Gonzales races to podium at state meet
By CHUCK RIDENOUR Daily Globe Sports Editor
COLUMBUS — Two-time Allohio runner.
School record holder in track for 1,600 meters and 5,000 meters in cross country.
Kayla Gonzales has had quite the year at Shelby.
The Lady Whippet capped her junior campaign with an eighthplace finish during the final day of competition at the Division II State track and field meet Saturday afternoon at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus of Ohio State University.
Gonzales finished with a time of 5:03.60 to secure the final spot on the podium. Her time was .08 of a second off from equaling her school-record effort of 5:03.52 that she set a week earlier at the regional meet.
The senior-to-be at SHS was also All-ohio last fall in cross country where she finished 15th in the Division II race.
Being all-state in both sports was the goal.
“It feels nice to accomplish that,” said Gonzales.
Gonzales used a strong finish to secure her spot on the podium and edge out ninth-place Rose Hoelzel of Chagrin Falls with 5:03.98 The fastpaced race which was captured by Indian Hill’s Elizabeth Whaley with 4:43.31 as she denied Oakwood’s Grace Hartman a championship repeat who timed in at 4:47.06 for second.
“This is it, the end of the season, why not go all out? I found a little bit in me. I depend on my kick quite a bit and was glad it was able to work. I was really motivated by the last meet of the season and wanted to go out with a bang and see what I could do,” said Gonzales about wrapping up her junior year for the red and gray.
Looking at the field of qualifiers, Gonzales knew the pace of the race would be quick.
“I knew it was going to be really fast. I was watching the clock and it was a little quick the first two laps, but I found my spot,” said Gonzales.
Gonzales was one of four Shelby athletes to take to the track Saturday.
Shelby teammate Reyna Hoffman placed 12th in the 800 meters with 2:20.24.
This was Hoffman’s third appearance of the year at a state meet. She ran on the state-qualifying girls team in the fall for cross country and participated in the state swim meet during the winter.
Whippet distance runners Huck Finnegan and Mason Hendrickson battled in the 3,200 meters.
Finnegan was a spot away from reaching the podium and wound up ninth with a clocking of 9:31.51.
Hendrickson, who was All-ohio in cross country in the fall of 2021, would place 16th in the 3,200 with 9:50.21.
Plymouth sprinter Caiden Allen landed on the podium in Division III for the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.06 and finished third.