State Track Feature: Pence hurdles competition
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
Putting together everything in her final year as a member of the Hillsboro girls track and field team, Hillsboro senior Leah Pence has hurdled her way past the competition and into the Division II OHSAA State Championships this weekend at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Pence, who was also a four-year soccer player, advanced to the state championships in the 100-meter hurdles, reaching a goal she set for herself her freshman season, but once the race at regionals was over, the senior had no idea if she qualified or not.
"This was my goal since freshman year to make state, and this was my last time for a chance to make state," she said. "I was in the box at regionals, and I thought to myself, 'I don't want this to be my last time.' After the race was over, it felt like the longest five seconds of my life, and I was looking at the board, I saw my name pop up and then disappear.
"I tried to find someone I knew to see if I got in the top four, but I couldn't find anybody. I turned around and saw my name come back on the board. I just wanted to cry because I finally reached my goal I set since I was a freshman. It would have been really disappointing if I didn't make it."
[[In-content Ad]]This season, Pence was successful in the 100m hurdles, including an SCOL first-place finish at 15.88 at London H.S. The following week at the Washington C.H. districts, Pence was third with a time of 16.39.
In the Athens regionals, the senior was third with a time of 15.95.
"This is what I wanted for Leah this year. I think this is the best way we could have finished Leah's senior season," HHS girls track and field head coach Sarah Horsley said. "When I started coaching Leah her sophomore year, she came out here, and and I think we got her to the regional final that year. This is what she's wanted all along, and this is what we've wanted for her."
Running any hurdles event can be a daunting task, and when asked to describe what a race with hurdles in the way is like, Pence told a story about another competitor running the event for the first time this season.
"We had a girl this year at our first meet … she had never run hurdles before in her life," Pence recalled. "She was really scared and was asking 'what if I fall … what do I do?'
"So I guess for someone who never ran hurdles, it can be very scary because the main thing you are thinking is 'don't trip and fall over the hurdles' … if you think about that, then you probably will."
Pence admitted this year she gave all she had to reach the point of being a state qualifier, but it took her final year to realize how much her work would and could pay off.
"Well, my past three years, I didn't give practice my complete everything," she said. "This year, I didn't let down in practice at all. I ran indoor track this winter, and that really helped a lot. I just wanted to make sure I did everything I could to get to state this year."
Horsley spoke about Pence’s work this year and how the senior was happy to share this experience with her teammates at the regionals.
"We've kept working at it and getting her to this point," she said. "One of the things I talked to her mom about on Saturday before the regionals was she said Leah talked about how she wanted state really bad, and how Leah was at a point where she came to regionals with eight other girls, and she couldn't have asked for anything better her senior season.'
Horsley spoke of her emotions when Pence qualified for state.
"She was the first one to come across the line and qualify … I couldn't stop shaking," she said. "I was like 'YES,' because Leah was my first state qualifier … it was just as thrilling for me as it probably was for her."
With the event a few days away, Pence said she's excited for the event.
"I'm kind of excited to walk into the stadium Friday because I've never been to a state track meet, not even to watch," the senior said. "I heard there will be so many people there, but I'm looking forward to running there. It's probably going to be dead silent right before they shoot the gun for the hurdles, so it's going to be pretty intense."
Pence, who was also a four-year soccer player, advanced to the state championships in the 100-meter hurdles, reaching a goal she set for herself her freshman season, but once the race at regionals was over, the senior had no idea if she qualified or not.
"This was my goal since freshman year to make state, and this was my last time for a chance to make state," she said. "I was in the box at regionals, and I thought to myself, 'I don't want this to be my last time.' After the race was over, it felt like the longest five seconds of my life, and I was looking at the board, I saw my name pop up and then disappear.
"I tried to find someone I knew to see if I got in the top four, but I couldn't find anybody. I turned around and saw my name come back on the board. I just wanted to cry because I finally reached my goal I set since I was a freshman. It would have been really disappointing if I didn't make it."
[[In-content Ad]]This season, Pence was successful in the 100m hurdles, including an SCOL first-place finish at 15.88 at London H.S. The following week at the Washington C.H. districts, Pence was third with a time of 16.39.
In the Athens regionals, the senior was third with a time of 15.95.
"This is what I wanted for Leah this year. I think this is the best way we could have finished Leah's senior season," HHS girls track and field head coach Sarah Horsley said. "When I started coaching Leah her sophomore year, she came out here, and and I think we got her to the regional final that year. This is what she's wanted all along, and this is what we've wanted for her."
Running any hurdles event can be a daunting task, and when asked to describe what a race with hurdles in the way is like, Pence told a story about another competitor running the event for the first time this season.
"We had a girl this year at our first meet … she had never run hurdles before in her life," Pence recalled. "She was really scared and was asking 'what if I fall … what do I do?'
"So I guess for someone who never ran hurdles, it can be very scary because the main thing you are thinking is 'don't trip and fall over the hurdles' … if you think about that, then you probably will."
Pence admitted this year she gave all she had to reach the point of being a state qualifier, but it took her final year to realize how much her work would and could pay off.
"Well, my past three years, I didn't give practice my complete everything," she said. "This year, I didn't let down in practice at all. I ran indoor track this winter, and that really helped a lot. I just wanted to make sure I did everything I could to get to state this year."
Horsley spoke about Pence’s work this year and how the senior was happy to share this experience with her teammates at the regionals.
"We've kept working at it and getting her to this point," she said. "One of the things I talked to her mom about on Saturday before the regionals was she said Leah talked about how she wanted state really bad, and how Leah was at a point where she came to regionals with eight other girls, and she couldn't have asked for anything better her senior season.'
Horsley spoke of her emotions when Pence qualified for state.
"She was the first one to come across the line and qualify … I couldn't stop shaking," she said. "I was like 'YES,' because Leah was my first state qualifier … it was just as thrilling for me as it probably was for her."
With the event a few days away, Pence said she's excited for the event.
"I'm kind of excited to walk into the stadium Friday because I've never been to a state track meet, not even to watch," the senior said. "I heard there will be so many people there, but I'm looking forward to running there. It's probably going to be dead silent right before they shoot the gun for the hurdles, so it's going to be pretty intense."