Boys Week of 5/2 Recap

The regular season is winding down, but the action is just heating up. The Wayne Invite featured many incredible performances, and there was plenty of notable action closer to Columbus as well. Without further ado, let’s break down this week’s results.

Meet of the Week: Wayne Invite

This meet was exactly what we expected—a state preview meet. With a large portion of Ohio’s talent residing in Central and Southwest Ohio, fireworks were almost guaranteed. On the first day of competition, the Dublin Jerome relay of Ishida, Cymbal, Tyler, and Guerrera won the DMR in a loaded field, clocking 10:11. They beat out Centerville (10:14), Westerville North (10:20), and Lancaster (10:26). There wasn’t much else to note from Thursday, as the rest of the elite events took place the following day.

Friday kicked off with the 1600, featuring an incredibly deep field. Brock Jarrett continued his stellar season, winning with a new personal best of 4:15.02. With this impressive victory over athletes such as Ethan Ishida, Samuel Darmanie, Matthew Penkowski, and Jackson Davis, I’ve learned by now not to bet against Jarrett. Other notable Central Ohio finishers included Ishida at 4:16, Casey Carlos at 4:17, Graham Tyler at 4:22, Bradyn Allender at 4:24, and Noah Kemp at 4:26.

Next up was the 800—another prediction I missed, as I didn’t realize my pick had already raced in the 1600 earlier that day. Centerville’s Daniel Emmert took the win in 1:52.53, positioning himself as a legitimate state title contender if he chooses to focus on this event. Two Central Ohio Gabe’s finished in the top five: Gabe Wise (1:54.36) and Gabe McNeil (1:54.69), both earning personal bests.

The final distance event of the meet was the 3200, which we’ll break down below since it was our featured matchup of the week.

Matchup of the Week: Wayne Invite 3200

This race absolutely lived up to the hype, and I finally picked the correct winner. As expected, Charlie Guerrera came out on top in what will likely be the second most competitive 3200 of the season—behind only the state meet. His time of 8:59.34 was one of the fastest in the meet’s prestigious history. He wasn’t the only Central Ohio standout: Matthew Schroff ran a small personal best of 9:03, while Tate Ruthers ran a huge PR of 9:11. Mckinley Norman, Jeffery Kerns, and Michael Kinzer also had strong performances, running 9:18, 9:20, and 9:22 respectively.

Other Notable Action

While it wasn’t Wayne, the Olentangy Invite and Gary Smith Invitational were solid fallback options for teams staying closer to Central Ohio. At the Olentangy Invite, the 1600 featured seven sub-4:29 finishes, with Braydon Nix taking the win in 4:24 and Charles Rizek and Justin Rona finishing second and third. Ty Munroe claimed the 800 in a blazing 1:55.12, a major personal best.

At the Gary Smith Invitational, Owen Towler won the 1600 in 4:24, followed by Mack Weithman at 4:28. Evan Graessle won the 800 in 1:58.49, and Jacob Bolton took the 3200 in 9:39. Olentangy Liberty made the trip to the Marion Night Invitational, where Gordon Kimberly and Sam Brockbank went 1–2 in the 1600 with times of 4:25 and 4:26. Aadi Joshi and Louie Perry ran 1:56.32 and 1:57.71 in the 800, while Zee Rabi and Sam Perez clocked 9:44 and 9:49 in the 3200.

Underclassmen Results

Outside of previously mentioned names, several underclassmen had standout performances in the Wayne Invite Rising Stars events. Westerville North’s Holden Gray ran 10:07 in the 3200 on Thursday, while Gregory Kerns (Westerville North) and Griffin Ley (Hilliard Bradley) both ran 4:35 in the 1600 on Friday. At the Olentangy Invite, Westerville Central sophomores Alex Hohman (4:27 in the 1600) and Andrew Gould (1:58.81 in the 800) impressed, with Dublin Jerome’s Carter Hutchinson close behind at 2:00.53.

In the Gary Smith 3200, seven underclassmen ran 10:15 or faster. Thomas Worthington’s Rishi Jha led the way with a 9:48, followed by strong performances from Dublin Coffman’s Ben Canales, Gahanna Lincoln’s Beckett Anderson, Granville’s Logan Miller and Benjamin Rose, Central Crossing’s Mayson Talley, and Watkins Memorial’s Pierce Lott, all running between 10:00 and 10:15.

As the regular season approaches a close, it's clear that athletes across Central Ohio are rounding into peak form. With standout performances at major meets like Wayne and strong showings at local invitationals, the postseason is shaping up to be one of the most competitive in recent memory. Stay tuned—things are only getting more exciting from here.