COLUMBUS — Katie Ruffener has left her mark on Ohio high school track. In fact, she’s re-written school, Northern 10 Athletic Conference, district, and state meet records.

Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, in the Division III state track and field meet, the Colonel Crawford senior ended her legacy in exemplary fashion. And the Lady Eagles claimed their first state title in three decades.

“Last year was definitely rough. I was not having a good two days there, Ruffener said. “This year, the atmosphere has definitely been a big part of it.”

Ruffener ran a state record 13.71 record to crush the field in the 100-meter hurdles to open the second day.

“It was Friday go for the record, Saturday win, so doing it both days was very good. My goal was 13.6.”

She finished third in the 100 meters, clocking 12.32.

“I think I had adrenaline from the 100 hurdles. I was great, let’s keep going. I couldn’t tell how tired I was. I was just ready to go,” Ruffener said.

Getting those six points helped push Crawford to the team championship. They edged Margaretta 44-41 for the team trophy. Minster finished in third with 30 points.

Ruffener then captured the 300-meter hurdles in 43.06.

Being a two-time state champion is important, but the team trophy meant more to her.

“That was our whole goal this year. Who cares about what I get? It’s a state team. Bringing the freshmen up gives them confidence and a part of something great,” she said.

Coaches Jody Grove and Preston Foy talked about the title run and what it took to get there.

“We don’t see it as a male/female thing. It’s a total coaching staff. They buy into this program,” Grove said.

“All these decisions, relays, who does what, how we’re going to make steps. It’s all collective. We respect everyone’s opinion,” Foy said.

“I felt Katie had a lot on her plate. A lot of pressure. She’s a strong individual woman. It’s a lot to ask for her to carry that load. She knew she had to be perfect too for us to have a chance to win as a team. So that’s a lot of pressure.”

Foy said Ruffener’s effort in the 100 meters to get third was strong.

“She was about fifth and fought through that last 10 meters. If she doesn’t, we’re probably not in position,” he said.

“Getting that record in the 100-hurdle race, it gave her an adrenaline rush. Her hurdle race was phenomenal. She finished strong. I’m very happy for Katie and all the other kids,” Foy said.

“She wasn’t happy with her performance at state last year. From the very last race at state, she got back to work. Some kids are intimidated by the big stage. I think she feeds off of that.”

“Every point really did matter today. Niyah (Shipman) coming through in the high jump yesterday and the (Julie and Corin) Feiks throwing. It was a very good all-around team thing.”

Foy called the head-to-head battle between Ruffener and Margaretta standout Kenna Stimmel one of the best rivalries in the state.

“It made for a very exciting day.”

Stimmel, who edged out Ruffener for second in the 100 meters by .22 seconds, finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles (15:09).

DOING IT FOR ‘TEG’

The school lost beloved coach Ryan Teglovic a week before the state meet. He fought a 16-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

The former Eagles football coach weighed on the minds of the team, including the boys 4X100 meter relay team of Jacob Awbrey, Carter Valentine, Caulen Spangler, and Ethan Holt.

“I feel like he was here in spirit, I know he’d be super proud of us. He wanted nothing but the best for us and we gave it everything we had,” Spangler said.

“I was just looking at the board and when it said seventh, I’ve never been happier to place seventh. We qualified and All-Ohio has always sounded cool to me. It’s just surreal.”

Holt said he enjoyed the experience running in Columbus.

“It’s the one thing you work toward in track, you have to be All-Ohio. It was crazy, I crossed the finish line and saw two guys to my left. I was scared, but I looked at the board and saw we got seventh.”

“We put F.I.G.H.T. on our shirts for Teg. We wanted to do it for him.”

Awbrey agreed.

“We talk about him all the time. We had conversations about working hard and getting this for Teg. We came out and this was just special in general.”

The group finished seventh in 44.15 seconds.

“I was hoping we would’ve ran a little better,” Valentine said. “But we came out here and did our best against some pretty good competition. I think we did the best we could.”