Regional track: Cloverleaf 4 x 400, Buckeye pole vaulter Ellen Steppenbacker get to state

AUSTINTOWN — Buckeye junior pole vaulter Ellen Steppenbacker gives herself a little pep talk before each jump. That message helped her earn a spot to the state track and field meet for the second straight year by winning the Austintown Fitch Division III Regional title Saturday with 10 feet, 8 inches. "I always say you can't win from the ground," she said. "It's a saying my coach came up for me because I had a really hard time getting off the ground this year. Being able to have a saying before I jump to help me have a cue to almost make sure every time I get off the ground really helped, so I always repeat, 'You can't win from the ground.'" Steppenbacker was already in position to qualify before taking off her hoodie, as she began Saturday at 10-0. Only two other competitors cleared the previous height of 9-8, so Steppenbacker only had to clear the bar once to move on. "It's a little nerve-racking coming in when no one else is really in, and you kind of have to rely on yourself," Steppenbacker said. "I like a lot of pressure. It really helps me focus more and helps me jump a lot better, but I think it's more nerve-racking for me when I'm the last person in to be able to jump." Steppenbacker has also been dealing with an illness, so she decided to stick with a short approach instead of stepping back to the longer runway. Steppenbacker is comfortable with that strategy, however, and she cleared 10-0, 10-4 and 10-8 on her first attempts. "My shorter approaches, I'm pretty good from. It helps me with my technique and everything," Steppenbacker said. "I'm always confident going from the shorter runs, and I've been pretty iffy on my seven steps, so a four step is pretty consistent for me with being able to get higher heights." Steppenbacker finished 11th at state last season and has higher expectations for when she returns to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus. "I'm hoping to jump better this year," she said. "Last year, I was really disappointed with how I performed. I think I wasn't in the right mindset. I think I was kind of just like not very focused last year, and with having to come in close to my PR also didn't really help. So, I think being able to just be able to lock in more this year and be able to focus will really help." Cloverleaf senior Payten Shetterly finished sixth, just missing out on state, as the top five in each event get invites. Her best height was 9-4, with three others getting in at 9-8 or better, but Shetterly lost the tiebreaker for the final two spots to Perry's Marlee Freeman and Northwest's Evelyn Helmick based on misses at previous heights. Junior Leah Bengough of Buckeye finished seventh with a 9-0. She will return with Steppenbacker next season, when they will attempt to become the first Buckeye teammates to make the state meet in pole vault in the same season since Jacqui Charnigo and Jessica Van Epp in 2004. The Cloverleaf 4x400-meter relay of Adriana Akers, Samantha Porter, Lily Dluzynski and Kayla Shook maintained its dominance, winning in a time of 4:03.74. Shook was passed by Salem's Chaya Murray in the final 400, but the senior kicked and overtook Murray in the final 150. "I saw that she passed me, but I wasn't going to not run my race," Shook said. "I just knew I could see her slowly dying, and I knew that I had enough to kick to pass her back up. So I just told myself, 'Just keep running your race, and you've got this."' The initial handoff between Akers and Porter was shaky, but Porter maintained the lead Akers had built by keeping her focus. "I knew that just because our handoff had gotten messed up doesn't mean that I still can't run the best race in my life and make us help qualify for state," Porter said. "I just felt like I just knew that on the backstretch, I had to let the wind take me and just pump my arms to the finish." As has been the case so many times this season, Dluzynski was handed the