Mason Lightle races in state 200m debut for Fairfield Lions

COLUMBUS — For the first time in his high school career, Fairfield junior Mason Lightle raced at the state level, as he ran in the Division V 200-meter dash in the 2026 OHSAA State Track and Field Championships. 

Running at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, Lightle — who was injured at districts last season — finished the Division V 200m dash in 23.73 in the prelims on the campus of The Ohio State University on Thursday, June 4. 

“That was probably one of my worst runs. It was fun, though, coming out here, getting to run at Ohio State,” Lightle said. “It was definitely not what I wanted to run, but I’ve still got next year, just got to put in work and work harder.”

The Fairfield junior also spoke about running at state to gain the experience for next season, and what it is like being a state qualifier. 

“It was awesome. It was a good experience and a good eye opener for what to look for next year. It definitely shows you how much harder I’ve got to work and what it will take to get there,” Lightle said. “It was great. It makes next year a little bit easier to figure out what I need to do, what I need to work on and just how much faster I need to get.

In becoming a state qualifier, Lightle, in the 200m dash, had a time at regionals of 22.92. The week prior, Lightle raced in the district meet, winning a district championship with a time of 23.15. 

At the SHAC Championships in the 200m, Lightle was third place overall at 23.56, as that race was the week before the district race.

Fairfield boys track and field head coach Craig Campbell spoke proudly of Lightle for not just his efforts at state, but for his entire season. 

“I teach my kids that we have the ups and downs, and really, Mason has had a great year. He's finishing on an up, really, making it to state. He PRed in his last three races, and I tell you what, it's hard to PR that many times in a row,” Campbell said. “This was his fourth race. I'm really proud of him. He came back from a tough ending last year and put forth the effort to get here, and he's a junior, and I expect him to be here next year.

“He ended his last year with an injury, and he should have been on the podium at districts, but unfortunately, an injury kept him out of tournaments, and he came back stronger than ever this year. He's got a very strong work ethic. I mean, we spend, I don't know how many block starts we've done, how many repetitions we've done, how many videos we've analyzed of his running pattern, and he's just spent hours and hours and thousands and thousands of steps just putting in the work, and that's what's got him here. I'm really proud of him.

“When he has a disappointing race, he learns from it, and that just makes him stronger and helps him move forward. He has that never give up attitude. He’s going to keep pushing forward, he's going to learn from disappointments, and then that just makes him stronger.”

Lightle had some thanks to give and talked about being ready for next season. 

“I’d like to thank my mom, dad, coaches, all my teammates and just all my friends and family,” Lightle said. “I’m just ready to come back next year, work even harder, and hopefully I’ve got some teammates to come here with me next year.”