The Garfield G-Men girls’ track and field team qualified three athletes to the Ohio High School Athletic Association state meet. Senior discus thrower Elise Edwards, sophomore hurdler Olivia Kuchenbecker and freshman distance runner Lina Kaufman each earned state bids at the OHSAA Division IV regional meet last weekend at Austintown-Fitch High School.
“All three of them just put in so much time and effort,” Coach Jim Pfleger said. “All three did indoor with us all year and obviously Lina had a great fall season in cross-country, so it was great. There are always some that get left behind that deserve it but those three deserved it and they worked their tails off all year to get here.”
The Garfield trio will compete at the OHSAA Division IV state meet at The Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m.
“We have it ready to go,” the first-year coach said. “We have worked out all of the different scenarios and we are doing everything. We have been working on it for about a week, just getting everybody lined up where everybody is going to be and who is going to watch what and how we are going to get the kids around. It is a fun problem to have.”
The top five finishers in each event netted an automatic state berth, with three at-large bids being in play for the next two top times or scores across all three regional meets.
It is the second consecutive state berth for Edwards, who placed fourth in the regional discus throw with a distance of 121 feet, 11 inches.
Edwards hit her best mark of the day on her first throw, and was in first place after the first round of throws. She dropped to third place after the third round but remained in the top flight in the final three rounds.
Pfleger praised her for becoming a two-time state qualifier and the sole Garfield thrower representing the G-Men at the state meet.
“I was happy after that first throw,” he said. “I have seen her practice throws the last couple of weeks. So she is definitely in shape for it. She has been on big stages before, and she was an All-Ohioan on the weight throw, so she has competed at the state level indoor for a few years.”
Kuchenbecker captured her first career state berth when she took seventh place in the 300-meter hurdles, clocking a personal record of 46.82 seconds.
Although the G-Men sophomore missed the initial cut of the top five times out of the OHSAA Division IV Austintown region, her career best was deemed one of the two next fastest times and was awarded an at-large bid for the OHSAA Division IV state meet.
“She is hitting her stride right now and she really only has a few races under her belt in the 300-meter hurdles,” noted Pfleger. “You never know when you get down there and with her, she is capable of anything.”
Kuchenbecker became the first Garfield hurdler to qualify for the state meet since hurdling great Katelyn Paul did so in 2006, qualifying in both the 100 and 300-meter hurdles.
The Garfield girls’ final state qualifier was freshman Lina Kaufman, who earned two state bids, taking third place in the 3200-meter run with a time of 11:29.12 and also capturing third place in the 1600-meter run, clocking a personal record 5:13.59.
“She is not your typical freshman,” Pfleger said. “She is another great kid. I don’t know how many coaches came up to me saying we knew that distance runner was unbelievable, but we didn’t realize she was a freshman. She is on another level.”
Kaufman is the first country runner to become a state qualifier since Caroline Han did so in 2012.
According to Pfleger, Kaufman made her mark on Wednesday when she took third place in the 3200-meter run.
“She knows her races and she has got a plan heading in and that girl sticks to everything,” he added. “She is prepared; she has a system down. She is one of those kids and you are not worried about the big stage. She is used to the big stage, and she is prepped, and she is going to be ready to go.”
On Friday, Kaufman returned to the track to also qualify in the 1600-meter run, once again demonstrating keen tactical maneuvering to finish in third place and be a multiple-event state qualifier.
“She runs her race,” Pfleger said. “It was a great field in all of the distance events; she came out and executed.”
