D-III girls looking for podium finishes at state

This year's Division III state track meet includes a small contingent of area girls, with eight athletes spread out among eight entries.Half of those entries will compete courtesy of earning at-large berths.The state track meet began including at-large bids in 2018, allowing for 18 entries per event — the top four from each of the four regional meets for 16 entries, plus the next two best efforts from across the regional meets.This rewards athletes or relay teams which, due to reasons such as a high level of competition or weather-related issues, might not finish in the top four at their own regional meet but still out-perform those at the other regionals.Elysa Holsinger is a good example of that this year.The Carey freshman took fifth at her regional in the 300 hurdles this year, one spot away from an automatic state berth. However, her time of 46.33 seconds not only would've put her in the top four at the other three regionals, she would've won the title at two of them."I knew she was going to get one of the at-large bids. I just had a feeling," Carey coach Ryan Pratt said. "She broke the school record again, ran the fastest time of the year, got fifth and she tripped over the last hurdle and fell at the finish line."That's why they have the at-large bids, because it's a timing thing," he said.Not too bad for someone who didn't even pick up the race until partway through the season."One of her favorite events to do is the 400, … that's what she did in junior high. As she was running her 400s this year, we noticed she was pretty quick at it, but not quite at state level yet. So my assistant coach, Tricia Nash, said I think we should try her in the 300 hurdles," Pratt said. "This was probably four or five meets in, we decided to put her in the 300 hurdles and I think we made the right choice."The other area athletes to earn at-large bids are Hopewell-Loudon freshman Savanna Cook in the 200 (26.21), and the Calvert duo of senior Farrah Gaulden in the 100 hurdles (15.85) and junior Emily Miller in the 400 (58.71).Five of the automatic qualifiers in the 200 ran slower regional times than Cook and another automatic qualifier tied her time.Three from that group will run in the same preliminary heat at state as Cook, but advancing to the finals — the top two in each of the two preliminary heats plus the next five fastest times move on — will be a challenge since she will run in Lane 9.Still, coach Paul Jones has a simple message for her."Enjoy it and remember the experience," he said. "I think it's going to help her so much moving forward in the next three years of track, to get down there as a freshman and see what it's all about, and then the next time you go you're not quite so overwhelmed. And I think the experience is just going to mean the world to her in the next few years."But have fun with it, too," Jones said. "You've got to have some fun."Gaulden and Miller will also face the Lane 9 challenge, though coach Rush Arbogast thinks Miller faces a tougher task with that since the starting stagger position will keep her from seeing any competitors until they get around the curve to the final straightaway.But it's something he feels she can accomplish."I think she's going to have to run," Arbogast said. "She's going to definitely have to do good (to reach finals), have a strong race, especially coming from Lane 9, but I think she's got a pretty good shot to make finals."For Gaulden, Arbogast said moving on really only comes down to speed and time."She's going to have to run faster, I think, than what she did at regionals to make it on (to finals). But luckily, with her race, it doesn't matter if you're in Lane 9 or Lane 1, it's a straight shot. They're all the same, they're all equal," he said. "She's not at any disadvantage with being in that outside lane, which is nice."If one or both of the Senecas don't advance, they still have one more race to run.They and sophomores Avery Elchert and Karris Marinis also qualified in the 4x200 (1:44.65), giving Calvert the most state entries among area Division III girls teams this year."Going into the (regional) meet, I was pretty confident in all three of those (entries) making it on to state," Arbogast said. "Some of the times at our region were unbelievable this year, but overall, those were three … I was most confident of coming in."And a little returning state experience won't hurt, either."With the experience coming from Emily being there twice and Karris being there last year, and all these girls were there as alternates, they've seen it, to some degree they know what to expect," Arbogast said. "I wouldn't say that I'm too concerned, but at the same time, the state track meet is always a whole other beast. Even experienced people can get those little bit of extra jitters, and I'm sure there's going to be some, but I don't think it's going to be anything too strong."Seniors Aubrey Vitte of Lakota and Macy Schubach of New Riegel also return to state.Vitte is back in the 100 (12.38) and also advanced in the 200 (25.78), while Schubach returns in the high jump after matching her school record height of 5-2 at last week's regional.Lakota coach Ashley Allen feels this weekend will serve as a great end to Vitte's season and career."I knew she would make it. She had all the confidence in the world and I had all the confidence in her. She wanted both of them, and she got them," Allen said."I know she wanted it last year too, but being her first year I think it was kind of intimidating. And not really knowing what to expect. I think now she knows," she said. "And this is her last chance to do it and I think she'll be just fine."New Riegel coach Josh Osborne also thinks Schubach won't let the atmosphere of state play a role in how she performs."We're going to get there early, we're going to walk around and we're just going to walk the pit area. She's going to see it's just a pit area. It's just like all the other ones. If she's looking at the pit and she's looking at her jump area, and that's all you're looking at, it's the same (as other places)," he said. "You've been to these, it's no different. Yes, there's a nice fancy stadium, very nice looking all around it, but where you're at, it's the same as where you've been twice a week for the whole season."I think when we get down there, she's going to see that, OK, this isn't a big deal. We'll get that out of the way and over with and we'll just start concentrating on jumping," he said. "It didn't seem to bother her last year, so I don't expect it to bother her too much this year."