Troy boys track and field coach Deon Metz, Devon Strobel and throws coach Aaron Gibbons stand with the scoreboard indicating he won the D-I state discus title Saturday at Welcome Stadium.
Photos courtesy of Lee Woolery|Speedshot Photo
Troy’s Devon Strobel lets fly with his winning throw in the discus.
Photos courtesy of Lee Woolery|Speedshot Photo
Troy’s Kiyah Baker puts the shot Saturday at Welcome Stadium. Baker finished fourth in the D-I competition.
Rob Kiser|Miami Valley Today
Troy’s Tatyana Green puts everything into putting the shot put Saturday. Green finished seventh in the D-I competition.
Rob Kiser|Miami Valley Today
Tippecanoe’s Trey Sellers goes over the bar in the high jump.
Photos courtesy of Lee Woolery|Speedshot Photo
Photos courtesy of Lee Woolery|Speedshot Photo
DAYTON — Troy track and field throws coach Aaron Gibbons couldn’t have asked much more from the performance of three Troy athletes at the D-I state track and field meet Saturday at Weldome Stadium.
Devon Strobel won the boys discus and Kiyah Baker and Tatyana Green both outperformed where they were seeded, earning spots on the podium.
Awesome was one word Gibbons wasn’t hesitant to use afterwards — and understandably so.
And Tippecanoe junior Trey Sellers earned a spot on the podium in the high jump.
Devon Strobel
The Troy senior —even after winning a state championship — preferred to let his accomplishment speak for him after winning the discus with a throw of 181-8 on his second throw and adding another throw over 180 in the finals.
“I am just really happy to be able to bring this state championship back to Troy,” Strobel said. “It means a lot. It has been the goals since I finished fifth last year.”
In fact, despite being outsized by most of his competitors — four of his six throws would have been good enough to win and another was the same distance as second place CJ Sanna of Olentangy.
“It has taken a lot of hard work,” Strobel said. “A lot of hard work. It feels good to be state champion. I never thought it (181-8) would hold up, but it did.”
Strobel stil had some anxious moments, watching to see if anyone would catch him.
“Definitely, there were some nervous moments — every time somebody threw,” Strobel said with a smile.
It completed a perfect season where Strobel never lost a discus competition — and saw hard work be reward.
Kiyah Baker
Baker couldn’t have been happier after finishing her senior season on the podium.
“It feels great to know I am headed off to college with a medal from the state meet,” Baker said. “It was a PR, which is something I have been wanting.”
Baker finished fourth after a career best 39-7 3-4 on her final put in prelims, moving her from eighth place up to third place headed into the finals. She dropped one spot in the finals.
“I knew I needed to move up from where I was (eighth),” she said. “When I heard the distance I was pretty excited. It feels great to be on the podium.”
Tatyana Green
Green, a junior qualified with an at-large berth and got the ninth and final qualifying spot going into finals.
She was still in ninth going into her final put, needing to move up to gain a spot on the podium.
Green launched a put of 38-6 3-4, which moved her up to sixth and she finished seventh.
“I just knew I had to give it everything I had,” she said. “To come in on an at-large berth and be seeded as low as I was, to make it on the podium as a junior feels great. It wasn’t a PR for me, but that is okay.”
Trey Sellers
Sellers was hoping to do better, but still found a spot on the podium in his first year of high jumping.
After getting 6-2 on his first attempt and 6-4 on his second attempt, he just missed at 6-5 and finished in a three-way tie for eighth.
Sports Editor Rob Kiser can be reached at [email protected]
