Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes Cardinal Mooney’s Sammy Rotunno runs during the opening leg of the Cardinals 4x400-meter relay trial. She’d later place in the Division III 300-meter hurdles.

DAYTON — Just because it was Sammy Rotunno’s second go-around at the OHSAA state track meet didn’t mean the nerves were any less intense.

“When you’re at state, you’re at state,” said Rotunno, who just completed her junior year at Cardinal Mooney. “The nerves are gonna be high either way. There’s not really much you can do for it.”

The nerves did not overwhelm Rotunno in her second state appearance, however. A year after placing sixth in the Division III girls 4×400-meter relay, Rotunno earned her first individual state track medal with a fifth-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles at this year’s meet in Dayton.

Rotunno, who qualified for three events as both a sophomore and junior, said the pressure and nerves actually help her thrive.

“That’s what you want — that the nerves hopefully push you through,” Rotunno said. “The nerves mean that you care and you want to win. If you didn’t have nerves, I would be scared for you because you don’t care. So I want the nerves. They’re pushing me to be better.”

The proof is in the times.

As a sophomore, Rotunno qualified for the 300-meter hurdles and ultimately finished 10th, one spot short of qualifying for the finals, with a preliminary time of 47.35 seconds. A year later, Rotunno ran the fourth-fastest prelims time (46.31) before improving in the finals to 45.83, a more than 1.5-second improvement in a year and good enough for fifth place at the 2024 state meet.

While Rotunno believes the nerves played a positive factor in her improvement, she also committed even further to track and field after her sophomore season in hopes the extra focus would pay off.

“I play softball and track, so this year I kind of put track as my first commitment and was able to make it to a little bit more meets, get more races in and go to a lot more practices than I was last year, which gave me a little bit more experience,” Rotunno said. “I was able to just run the 300 more honestly, and I feel like that helped me a lot.”

Although the other results were not what Rotunno wanted — her 4×200 and 4×400-meter relay teams finished 13th and 16th, respectively — Rotunno said it was meaningful to get to share her accomplishments with her teammates.

“They work just as hard as me,” Rotunno said.” I’m very happy I’m here, but I wish they were right by me, too. I’m fortunate, but they’re just as fortunate. They pushed me every day to be better.”

As a senior at Mooney, Rotunno said she has set a goal for herself to run a sub-45-second time in the 300-meter hurdles, which would have earned a spot better on the podium had she done so this year.

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