June 7, 2007

Sam Borchers, left, leading the pack in the 1600-meter race he won on Saturday at the state track meet at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Borchers won the state title in the 1600 meter and set a new state record in the 800-meter event. The Bulldogs also won the 4x800 relay on Friday, setting another new state record. Evan Firestone, right, finished in fourth place in the 3200 meter run. Borchers will race at the Midwest Meet of Champions in Michigan this weekend.

By Lauren Heaton

After cleaning up with two Division III state titles, a new state record and a piece of the victory from the previous day’s state 4x800 meter relay title and record performance, Sam Borchers politely took leave from the gaggle of reporters hovered around him at the state track meet held Saturday at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. In the last scoring opportunity for Yellow Springs High School track team, Evan Firestone was preparing to race Dayton Christian twin powerhouses Walter and John Luttrell in the 3200 meter for the state team title, and Borchers wanted to cheer him on.

“Evan is able to do it, he’s got the skills and he can do it if he focuses,” Borchers said of his teammate.

For Borchers, who last year won both state titles in the 1600 and the 800, pulling the team through was bigger than any of the goals he had worked for this year, he said. The guys had worked hard together all year, he said, and the streak of record-setting performances turned in by the 4x800 relay team of Alexis Onfroy-Curley, Andy Peters, Firestone and Borchers over the past several weeks told Borchers they stood an honest chance at winning the whole thing.

He would know. This year alone he has won too many Division III titles to count. He began in the fall by winning the state cross country championship 5K race in 15:50. Then in March he won the Nike High School Indoor National championship in the mile before setting a new state record in the mile of 4:10 in April and a state record of 1:52 in the 800 at the District meet in May. Because no one in Ohio is running at his level, Borchers turned to himself for competition and broke his own record in the 800 on Saturday to set a new one at 1:51, four seconds faster than second-place finisher Jason Wenzel from Dayton Christian. Borchers also won the title in the 1600 that day in 4:16, with no one else contesting his place at the finish.

Firestone lined up for his race feeling enormous pressure on his shoulders. He had hung with the favored Luttrell brothers all season, and his 4x800 relay team had gained a decisive win over their Dayton Christian team the previous day at state, setting a new state record of 7:48. He would have to overachieve to do it, but he was aiming for second place.

Firestone went out with the lead pack and, despite taking spikes to the shins, pulled away with the leaders in third place. He held that position until the second mile, when John Luttrell caught him and passed him. Firestone rolled his eyes, mouthed something to himself, and made a split decision about how to carry forth. Knowing his chance at an extraordinary performance was slipping, he could quit trying or finish his senior year committed to what his team had worked for all season.

Pumping hard to the end, Firestone finished in fourth place in 9:27, less than two seconds behind third place finisher John Luttrell and almost 10 seconds ahead of the guy behind him.

“I feel beat, like I just ran state,” he said after the race. “But I beat the school record of 9:29, the team finished third overall, and we got our names in the record books. I feel good about our performance.”

Of the 73 schools that qualified for state, the Yellow Springs team finished third with 35 points, not far behind second-place team Columbus Grove with 37 points and championship team Dayton Christian with 40.

Coach Vince Peters also felt exhausted after the weekend, but proud of a team of guys who had used their individual strengths to make the unit stronger. At the last hard workout before the state meet, Onfroy-Curley, Andy Peters and Firestone had each taken turns racing Borchers on a leg of the 4x400. He challenged them to pull up to his speed, and they pushed him to a higher level, Peters said.

“They all push and pull each other to get better, and in that way from the cross country season to now, they’ve accomplished a lot as a group,” he said, adding that none of it would be possible without the support of John Gudgel, the YSHS principal who, with Peters, has coached a series of state and national champions over the past 25 years.

For Borchers, the team’s win in the 4x800 on Friday was the most exciting of all. He attributes their success to the “amazing talent” of both Peters and Gudgel, and to the team’s ability to build experience and pass it on to the upcoming team of athletes.

The season isn’t quite over for Borchers, who will race at the Midwest Meet of Champions in Michigan this weekend. The following week he moves on to the Nike High School Outdoor National meet in Greensboro, N.C. to face the top milers in the country.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com

Andy Peters (left), Sam Borchers, Evan Firestone and Alexis Onfroy-Curley won the state Division III title in the 4x800 meter race on Friday.