Plenty of school records, podium finishes on Day 1

COLUMBUS — Three area athletes turned in school record efforts Friday on the way to earning spots on the podium and two others also placed on the first day of the Division III state track meet.The school records came from Old Fort senior Evan Combs in the pole vault and Hopewell-Loudon junior Aiden Ewald in the discus in the boys meet, while New Riegel senior high jumper Macy Schubach added one in the girls meet.Combs briefly even held a Division III state meet record before finishing second with a height of 16-2.When Combs and Ansonia's Cade Shellhaas were the final two competitors left, they elected to raise the bar from 15-10 to 16-2 in order to challenge the then-Division III state meet record of 16-1 ½.Combs went first and cleared it on his first attempt for the record, with Shellhaas matching him moments later.They next attempted 16-6, with Combs missing all three of his attempts while Shellhass went over on his second try.Despite not getting the title or winding up with the Division III state meet record, Combs said he had no regrets."It's awesome," he said. "There's really no better feeling, especially a state meet record. Even just to hold it for a few seconds, that's a feeling that I'm very grateful for having."And one he almost didn't get to experience.A lack of confidence had Combs struggling all year before finally finding his groove at the district meet. The turnaround had the senior going from barely getting off the ground, let alone even placing, to moving well up the podium at state."I just lost a lot of confidence and I wasn't able to train as much as I like. I just couldn't take up jumps. It was in my head," Combs said. "Last week I had a great meet at regionals and that was just the confidence boost I needed to trust myself and get the job done. I had a lot of good practices leading up to this, too, so I definitely felt like I could do it today."It's just an incredible feeling. This entire season has just been a battle," he said. "A lot of setbacks. To finally have my breakthrough is just an incredible feeling."Ewald had quite a different run to state.The junior dominated in the discus ring all season, setting and re-setting school marks en route to a state berth.Friday, he uncorked a school record toss of 175-5 to claim second."For me, I think it's really just technique. That's where discus performs," he said. "You don't need all this muscle, really, to throw disc, you just need technique."That's the good part of disc," Ewald said. "Getting better at the technique has helped a lot."All that came after he also competed in the state shot put (50-9 ½). He did not make finals in the shot, but said the experience of reaching state in both events was exhilarating."It just gets me very excited. That's all I have to say," Ewald said. "Just being here today is the most excited I've been for shot and disc in my life. It's going to be very fun next year, especially, seeing people getting better as they go. I can't wait."Seniors Corbin Bloomfield of Buckeye Central and Braxton Quaintance of Lakota also finished Day 1 on the podium.Bloomfield took fourth in the long jump with a leap of 21-4 ¼ while Quaintance ended sixth the pole vault by clearing 15-2.Bloomfield nursed a sore hamstring all season and only jumped in two or three meets before the district meet.Still, he did well enough at the regional to enter state seeded third and eventually wound up fourth."I came in with a little bit higher expectations, but the people I was jumping against also didn't jump as well as they normally do," he said. "I still did OK, I wish I could've done a little better, but it is what it is, I guess."Quaintance, a runner-up last year, capped his career with his third trip to the state pole vault podium; he took seventh as a sophomore."Look at the competition, it definitely increased from last year," he said. "I was happy with my vault. This season has been a little rough with weather and whatnot, so I can't be too mad about that. But then, there's also room for improvement. It was an all right day."I wrapped up (as a) three-time state placer in track, so I have to look at that accomplishment and not (dwell on) I got seventh, second, sixth," Quaintance said. "I am proud of that."Schubach was the lone area girl to place on the meet's first day.She took seventh in the girls Division III high jump with a school record height of 5-3, all after almost overthinking the experience."I was personally trying not to embarrass myself because I didn't feel so strong coming into it, but after I started jumping a little bit, (I felt better)," she said"It hasn't sunk in. I came here thinking, 'Oh, I'm going to get 11th or 10th and tie what I got last year.' So, to come down here and PR and end up on the podium, … it just feels amazing," Schubach said.