Clay senior Noah Buehrer has a surname that sounds eerily similar to Mathew Broderick's character in “Ferris Buehler's Day Off.”

So when a caller asked Buehrer, the Eagles' 300-meter hurdles standout, if he sometimes gets called Ferris, his answer came as no surprise.

“I get that a lot,” Buehrer said.

If things go as planned, Buehrer's name will be announced in front of thousands of track and field fans in attendance at this year's Division I state meet in Columbus.

Clay hurdler Noah Buehrer (center) leads challengers during the City League meet at Rogers. (Press photo by Scott Grau)

“This year it's all about getting top eight and getting on the (awards) podium,” Buehrer said. “That's really my main goal. That's what I've been working on for two years now. It will be all heart when I get down there.”

Buehrer qualified to the state meet in the 300 hurdles last season, but his semifinal time of 39.98 seconds wasn't fast enough to send him into the finals.

“There was a lot of nervousness,” Buehrer said. “I know I'm the underdog in that whole race. I was a junior and that was a completely new race for me. It was my first year running (the 300s) and I just got decent at them not long before I went to state. I had a lot of nervousness and butterflies.

“My goal for the whole year was just to make it down there. I went there to do my job, run as fast as I could and try to make a name for myself and get some experience for this year.”

Buehrer, who also runs the 110 hurdles and 4x200 and 4x400 relays for coach Scott Wamer's Eagles, appears to be on track for a return trip to state. Last Friday, at the 16-team Clay Eagle Invitational, Buehrer took second in the 110s and tied the meet record in the 300s (39.40).

“I had a slight idea what the record was,” Buehrer said, “but I wasn't really that worried about it. I was mostly looking to PR. I ran a 39.8 at that meet last year. I have a few little things to tweak here and there; my steps are a little off.”

Buehrer took first (40.11) in the 300s on April 28 at the St. Francis Knight Relays, which followed Clay's spring break.

“He ran 39s earlier in the year at the (Whitmer) Gold 'W,' ” Wamer said. “He's starting to get back to where he was when he left on spring break. He has the fastest 300 time in the area, in all divisions. He's a big, strong kid. If he continues to progress, I don't know why he wouldn't make it back to the state meet. The experience he learned being down there should help him this year, if he can get back.”

Wamer, who has been involved with Clay's track and field program for 20 years, said Buehrer came to high school as a 110 hurdles specialist. Wamer said he told the young runner that if he dedicated himself to the 300s, “it could be a good event for him.”

“He kept getting better and better, and he broke our school record (39.9) at the Comet Relays last year,” Wamer said. “He pretty much broke it every time he ran. It took him four races to break that record. He's one of the fastest kids on the team and he's a very good technician. You could put him in the open 100 or 200 and he would be competitive.”

The 300 hurdles is not an easy event, and it took some time for the 6-foot-3, 175-pound Buehrer to perfect his mechanics for that type of race.

“It's one of the hardest races in high school track right now,” he said. “It's like a 200-meter sprint, plus another 100 meters with hurdles in the way. It's both speed, strength and technique. That's really where you have to put all three together. I like the technical aspect of it and I picked something I could be good at. I never thought I would be this good at that race.”

Buehrer is Wamer's first male athlete to qualify to the state meet in the 300s. Wamer has had several female hurdlers qualify to Columbus, including Kate Achter, who placed second in the 100 hurdles in 2004.

Wamer said adding Buehrer to two relay teams this season has helped with his speed and endurance.

“Noah is a great leader and he does a great job with our younger hurdlers, working on mechanics and technique,” Wamer said. “We take great pride in our hurdles program here, and he's looked up to by our other hurdlers.”

Buehrer, 18, said his goal is to continue to run the hurdles and study civil engineering at the University of Akron.

“Akron has a good track and field program and I want to get down there and work on the hurdles,” he said. “My family's all been involved in engineering and I like hands-on things. I was looking at electrical engineering, but I think building buildings and bridges might be in higher demand and I might enjoy it more.”

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