 59, so that felt really good,” she said. “Honestly, after every meet, I think this is the best meet ever, and then the next week, and I think that was the best meet ever. It just keeps getting better.
“That's what you want, so to get that, to get the times to go down, is very rewarding.”
“Honored” is the word that came to mind for Kittner as she reflected on what it means to be a two-time state qualifier, and to compete at the highest level one last time for her senior season.
“I feel very honored to be running with all the people there. That's pretty cool, to feel like I made it. I feel very honored,” Kittner said. “It's humbling to run with so many good people. I admire all of the people that I see. I'm like, wow, they're dedicated. Everyone there's dedicated — you're not going to get there without that — so I’m very, very honored.”
This final trip to state for Kittner is about soaking in the atmosphere and appreciating the moment, while also having fun.
“Well, soaking it all in, pretty much because as a senior, too, this really is it,” she said. “Just knowing that this is it, really, that gives me more reason to give my all, to do my best, to have fun. I’m very excited and wanting to just soak it all in and always remember this.”
Roush finished by giving positive comments on the type of athlete and leader Kittner is for the program.
“She's just a great example. It's easy. It's easy to coach an athlete like that,” Roush said. “She does everything she's supposed to. Even all of the athletics aside, she's a better person than she is an athlete. So she's amazing. She is a wonderful example to everyone. She cares about everyone. She's positive. All the girls love her. There's no animosity whatsoever. You can't say anything bad about her.”
In his sophomore season, Blair qualified for the state championships in the 800m run with a time of 1:58.17 in regionals, a third-place finish. It was his PR, as he improved on his previous best time by three seconds.
Also this season, Blair was first place in the 800m run with a time of 2:07.57 at the SHAC meet, and he was a district champion in the 800m run at 2:02.81.
The sophomore runner had a goal to qualify for state at the start of the season, and he’s put in the work to do so, even after being a state qualifier at cross-country this past fall, and he’s also a member of the boys basketball team.
“It is very rewarding,” Blair said of being a state qualifier. “I was working — this was my goal all year, to make it to state. Being a sophomore, I really wasn't expected to, but I worked all year, was working my time down and just got to it. I still want to go up there and compete, so I'm still ready to go.
“I’m confident in myself. I expected to make it. I don't think many people expected me to, but I felt that I could run it. I felt like I had the strength in me to do it and got it done. That was my goal all year, just to make it to state.”
While at regionals Blair described the experience of waiting to see the final results as “nerve-wracking.”
“It was nerve-wracking because it was a close finish. If I finished third, top four, move on, but I mean, third, fourth and fifth, we were all right there,” he said. “Right after the run, I wasn't sure if I made it, so I had to stay and watch the clock. Once I saw my name flash up there, it was just relief. I was excited. It was a good feeling.”
Blair’s athletic ability was a big part of him getting involved with tack and field in his introduction to the sport, as his speed helped him get involved in the sport.
“I was just fast. We'd have these little runs I'd go to, and I actually remember the first 800 I ever ran, I didn't want to run it,” Blair said, “I was like, ‘800? I’m a distance runner. I don't do that.’ My first time was at West Union High School, and I remember I won it by like 200 meters. And I'm like, ‘maybe I might be good at this one.’
“My times were competitive, and I just kept working at it. What got me in the 800 was my dad was like, ‘Yeah, I think you'd be really good at it’ and it they put me in it, because my mom was the coach that year. So they put me in it, and the rest — I've just been running it ever since.”
Coach Roush spoke highly of Blair and spoke about his progression over the past few seasons.
“Weston has grown up. He's a Whiteoak kid through and through. He's grown up running with our kids, and we've seen him just progress over the years,” Roush said. “Last year, we kind of saw something in him that was a little bit more competitive than what I had thought — you know, what I had him pegged for — which is awesome.
“He has a huge heart. His heart’s the size of Texas, as far as competition, and just if somebody's out there, he's going to catch him. I mean, that's what he does. He's just a hardcore competitor.”
Speaking of work ethic and being a competitor, Coach DeAtley had a story about Blair and about all of the work the sophomore puts in not just during track and field season, but all year long.
“I’d say four days a week, when I show up to school at 7 a.m., he and his dad have already been in the weight room lifting, and that's all year long,” DeAtley said. “They've got a program. They come in, I’m guessing they get there quarter till six or so, and they work every day, basketball season, cross-country season, track season.
“That's another thing with Weston. Literally, I think he's had four days that he wasn't in a sport, all year long. Because cross-country, they made it to state, so that was an extended season, and then they literally went straight into basketball, come out of basketball and we were in track.”
Blair described what he goes through when running the two-lap 800m run because not only is their some distance involved, but there is a battle going at full speed for two laps against a number of opponents.
“The way I run it is I run the first 400 like I'm running the 400 — as fast as I can — and then I just try to hang on … just hang on, don't let anyone pass me,” Blair said. “I always will kick at the last 100 meters, have a decent sprint left in me, just to try to catch someone or fend someone off if I need it.
“My thing is I just go out and hang on. I've trained for it, I know I can do it. I've done it for a while. It's just a matter of me telling myself I can do it, and then just willing myself to do it.”
Blair stated that he is going to treat the state race like any other race and work to do his very best during his final race of his sophomore season.
“It is going to be just another race, and I’m going to go out there and work to run another PR, try to cut time off, go out there and compete with the best of them,” Blair said. “I PRed by three seconds [at regionals]. I was pushed. I had really good competition there to fight with, and I was there fighting with them.
“Like I said, when I go out, I run my first lap as hard as I can and just hang on. When you’ve got those people chasing you, it's a more of a reason to hang on, you know, they're right behind you.”
Roush talked about how she was excited for Blair when he qualified for state.
“I really wanted him to make it this year. He was a little nervous going in, I think, and I'm just glad that he was able to prove to himself that he's got what it takes,” she said. “He understands his event. He understands his times, he understands what kind of competition he has and how to improve. I think that's a pretty good goal. I'd say he can do it.”
Both runners gave thanks to their parents, family, teammates, friends and coaches for helping them and being a part of their journey to the state championships.
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