Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
One year ago, the Oak Harbor boys track team had the program’s best season in nearly 80 years, finishing third as a team at the state meet.
It was the program’s highest all-time point total at the state meet, and it was the best finish overall since the 1940 and 1948 teams each finished second.
“They came to practice and worked every single day,” Oak Harbor boys head coach Andy Augsburger said. “They kind of knew what they wanted to get. There were high expectations last year, and they were up for the challenge, which was great. You never know how the state meet's going to go, but obviously they came to compete those two days that they were there.
“It was big for Oak Harbor because we’ve done well at the state meet, but we've just not been able to get 30-something points, so to be in the mix and all that was really fun because at one point we were in the running to potentially be champions or runner-up as well. It was cool to fight for that.”
Tyler Thompson, who finished third in the 200m and fifth in the 100m while being part of two relay teams (4x100 and 4x400) that finished among the top six in the state, has graduated.
“Tyler's a big hole to fill. It’s hard to replace somebody like him after he leaves because he's such an integral part,” Augsburger said. “There were so many meet records that were broken and so many school records that were broken that he was part of. At the NBC meet, I put him in the one, the two, and the four, which he'd never done before.
“He was a very diversified sprinter, and we're really happy that he got to go to Findlay, where he's competing right now. He was a big part of last year's team, last year's success. He had a very storied career at Oak Harbor. There was a year where he had a massive injury. I think that was his sophomore year, and he still had 1,000 points in his career, which is insane.”
Despite that, the Rockets return a slew of talent that did well at the state meet. Senior Bodee Miller finished sixth in the 800m and was part of the 4x400 team that was sixth. Senior Wyatt Augsburger was also on that team, and he finished third in 110 hurdles. Junior Ayden Gaskalla was a member of the 4x100 team and finished 12th in the pole vault. Junior Zavier Hess was on both relay teams, and senior Braden Schultz earned a third-place finish in high jump.
Augsburger said he believes Gaskalla and Hess are two of the top sprinters and will help fill Thompson’s role. Logan Briggs will also be in the mix. The coach’s son, Wyatt, will be put where they think the team can score the most points when it gets to the postseason.
“We have a lot of young kids,” Andy Augsburger said. “We have some kids, some sophomores that are really excited that were freshmen last year that we’re going to have to try to get them into some key roles this year. The ones that didn't go to some of the invitationals last year as freshmen, they're going to be required to go as sophomores this year, and they’ll probably fill some key spots.”
Jeven Buehler and Zach Fry are two key sprinters. The junior class has some nice kids including Hess and Gaskalla, the coach said. Micah Miller has been part of the indoor track team this winter and is another top sprinter in the junior class. Gaskalla also competes in pole vault and finished fourth in the state meet.
“He's looking to do some really good things,” Augsburger said of Gaskalla. “He's highly motivated. There's a lot of potential there.
“The biggest thing is making sure that everybody stays healthy, and we can get some of these younger athletes ready to potentially be there at district, region, and state because those are some big stages there for a younger athlete.”
Travis Bouyer scored points at regionals last year in the discus, and Augsburger said he is a big returner along with Matthew Hubans as a thrower.
Wyatt Augsburger just won his second indoor state title in the 60 hurdles.
“He had a little bit of a shortfall in the 300 hurdles in the semifinals at the regional meet last year,” Andy Augsburger said. “He fell down and was disqualified. Otherwise, he probably would have been in the 110s, the 300s, and 4x1 and the 4x4. Everything kind of happens for a reason, and that's just something that happened. You learn from it and move on. But he's done really well, and that's why we were trying to make sure that he stays healthy as well.”
Several athletes have been to state multiple times, and Augsburger is hoping that trend continues.
“There's a ton of potential on the team,” he said. “They fought really hard at the indoor state meet and got second. I feel like they kind of know what it's going to take, but obviously you've got to put in the work to get to that point. That's all about this time of the season where they got to keep pushing and stuff like that to get better and bring a lot of these young kids along that just joined the team.”
There’s a little over 40 boys in the program this year.
