Ohio HS T&F 2026

Why don’t you start things off with some of your own prognostications? I have to admit, I’m not as up on who is who this season as I usually am.

Bump + Brock Jarrett for 1600m

Fair. for the 4x800m boys, this will be a fun one to watch. Lancaster having a 1:51 runner is solid but Jerome has some solid depth via 1600m. I can see Lancaster, Dublin Jerome, Beavercreek the top 3, Mentor and Little Miami right there but edge to Lancaster Jerome and Beavercreek for top 3. Winner? Jerome!

Girls 4x800, not sure H.D goes down..what an impressive Streak and assuming Schute anchors, just too much to overcome. but the fight for 2nd will be fun..in no order Lancaster, Avon, Perrysburg, Gahalnna Lincoln and Milford all capable of the 2nd and 3rd spots

The level of competition and the tight race schedule forces many teams to choose between targeting the 4x8 and running their top guys in the open races.

I still can't believe they went to five divisions for outdoor.

That said, maybe the most notable change that few people are talking about is that at Districts, Regionals, and State the 3200 is now run on Day 1 with the prelims and 4 x 800 (roughly 2.5 hours apart), while the 1600 is on Day 2.

My daughter was struggling with what to really focus on at the state meet in her senior season, especially since we are now D2 and the landscape of competition is somewhat different, but now doubling in the 16 and 32 is the easy and obvious choice.

I'm predicting Sophia S. from Athens will be the first girl from Ohio to break 10 minutes in the 3200.

I would like to see Szolosi crack 10 as well but she would be taking 24 seconds off of her PR. That's a lot of time. She can beat Annie Heffernan's state record in the 3200 but I don't see her cracking 10.

She recently ran a full 2 miles at 10:10. (The Circuit/Chicago)

Her only roadblock will be the lack of competition in D3 to push her.

I wasn't aware of the 2 miles in Chicago.

I was just going to come back and ask if you knew if Athens/Plains was staying at D2 or moving to D3.

There are too many divisions. Things are going to be diluted this year and in some events that will result in lessened competition. 4 divisions, with the top division being for the mega schools like Mason, would have been better, IMHO.

Also, if Szolosi is to crack 10 in the 3200 her best bet will be to get it during the season at a meet when the weather is cooler and she might not have other events on her docket the same weekend. The weather at the state meet seems to be oppressively hot & humid more often than it isn't. The other time it could happen is if she runs in a post season meet against national competition and at a location with weather not as hot as it can be in the summer in Ohio.

Dom Ellis will win the D1 3200

Katy Zang just ran 9:42 today!!! Her PR from one month ago was 10:17. She was fifth last spring at states in 10:35 or 10:37.

She’s also the one who took 1st at RunningLane last Fall

Its not often when I see a result from a major meet where I think the result may actually be wrong. I thought maybe she won just in front of Elena Aldrink but that the time was from 200m to go.

Zang was probably Ohio's best cross country runner in 2024 before she got hurt. Her performances since then have been kind of a mixed bag before what looked like a huge breakthrough when she ran 10:17.

9:42 and 10:17 are just worlds apart. This has to be one of the most shocking performances in high school history.

Zero State titles. Zero NXN/Footlocker appearances. Runs one of the fastest 3200 times ever completely solo while supposedly going out in around 2:20 (800) and 4:45 (1600).

I was there to see the race. She was like clockwork, running 54 seconds every single lap. A couple 55's in laps 8 and 9 but I think we can excuse that.

It was fun to watch. She also looked completely shocked when she saw her finishing time.

What's just as impressive is she also stood out on the track and congratulated and hugged all the other girls coming in.

Now the question is, can she find a way to stay healthy throughout a full season? Only racing twice in indoor a wise choice.

One of the most unexpected and amazing performances in hs history. However each lap wasnt “clockwork” if she came through in 4:44.

That was just insane.

I hope that Szolosi & Zang run against each other this year. It won’t be in the State meet because I believe that Teays Valley and Athens are not in the same division.

I know Szolosi is going to Duke. Does anyone know where Zang is committed to?

Indiana