Firelands’ Ruffner to make most of state bid

Often when you get a second chance in life, you better make the most of it.

For Firelands junior Blake Ruffner, he got that on May 26 at the Division II Lexington Regional meet.

Ruffner competed in the open 400 and finished fifth (50.69), one spot short of qualifying for the state meet, scheduled for June 1 and 2 in Columbus.

Ruffner had a look of dejection on his face afterward, wondering what he could have done better.

“I gave it my all, that’s all I can really say,” Ruffner said minutes after the race.

But a few hours later, Ruffner got the news he qualified for the meet after all. The OHSAA implemented a new at-large bid qualifier rule allowing the two fastest

est times across all regions outside of the top four to qualify for the meet.

Ruffner had the next fastest time.

“It was pretty cool,” Ruffner said. “I didn’t think I made it out with the competition that I had. But then I realized that there was at-large bids, so when I heard I made it, I was just full of joy.”

The 50.69 seconds was Ruffner’s PR, but he said there’s room for improvement.

“I feel like I could do better,” Ruffner said. “Especially going to state because the competition is better and it’ll help me push more. That’s what I’m hoping for.” Ruffner also competes in the high jump and placed fifth, just outside qualifying, with a 6-3. His season best was a 6-6 at the Patriot Athletic Conference meet, which earned him a second place behind Buckeye’s Justin Canedy (6-8). During the year, he also anchored the 4x200 and 4x400 relays.

Ruffner began track and field last season. He plans to play football in college and has schools including Ball State, Toledo and Morehead State expressing interest. Falcons coach Steve Lias persuaded Ruffner to try track. Ruffner’s brother, Jordan, ran track and graduated from Firelands in 2015.

“Coach told me I could do really good in track,” Ruffner said. “I signed up for track, and one day in

practice, he said I should just try to high jump. So I did and he thought I was really good at it. But really I started because my brother was a track runner.”

His best in the high jump last year started at 5-8, and with the way Ruffner has progressed, he has surprised himself.

“I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t think I can get any higher than this,’” he said. “Then I got 5-10, didn’t think I can get higher than that. Then I went to regionals last year and got over 6-foot. Came out this year and thought I would be around the same. In the 400 last year, I was running a 54, and this year I come out and run a 50.6. I didn’t expect it to be like that, but it’s also hard work. I worked a lot harder this year for it.”

The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder’s focus will be on this weekend, but it’s hard to not look ahead to what’s in store in 2019. Ruffner has set himself up to have a huge senior season.

“Next year I’m hoping to make it out in both events to state, and maybe even another one depending on what else I want to do next year,” Ruffner said. “Everyone expected me to go to state this year in the high jump, but next year I’m going to be there for sure.”

He didn’t hesitate when he said that, either. “I guarantee it,” he added. “Same thing with the 400 again.”

Ruffner