Correspondent photo / Robert Hayes. Ursuline senior Xaiver Starghill competes in the Division III boys 110 hurdles finals last week at the OHSAA state track and field meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, taking sixth place with a time of 14.45.

COLUMBUS — Xavier Starghill has been to the state meet before. But the third day of this year’s meet turned into a lengthy and grueling wait for the Ursuline senior.

A slew of weather delays due to strong rain and lightning strikes meant that the Division III finals didn’t get underway until close to 9 p.m. under the lights of Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. With the spotlight, literally and figuratively, on those athletes, the chance to shine was there.

Starghill did that just, running a time of 14.45 to earn sixth in the boys 110 hurdles, before capping off his high school career as the 300 hurdles state runner-up with a personal-best times of 37.50. Indian Valley’s Carsen Hostetler took first in the 300 hurdles at 37.01.

“It was cool besides all of the delays, I was kind of tired. I’m not making excuses, I’m just glad I’m here,” Starghill said. “Every five minutes, I got up and stretched and walked around, hydrated and ate fruit.

“Me personally, I like it when it’s hot out, so I don’t gotta warm up a lot and all of the extra stuff. I like being sweaty and just fighting off the heat.”

Starghill was a member of Ursuline’s boys 4×100 relay group that placed eighth last June, giving him some confidence heading into this season.

With that being said, nothing feels better knowing that you’ve earned it yourself.

“It’s way better. I set a goal to get an individual medal because last year I almost made it to state, but my block slipped in the regional final. So I had it in my mind that I had to get here,” Starghill said. “With two events, it’s pretty hard. You just gotta stay focused. You can celebrate when you win or qualify but you gotta focus on the next race after that.

“I was kind of mad about the 110, because I started kind of bad, so I used that to get right for the 300. It turned out pretty good.”

Starghill credits his parents and friends for opening the door to track and field, especially as his only sport.

“I work out every couple of days because I don’t want to kill myself doing it and risk injury, so I stay focused on that, set a goal, that’s how I did it,” Starghill added.

What made the state meet special for Starghill was the fact that he was able to compete with his younger brother, Tyler, a junior, in the same heat of the preliminary round of the 110 hurdles. Tyler took 10th in the prelims at 14.75.

“Since it’s my last year running with him, having to experience that was very good. We made it to indoor state together, so that was a good moment for me,” Starghill said. “I taught him how to push himself. Last year, he wasn’t really good at the 100, but I pushed him and competed with him during training, so that got him here.

“He’s taught me to keep going. I had a hamstring injury in my second meet. That kind of set me back, and I thought I was done, but he kept me in the right mindset. It was worth it. I was really thinking about giving up, but I fought it through and decided I needed to go compete.”