Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes South Range senior Emmitt Slabach, left, makes a move for position during the end of the third lap of the 1600-meter run during the state championships. He took the Division II bronze medal, with a school-record time of 4:12.19.

COLUMBUS — Despite missing the regional title by mere milliseconds, Emmitt Slabach still felt pretty good walking into Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. He knew the race was going to be a speedy one, but the senior kept pace, earning bronze for South Range during the Division II boys 1600-meter run, clocking a school-record time of 4:12.19.

It’s the second consecutive season that Slabach placed in the mile, earning sixth last season at Welcome Stadium in Dayton. He ran nearly seven seconds faster than his previous state appearance.

“This year it was way deeper. There was so much more competition, but I knew from the start I had to get out quick,” Slabach said. “Last year I got boxed in pretty bad at the start, and I spent the whole race just trying to recover from that and pick off some spots. Coach (Terry Kenney) and I talked, I had to get out quick. I couldn’t just try to stay in lane one, and also, usually my second lap has been slow. It was 70 seconds for my second lap (at regionals), and it’s just really hard when you run that slow of a lap to come back and still run a fast time.

“That was the main thing we focused on, was getting that second lap down because it felt like the hardest mile of my life, but I always know I had a good kick at the end.”

Placing is always an incredible feeling for an athlete, but jumping up three spots over a year is a difficult challenge to face.

“I’m super happy with it. I knew I had a faster time in me but there were some really great runners I was facing,” Slabach said. “Just knowing them in the past, they were definitely a lot faster than me when I was younger, but I was able to just work hard. As a freshman my coach used to tell me to just be patient because there was always other freshmen running these really fast times and I just trusted him, and he’s a great coach. I was able to peak when it mattered most my senior year, my last race.”

Owen Scott of Van Wert set the tone and built an early lead of almost five seconds heading into the final 400 meters, giving the pack someone to chase. Scott won with a time of 4:10.19.

“I really like it. I don’t get that much competition and we don’t go to that many big races, so I usually have to set the pace myself, and it’s a lot harder to do that when you have people to pace you,” Slabach said. “I really like having those guys, and it makes me become better. I don’t have to race out front myself. I don’t have to worry if I’m going fast enough or if there’s someone waiting behind me to outkick me. It’s just better to be in the position, where you’re in the position to make a move on someone else. It’s amazing, I’m never really good in a crowd like this. It even seems like there’s more people this year than last year because they’re all on one side.

“This is just amazing. Before the race I’m looking around at all of the people here and it really helps me appreciate the hard work I put in. Knowing that even though I don’t do what some normal high school students would do, it really lets me know that the hard work and the discipline I have is paying off.”

This fall, Slabach will be trading in his maroon and gold “Raiders” jersey for a different “Raiders” uniform, representing the forest green and gold of Wright State University.

“I just lowered the school record time (in the 1600),” Slabach said. “I have the second fastest time in the 5K, second fastest in the two mile, so it’s great to be able to leave some of that behind. And it’s great to have, but I hope the future of South Range is great and they have some guys that can push me off the podium a little bit. I really like the coach (at WSU), and the team. The team has a great atmosphere. I grew up on a very small team, so that’s why I like Wright State.

“They have a small team, but they’re all really close, so I just like that. It’s better when you run with guys that all want to be better. In high school, not everyone takes it as serious, so I’m just excited to go to college and have a whole team of guys that want to push each other to get better, so I’m excited to see what I can do there.”

Over on the Division III girls side, fellow Raiders teammate Gabriella Spooner took seventh place in the girls long jump, posting a best mark of 16-11.50 feet. Spooner became the first athlete in South Range history to place in the long jump during either the boys or girls state meet.