Norwalk sends contingent to National meets

NORWALK — Grace Norris knows the difference. Yes, qualifying and competing in the Adidas Outdoor Nationals this weekend is a great opportunity on the campus of North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro, N.C. But it's also not the OHSAA state track and field championships in Columbus. However, circumstances this spring have made this weekend's 400-meter dash, in a roundabout way, her state meet. Norris finished up an injury-plagued junior season on May 15 for the Truckers. She placed ninth in the 400 at the Division I state meet as a sophomore, and with Norwalk dropping to Div. II this spring, Norris had her sights set on All-Ohio status. But a pulled hamstring on April 25 at the Amherst Comet Relays essentially ended her season. "Yeah, it's not the same, but I feel like it's another opportunity to compete," Norris said. "Maybe a little it will feel like states for me. I would like to run my times from the start of the season, but the goal is to run, do what I love, and get through healthy and have fun with it." Joining Norris this weekend at the Adidas Nationals, one of the top-tier meets, are nine other teammates. The week before her injury, which Norris described as an 8 pain level on a scale of 1 to 10, she had arguably never been better. At the Edison Invitational on April 18, Norris set two meet records in the 200 (25.88) and the 400 (57.3). She also anchored the winning 4x400 relay team for the Truckers as well. Her 400 time was a new program record, and she was named Edison Invite MVP for the running events. One week later, the injury hit during the 4x200 relay. "It was just a typical, really cold day," Norris said. "We did a lot of warming up, and I felt good at the line, but just a few meters in, I felt that pop (in my hamstring)." Norris attempted to return in time for the postseason, and competed at the Div. II district meet at Tiffin Columbian. She wasn't ready and finished in 12th in 1:12.19, almost 15 seconds off her record time at Edison. The qualifying standard for the 400, which Norris will compete in the National Elite race at 10:40 a.m. Saturday, was 58.9 seconds. "The district run obviously didn't go well," Norris said. "I still was trying to not be discouraged and just heal and get ready to see if I could run again, but it didn't go how I wanted to. I'm happy to be able to race again now. "Watching so many teammates at state definitely was frustrating. But being there in that position makes me want to work more for next year. It just makes me want to get back there." Also for the NHS girls, the 4x800 relay team of Olive Leavitt, Saige Konik, Allison Konik, and Xavi Immel will compete in the championship division at 12:30 p.m. on Friday. The qualifying standard time was 9:51, and that quartet placed eighth at the Lexington regional on May 27 in 9:48.6. On the boys side, the 4x200 relay of Aiden Kahn, Derione Johnson, Anthony Hall, and Noah Jameson will run in the National Elite race at 7:50 p.m. Saturday. The qualifying standard time was 1:36, and the relay finished in 1:35.3 to place 10th at the district meet on May 20. Meanwhile, Jameson will compete in the 100 dash Freshmen division at 3 p.m. Thursday. Jameson was a fraction off the qualifying time of 11.78 seconds when he was clocked in 11.79 a the Lexington Invite on April 11. However, he ran the race in 11.53 at the SBC championships on May 15 to place fourth. He was 11th at the district in 11.85. Including prelims, Jameson only ran the 100 dash five times in the spring. He and classmate Aiden Khan will also compete in the Freshman long jump at 8 a.m. Friday at the Adidas meet. "I think my first high school season went pretty well, but there are some things I wish I had tried to do sooner in the sprints," Jameson said. "I would have been further along in those races, but I'm just happy to go down there and compete." The qualifying standard in the long jump was 19 feet. Jameson had a strong spring in the event, which he competed in 12 times. He won the Edison Invite at 19 feet, and placed second at the SBC championships (Lake Division) at 20 feet, 2.5 inches. His personal-best came on April 28 in a dual against Bellevue, which saw him place first at 20 feet, 9 inches. At the district meet on May 20, he placed fifth at 20 feet, 7.5 inches. Kahn's PR was 19 feet, 2 inches on April 28 in the dual against Bellevue. He placed sixth at the SBC meet at 19 feet, one inch. Jameson said he enjoys the long jump and the overall skill set required to compete in the field event. "You just have to run and jump as far as you can, and I really enjoy that," Jameson said. "You don't have to necessarily be fast or have a certain skill, but just get good form and go out and do it. "It's fun to practice and try to keep seeing how far I can go. I'm hoping this weekend is an eye-opening experience for me. I'd like to get some good times down and see if I can do this beyond high school. I'd like to really continue to try and push this." The Championship division is the highest division at the meet. National Elite is the second highest high school division. "For the past four years, we've used qualifying for the Nationals as an incentive for the junior high and high school kids," NHS head coach Phil Oglesby said. "If they meet the qualifying times, the coaching staff will commit the time to support and get them there for an extra two weeks after the season." Norwalk has qualified athletes for three straight years to various national meets. Last year, the Truckers had a dozen athletes reach the standards, but Oglesby said they wanted too long to register, and it filled up before they could. The Adidas meet is also filled to capacity this weekend as well. "We had enough kids qualify to register early this year," Oglesby said. "We had 16 kids qualify, but we will have 10 down there. It's almost like a life-altering moment where they get to meet and compete with kids all around the country and the world. "They are exposed to the next level of competition, and it's a very eye-opening experience," he added. In general, Oglesby said the national meets are all about exposure. "The Adidas in particular tends to attract the most eyes because it's the largest of these national meets," he said. "College scouts are there. That's one of the goals for some of the kids. For others, it might be the cherry on top to their running career." Immel will head from Greensboro to Philadelphia in the same weekend. Her program record time of 2:14.74 in the 800 run from the Lexington regional meet was just under the 2:15 standard to compete in the New Balance Nationals. The New Balance meet is held at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. She runs shortly after 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Franklin Field, the oldest college stadium in the U.S. and home of the Penn Relays. It won't be Immel's first time competing at Franklin Field. She joined older sister, Zuri, Shyla Gruhlke, and Norris to compete in the 4x400 relay at the prestigious Penn Relays on April 25, 2025. Among a field of 479 teams in their event alone, the relay was fifth in their heat out of 16 teams and 155th overall out of 479 teams in a new season PR of 4:07.24. While there, the team befriended athletes from a Puerto Rico relay team. "That type of thing has always been a highlight from kids in the past," Oglesby said. "It's promotion not just for our program, but the sport in general. Making it to the New Balance is a goal for a lot of kids, and I'm happy she made both meets. It's a reward for her hard work." Xavi Immel placed sixth in the 800 at the Div. II state meet on June 7 in Columbus. Also this weekend, Lillian Kipp will compete at the Adidas Nationals in the throwing events for the Middle School division. She is in the discus throw at 5 p.m. Thursday and in the shot put at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.