COLUMBUS – Covington a great first day at the state track meet as senior Preston King earned a state medal and junior Day’Lynn Garrett advanced to the finals in the 110 meter dash.
Preston King’s performance in the high jump was so rewarding in his personal perspective as he placed 3rd in the state by leaping 6-8, which set a new school record.
“I’m very happy,” Preston said with a huge smile on his face after earning his state medal. “I worked hard in this and to finish my career with my highest jump makes me so happy.”
The competition in the high jump event was extremely competitive as 11 of the 18 were still in contention after the height of 6-4. It took clearing 6-5 for athletes to secure a spot on the podium.
Preston’s most critical situation was the height of 6-4 as he missed the first two leaps. He cleared the height in his third attempt as the bar remained up despite bouncing.
From that time on Preston showed so much confidence and relaxation as he cleared 6-5 on his second attempt and then 6-6 and 6-7 on first attempts. The height of 6-7 tied the school record he set two weeks ago in the district meet.
Preston then cleared the height on his second attempt at 6-8 to break the school record. This secured his spot at third place on the podium.
Overall, his experience at the state meet was gratifying for him, not only because he finished on the podium, but due to the relationships he had with other competitors – primarily the athletes he competed against in the district and regional meets. Those athletes were Drew Boggs of Delphos St. John’s (State Champion), Thomas Cook of Miami Valley School (State Runner-Up), Jesse Brown of Purcell Marian (4th Place), Landon Monnin of Russia (8th Place) and Noah Finkbine of Tri-Village. Each one of those athletes congratulated each other for accomplishments throughout the entire competition.
This afternoon capped a great high school career for Preston King, an experience he will remember for the rest of his life.
Earlier today junior Day’Lynn Garrett competed in the prelims of the 110 meter hurdles. Garrett advanced to the finals by finishing second in his heat with the time of 14.87. This was the third fastest time in the two races, which puts him a great position to earn a state medal tomorrow.
Later in the afternoon Day’Lynn competed in the long jump, but came up short of advancing to the finals as his longest distance was 19-11.
Tomorrow morning Day’Lynn Garrett starts in the finals of the 110 meter hurdles at 9:35am and senior Elyza Long competes in the 1600 meter run at 10:05am and and the 3200 meter run at 11:30am.
