The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Gilmour girls 4x8 second at state
COLUMBUS » Hand in hand, the Gilmour girls 4x800meter relay made its way toward the start line June 1 during the Division III state track and field meet, one of the last 4x8s to step on the track.
It was fitting, because the Lancers and tradition in 4x8 this time of year have the same dynamic — they go hand in hand.
Another chapter has now been added to that legacy — and as a result, they were one of the last to step on the podium as well.
The quartet of Katie Engle, Bella Pignatello, Marisa Salvino and Izzy Greene took a solid second behind Minster with a time of 9 minutes, 30.20 seconds, at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
That D-III state runnerup marks Gilmour’s seventh top-two at state in girls 4x8 all-time and its first since 2010, when it won the D-III state title. In her third state 4x8 appearance, Greene was elated with the race turned in by the Lancers.
“I think we all knew, because we were definitely up there from the start before we even came onto the track,” Greene said. “So before the race, we just told ourselves, ‘Believe in each other, and enjoy the moment — best effort.’ So I’m really glad we ended up finishing No. 2. I am really proud of everyone on the relay team — and it’s a good note to go out on.”
All the way out in Lane 1 to start, Engle did well to get away from the pack at the 125 mark with a hard move inside and was up to third at 300. Pignatello got the baton from Engle and was steady as a pack of four began to materialize.
Pignatello handed to Salvino third at the exchange, and Salvino was paced smartly on her third leg as Minster’s Emma Watcke hammered the back half of her split to take a commanding lead.
Greene, the 2016 NewsHerald player of the year and a 2017 All-American in girls soccer, took over 60 meters down to Minster but 50 ahead of third, hanging in nicely on the anchor.
“You know you can believe in Katie,” Greene said of having Engle as the relay opener. “You know she won’t let you down. She’ll go out there and put us in a good position for the rest of the race. So yeah, we were very confident with the order and everything.
“I just tried to enjoy it. (Minster) was pretty far ahead. I tried to see what I could do out there. I was looking on the Jumbotron watching us pass. But yeah, it was good — it’s always good to run at Jesse O. So I just enjoyed the moment.”
The Gilmour boys 4x8 quartet of Tyler Clark, Henry-Claude Madiba, Tim Diemer and Connor Gerspacher took sixth with an 8:06.66.
Clark managed to avoid boxing on his opening leg, and the Lancers hung in there throughout. The complexion of the event was thrown off — to its credit — by Worthington Christian, as East Canton never could answer Worthington Christian going out with heavy pace on its first two legs.
“We didn’t go as fast as we were unbelievably hoping to,” Diemer said. “We can’t be sad at all. There’s no reason to hang our heads after this one. After not even making it out of district (in D-II last year) and coming in sixth on the podium at state — that’s unbelievable. It’s hard to even think of that we did that, but it’s awesome. These guys are unbelievable — all of us ran fast times. It’s awesome to see how we progressed over the season, how we grew together and got better together.”