Ohio's top high school boys track and field athletes: Meet the state’s best distance runners
By Owen Racer | Photo by Mike Cook
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be taking a look at some of the top track and field athletes in Ohio.
We started with the top sprinters in the girls division and then the top boys sprinters, followed by girls distance runners. Now we turn to the boys distance runners.
There are hundreds of standout distance runners in Ohio, and these lists are not intended to be comprehensive! Tag us on Twitter or Instagram at @SBLiveOH and let us know about other athletes worthy of fans’ attention.
Note: We'll also be posting lists of the state's top hurdlers, jumpers and throwers in the coming weeks. Many athletes excel in multiple events, but we won't do write-ups on the same athlete on multiple lists.
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Connor Ackley, Hilliard Davidson, junior
As only a sophomore, he ran the state’s third-fastest 1,600 in the 2021 outdoor season with a time of 4:13.45. He was top 20 in the state in the 3,200 last year with a PR of 9:20.65.
Kiefer Bell, Talawanda, senior
He clocked Ohio’s seventh-fastest 1,600 in the 2021 outdoor season with a 4:14.41. He was top 20 in the state in the 3,200 with a 9:18.53.
Evan Bork, St. Edward, senior
Bork ran the third-fastest 1,600-meter time in the state during this year's indoor season with a PR of 4:14.92. He has the fastest 3,200 of the young outdoor season with a 9:26.51.
Owen Brady, New Philadelphia, senior
Brady cracked Ohio’s top 25 3,200-meter times in the 2021 outdoor season with a 9:25.78. Brady has committed to Youngstown State.
Titan Casey, Hudson, senior
Casey clocked Ohio’s 19th-fastest 800 in the 2021 outdoor season, running a 1:55.58 at the D1 Northeast Districts.
Ryan Chevalier, Loveland, senior
Chevalier’s 4:14.41 in the 1,600 was good for eighth in the state last season. The Virginia Tech commit recently ran Ohio’s fastest 2022 outdoor 800 with a time of 1:56.98.
Dylan Christian, Granville, senior
With a time of 1:52.97, Christian ran the third-fastest 800 in the 2021 outdoor season. Christian has committed to the University of Louisville.
Seth Elking, Miamisburg, senior
As a junior, he clocked Ohio’s second-fastest 1,600-meter time of the outdoor season with a 4:13.29. Elking has committed to the University of Cincinnati.
Blaze Fichter, Hoover, senior
Fichter ran a 4:17.62 in the 1,600 in last year's outdoor campaign, good for Ohio’s 16th fastest. In the 2022 indoor season he clocked a 1,600-meter PR (4:15.83).
Will Goodrich, St. Xavier, senior
Goodrich ran a 9:22.25 in the 3,200 last year and cracked the top 10 in the 1,600 this indoor season with a 4:18.85. He has committed to Miami (Ohio).
John Hollon, Hoover, senior
Hollon ran the eighth-fastest 800-meter time in the 2021 outdoor season with a 1:54.63. He had a top 10 time in the 800 during the 2022 indoor season with a 1:57.49.
Evan Jarold, Brunswick, senior
Jarold, who has committed to Walsh University, ran a top 20 1,600-meter time in the state last season with a PR of 4:19.01. He was just outside the top 20 in the 3,200 with a PR of 9:22.81.
Ricky Marsico, Girard, senior
Running within Ohio’s Top 20 fastest 800m times for the 2021 outdoor season, Marsico clocked a 1:55.36 PR in the 800 last year, good for 17th in the state.
Brady Messer, Mason, senior
Messer finished the 2021 outdoor season with Ohio’s 18th-fastest 800-meter time (1:55.59) in a senior-dominant class. He ran Ohio’s third-fastest 800-meter indoor in 2022 with a 1:55.59.
Nick Plant, Canfield, senior
Plant recorded the fastest 800-meter time of the 2021 outdoor season with a 1:49.39. The Virginia Tech commit ran a 4:08.83 1,600 in the 2022 indoor season, which was the fastest in Ohio.
Thomas Rice, Glen Oak, senior
Rice snagged first place at the Avon Lake Invitational on April 2 in the 1600 with a time of 4:19.31. Furthermore, he has Ohio’s fastest indoor 2-mile and 3,000.
Evan Trapp, St. Xavier, sophomore
Trapp burst onto the distance scene during the indoor season, notching the sixth-fastest 1,600 and mile in the state.
Dillon Wooten, Kettering Fairmont, senior
Wooten placed first in the 800 in the Jack Lintz Northmont Invitational on April 2 with a time of 1:59.48.
Brady Yingst, Perry, senior
Yingst clocked the 14th-fastest 1,600 last year with a 4:17.01. Although yet to beat that time a year later, he recently ran a 1:58.44 800 meters.
