Pickerington Central’s Lane running for record
Pickerington Central’s Troy Lane couldn’t have run any faster to begin this season, whether by his own standards or any mark ever set by a sprinter in state history.
In terms of time alone, his 100 mark of 10.37 seconds during a tri-meet at Watkins Memorial March 30 was a state record by 0.01 of a second ahead of Piqua’s Brandon Saine, who set the mark in 2006 and was a four-time state champion between the 100 and 400 before going on to play football at Ohio State.
But Lane’s time did not count because fewer than five teams were at the meet.
Nonetheless, that provided both motivation and proof to Lane that he can be even better than a year ago, when he was third in the 100 at state with a time of 10.78 and was Occbuckeye Division champion and a Division I district runner-up in the event.
“I knew I’d come out fast, but since I didn’t have a (track) season freshman year (because of the COVID-19 pandemic), I didn’t know how fast. I kind of surprised myself,” Lane said. “It gives me a whole bunch of confidence. Just being a sophomore and running a time like that, being able to compete with older guys is a big confidencebooster.”
Both of the runners who finished ahead of Lane at state — Westerville Central’s Justin Braun and Cincinnati Moeller’s Brandon White — are back as seniors. Braun, a USC recruit, won in a state meet-record time of 10.47.
“A lot of people thought (Lane) would make the final last year, but you never know,” Pickerington Central coach Jason Roach said. “Troy could have been ninth and he was third, and that was a great stepping stone.
“A lot of times if you’re that fast, track is all they do. He plays football and it takes time to recover, so he doesn’t run a lot of indoor. If we asked him to, he would, but we want to make
sure he’s in the best shape he can be by the time our season starts.”
Lane’s fastest 200 time this season is 21.92, set during New Albany’s Friday Night Eagle Invitational on April 15 in which the final half of the race was run into a stiff southerly wind. That time would have been good for fourth at state a year ago behind Braun, who won in 21.13.
Lane was a backup strong safety last season as Central advanced to the Division I, Region 3 football final and is expected to start this fall. He hopes to either play football or run track in college and has not ruled out doing both.
Whatever his college path, he will follow in strong family footsteps. Grandfather Garcia Lane played football at Ohio State in the early 1980s and was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs for two seasons. Uncles Benjamin and Shaun Lane played for Youngstown State and Ohio State, respectively, in the late 2000s and another uncle, Omar Lane, was an All-american sprinter at Tiffin.
“I find myself trying to top everything they did. I want to say I’m the best,” said Troy, who will try to repeat as 100 champion during the league meet Thursday and Saturday at Hilliard Bradley. “I try to teach the younger kids that being fast doesn’t just come. You have to work at it.”