Central Ohio athletes shine at NCAA track nationals
Monday, June 12, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
The University of Colorado’s Grace Jenkins, a Bishop Watterson graduate, competed for the Buffaloes at this year’s NCAA championships. Photo courtesy of Colorado Athletics.
It wasn’t the finish she initially envisioned, but Sara Borton now views her latest experience as a positive to build on.
The 2021 Olentangy Orange graduate and a sophomore on the Washington women’s track and field program wound up reaching the podium in her first appearance at the NCAA Outdoor championships held June 7-10 in Austin, Texas.
She was hoping to go higher than the 14 feet, 1 1/4 inches she cleared in the pole vault to tie for sixth, but it proved to be a solid cap to a 2022-23 season in which she also was a first-team All-American at indoor nationals in March and shared the Pac-12 championship.
“Now that I think about it, it’s a really nice finish and I’m really happy,” Borton said. “I kind of got caught up in the moment where I wanted more and I wasn’t thinking about how far I’ve come, but I just came home (to Washington), put up my second All-American trophy along with my conference first-place trophy, and it just made me go, ‘Wow.’”
Borton was among a group of athletes originally from central Ohio who competed at the outdoor nationals, with two others also earning All-America honors.
McKenzie Long, a 2018 Pickerington Central graduate and senior for Mississippi, earned a national runner-up finish in the 200 meters when she ran 21.88 seconds June 10.
Also earning All-America honors was one of Long’s former teammates, 2018 Central graduate Jaydan Wood, who ran on Ohio State’s 1,600 relay along with Bryannia Murphy, Alyssa Marsh and Yanique Dayle that finished third (3:26.72) on June 10.
Others originally from central Ohio who competed at outdoor nationals were Colorado’s Grace Jenkins (Watterson) and India Johnson (Hilliard Davidson) and Lipscomb’s Lydia Miller (Thomas Worthington) in the women’s competition and Florida State’s Denzell Feagin (Pickerington Central) in the men’s meet.
Long was the state runner-up in the 200 for the Tigers as a junior in 2017 and began her college career at North Carolina State but did not compete in 2022 because of an injury.
After finishing fourth in the 200 and seventh in the 100 at this year’s NCAA Indoor meet, Long qualified for both events at the outdoor nationals and turned in a ninth-place finish in the 100 (11.13) to earn second-team All-America honors.
She then placed second in the 200 less than an hour later.
“I wasn’t even going to run the 200, but I thought, ‘I can do this,’” Long told Citius Mag shortly after her runner-up finish. “I’m proud of myself that I’m the runner-up, so I just want to enjoy this moment.”
Wood also turned in a 14th-place finish in the 400 (51.62) to earn second-team All-America honors in addition to her relay finish.
India Johnson, a Hilliard Davidson alumna, started her college career at Michigan State before transferring to Colorado to compete for the Buffaloes. Photo courtesy of Colorado Athletics.
Borton, who grew up competing in gymnastics and also made it to state in girls wrestling in 2021, didn’t begin competing in the pole vault until her sophomore prep season. She placed seventh at state that season, didn’t have a junior year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and then finished fifth as a senior for the Pioneers.
She competed for Tennessee as a freshman in 2022 but elected to transfer after the program made a coaching change and found a home at Washington despite the significantly further distance from her hometown.
Borton cleared 14-5 1/4 during the NCAA indoor meet to finish fifth.
“When I first transferred (to Washington), I had second guesses because the training was different, but I (went a personal-best) a good amount of times and I was attempting my PR on my last attempt,” Borton said. “The most frustrating part is that once you get to this level, you go up four inches so it’s a slight difference in your jump and if you do the same exact jump, you can make it but you have to hit every single thing again. I had such great coaches in high school, but I had some mental blocks. You’ve got to push through that mental barrier and it’ll be worth it.”
Feagin began his college career at Barton Community College and earned the NJCAA National title in 2021 in the 200 before transferring to Florida State.
At the NCAA Outdoor nationals, Feagin ran in the semifinal of the 400 relay that finished in 38.27 to qualify for the final but did not compete in the relay final June 9.
Miller ran on the 3,200 relay in 2019 for Thomas Worthington that won the state title but was a 2020 graduate who did not have a senior outdoor season because of the pandemic.
A sophomore for Lipscomb, Miller finished 19th in the 5000 (16:14.55) on June 10 in the next-to-last event of the national meet.
On June 8, both of central Ohio’s runners for Colorado competed.
Johnson, a 2017 Davidson graduate who won state titles in the 3,200 as both a junior and senior, began her collegiate career at Michigan State before transferring to Colorado in 2022.
After finishing 10th in the 10,000 at last year’s outdoor nationals, Johnson qualified again to this year’s meet but withdrew after 4,400 meters.
“My season’s are always strange,” Johnson said. “To start, I’m never looking great, but I always have to trust that when it really matters, I’ll be there and be really good. Overall my season (was) good when it really (mattered).”
Jenkins, a 2021 Watterson graduate who ran on the team’s 800 relay that won the state title when she was a senior, helped the Buffaloes’ 1,600 relay place 23rd a year ago as a walk-on.
She since has gone on scholarship for Colorado and helped the same relay place 19th (3:36.37) at this year’s outdoor nationals.
“Last year I think it was pretty unexpected because I had walked on to the team and wasn’t getting as many reps as I could, but it was a pretty cool season,” Jenkins said. “This year, (making it to nationals) was our goal and where we wanted to get to.
“I had a pretty successful senior season in high school and I just knew I wanted a different experience for college than competing in the Midwest. I wanted to go somewhere new. Right now, I’m just working towards my degree and seeing where track takes me.”