“We have a large group of sophomores and a really good group of freshmen that are young, but what excites me is we’ve got a good senior class that has done a great job so far in track and field. They know what it kind of takes to get to that point. It's just putting the pieces all together.”
Girls look to continue NBC dominance
The Oak Harbor girls track team captured NBC titles in the 4x100, 4x200, 4x400, and 4x800 relay teams last year, and junior Olivia Cherry also established a new league record in the 400m.
“We had some good performances from a lot of kids,” Oak Harbor’s 28th-year girls head coach John McKitrick said. “Last year was a great team effort. One thing that we've always done is kind of rather than just being one or two individuals, we've always had teams that put together a collaborative effort, and last year we got back to that recipe of being more well-rounded.”
The Rockets also finished 22nd as a team at the state meet. Cherry broke her own school record with a third-place finish in the 800m, and she joined Olivia May, Kendall Gaines, and Hayley Fallgren for a fifth-place finish in the 4x400, which was the second best time in school history.
Cherry, Kennedy Slates, Gaines, and Fallgren finished 11th in the 4x800, as well, while Bella Lake and Addison Coutcher both finished just outside the top 10 in the pole vault.
Lake is gone due to graduation, as is 100 and 300 hurdler Camdyn Fauver. Effie Schulte, who was a key sprinter on some of the NBC title relay teams, is also gone.
“Effie was a rock star on our team for the last four years and was one of our point-getters,” McKitrick said. “Those three kids are going to be really tough to replace.”
Conversely, Coutcher returns. As does Fallgren, who is “undoubtedly the leader of the team,” according to McKitrick.
“Like with Cam in the hurdles, you just don't go out there and find a hurdler,” he said. “However, Hayley’s one of our rock star leaders. That’s not a name that probably gets a whole lot of credit when you talk about champion this, champion this, but she is undoubtedly the leader of this team in regard to work ethic, to weight room procedure, drills, everything. The girls, they listen to Hayley.
“In junior high, she was a hurdler. In high school, she switched to middle distance, and she's been doing great. She's placed at state on the 4x4, and she was on that 4x8. She's been a relay specialist, and she was also third in the league in the 400, so it's not like she wasn’t good at it. She just didn't have her own event.
“This year I asked her if she'd be interested in running the 300 hurdles. We've been practicing them. She's fast. I'm just expecting her to fill that hole big time. Honestly, I can't speak highly enough of this young lady. Her determination and her grit and her work ethic is, in my all these years coaching, second to nobody.”
McKitrick said that Cherry has a chance to be the top in the state after finishing third last year.
“If you look at who's coming back, she will be the top 800 runner coming back this year in the state in Division III,” he said. “She's got a good chance, and she could do it in the 400 as well. She'll have to pick her poison when we get to districts with the 400 or 800.”
McKitrick said they also have a huge complement of kids who are state hopefuls. Senior Alayna Hall is one of them in the shot and discus. Abigail Coutcher has a chance in the long jump and on relays. Gaines, who is a sophomore, will have a chance in either the 400 or 800, likely whichever Cherry doesn’t pick. Junior Kennedy Slates will also have a chance in one of those two, and she’s also on the relays, where she’ll be joined again by May.
“The thing that kind of fuels me a little bit is we have some kids who need to be fed,” McKitrick said. “Our competition last year and the year before has been so tough with our district and region. It’s hard. For the last couple of years, we kind of had to pick our poison in certain areas and not go after certain things.”
Oak Harbor also has a handful of freshmen who are going to find their way on relays, maybe even open events, according to McKitrick. Among that group is a thrower, a sprinter, a middle-distance runner, and a long-distance runner.
McKitrick said that young group will push some kids.
“We’re going after it,” he said. “We have the bodies, and we have the mindset for it. These kids work hard, and I see the effort that they make in the weight room. I see that they've chased after something and they're watching their teammates and they've been waiting their time. It's time for some of these kids to really shine. I’m hoping that’s the year the team has.”
Overall, Oak Harbor returns 19 letter winners among 31 team members on the girls side.
“The kids rejuvenate me,” McKitrick said. “It’s really their show. They're doing a great job, and I have a great coaching staff. The coaching staff, they're phenomenal. We've been together for quite a long time now.”