baton with a big lead. Like she has done consistently, she helped the Colts stay there. "They don't make me run against any competition," Dluzynski said. "I just get the baton and I go. I just have to make sure I keep that lead, but, yeah, they do all the work for me in the first two legs. All I have to do is keep it. It's amazing." When the girls saw Shook cross the finish line, their goal of a state berth was realized. "It was really emotional," Porter said. "We worked really hard this year to get to where we are, and it has shown and it has proven that no matter what competition you throw at us, we will still end up on top. And to have an undefeated 4x4 season is pretty awesome and to make it to state is pretty cool." That wasn't the only spot Shook clinched to state, as she also qualified in the 400, finishing fifth in 59.36. She took over fifth in the final 150 and knew she just had to hold on to punch a ticket to Columbus. As soon as she knew she clinched her spot, another thought quickly popped into her head. "When I was finishing, I was like, 'Wait, I'm in fifth. I gotta go.' I was like, 'I can't get passed,' but I was just like, 'Oh, my gosh, I made it," Shook said. "And then my next thought was, 'Did I break a minute?"' All of the work Shook has put in over the past four years paid off. The only time she stopped smiling after the race was to try to catch her breath. "I'm really happy with it.," Shook said. "If I would have told myself this freshman year, I would be like 'You're lying,' so I'm definitely excited." Buckeye had three other athletes compete, as Blakely Herman finished sixth in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.16, missing a trip to the state meet by 0.23. Sophia Regiec finished eighth in the 800 in 2:25.14 and Erin Salazar finished 16th in the long jump at 14-6.75. Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com. Results BOYS Standings (top 10): 1. Woodridge 80, 2. Glenville 61, 3. Orrville 56, T-4. Firelands 38, T-4. Ursuline 38, 6. Northwest 36, 7. Keystone 33.5, 8. Bay 33, 9. Villa Angela-St. Joseph 32, 10. Salem 29, 23. Cloverleaf 6. 100 — 1. Jayden Parrine (Bay) 10.85. 200 — 1. Jayden Parrine (Bay) 21.81. 400 — 1. Jay'vier Kerr (Glenville) 47.32. 800 — 1. Ben Lebay (Woodridge) 1:56.23. 1,600 — 1. Ian Res (West Geauga) 4:16.90. 3,200 — 1. Owen Lacy (Orrville) 9:27.33. 110 hurdles — 1. Logan Border (Field) 14.12. 300 hurdles — 1. Logan Allman (Northwest) 38.27. 4x100 — 1. Villa Angela-St. Joseph 41.96. 4x200 — 1. Woodridge 1:27.75. 4x400 — 1. Glenville 3:23.36. 4x800 — 1. CVCA 8:01.05, 3. Cloverleaf 8:03.70. High jump — 1. Mark Lorson (Orrville) 6-8. Long jump — 1. Jay'vier Kerr (Glenville) 22-3.25. Pole vault — 1. Caden Race (Orrville) 13-4. Shot put — 1. Connor Crilley (Ursuline) 57-0.75. Discus — 1. Brett Beury (Firelands) 174-6. GIRLS Standings (top 10): 1. Salem 81.5, 2. Buchtel 54, 3. Hathaway Brown 53, 4. Marlington 45, 5. Woodridge 43, 6. CVCA 38, 7. Perry 33, 8. Streetsboro 30, 9. West Geauga 26, 10. Warrensville Heights 25, 13. Cloverleaf 20.5, 17. Buckeye 16. 100 — 1. Kayla Harris (Beaumont) 12.46. 200 — 1. Chaya Murray (Salem) 24.64. 400 — 1. Minaya Mitchell (Buchtel) 57.33, 5. Kayla Shook (Cloverleaf) 59.36. 800 — 1. Anna Prusak (Hathaway Brown) 2:17.50, 8. Sophia Regiec (Buckeye) 2:25.14. 1,600 — 1. Irelyn Johnson (Marlington) 4:55.61. 3,200 — 1. Irelyn Johnson (Marlington) 10:36.08. 100 hurdles — 1. Kamara Stewart (Warrensville Heights), 6. Blakely Herman (Buckeye) 16.16. 300 hurdles — 1. Jada Davis (Buchtel) 43.46. 4x100 — 1. Warrensville Heights 48.52. 4x200 — 1. Buchtel 1:40.72. 4x400 — 1. Cloverleaf 4:03.74. 4x800 — 1. Hathaway Brown 9:28.42. High jump — 1. Madolyn Gorby (Salem) 5-3, T-5 Abby Reinhardt (Cloverleaf) 4-10. Long jump — 1. Kara Deister (West Geauga) 17-3.75. Pole vault — 1. Ellen Steppenbacker (Buckeye) 10-8, 6. Peyton Shetterly (Cloverleaf) 9-4, 7. Leah Bengough (Buckeye) 9-0. Shot put — 1. Emily Mechenbier (Perry) 47-8.50. Discus — 1. Emily Mechenbier (Perry) 146-09.