By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com

Some athletes win because they refuse to lose. Amber Rall possessed that kind of will and while she used it to carry Wynford teams to state tournaments and a one-legged long jump state title, that same will has carried her into the Wynford Athletic Hall of Fame.

“A lot of excitement, very excited,” Rall said of her inclusion into the Wynford Hall of Fame, both an as individual and as a member of the 2002-2003 Wynford girls basketball team. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be selected, especially with that whole team. “

If there was a female version of Jack Armstrong – All-American, Rall certainly has a resume` worthy of an audition for the part. A three-sport star at Wynford where she earned all-state honors in both basketball and track, Rall went on to an all-everything basketball career at Ashland University.

“I enjoyed basketball, that was probably my favorite,” said Rall who also excelled at volleyball for the Lady Royals. “But I also loved track. It was an individual sport and you just worried about yourself.”

Coaches had little to worry about when Rall was in uniform.

Four times she was named All-NCC in volleyball. In basketball she was a three-time All-Ohioan culminating with first-team honors as a senior and she was a four-time All-Ohioan in track where her time of 14.25 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles was not only a Wynford school record, but a state record at the time.

“I think of my father pushing me, my parents’ support and that of my grandparents,” Rall said. “Without that it wouldn’t have been possible.”

The Lady Royals captured two basketball league titles, three district crowns and one regional championship with Rall leading the way. It all came to a climax in her senior year when the Lady Royals went undefeated all the way to the state tournament at the Schottenstein Center at The Ohio State University.

“I think as a group we really liked that pressure,” Rall said. “We rose to the challenge.”

Before Rall played her final game in that state tournament she had accumulated six school records on the hardcourt. She scored 44 points for the single game record, most points in a season at 698, the career scoring record with 2,167, field goals in a season, field goals in a career, and assists in a season.

To this day she remains the only high school basketball player in Crawford County – boy or girl – to score 2,000 points in a career.

But it was in track where her will and her refusal to give in were illuminating. Six times in her first three high school track seasons she had stood on the awards podium at the state meet – but never as a state champion.

That all looked to change as she rolled through an incredible senior season that included a state record time in the hurdles. But at the regional meet in Fostoria, after having easily won the long jump and 100-meter hurdles, her dreams of a state title were seemingly over when she pulled up lame with a pulled hamstring during the 100-meter dash.

“I get tears in my eyes when I think about that,” Rall admitted. “I thought, ‘I’ve got one week.’

“I was sad and disappointed at the same time. I had to get through that adversity. I had worked so hard for that.”

Rall’s injury-interrupted regional meet still had qualified her for the 100-meter hurdles and long jump at that year’s state meet at the University of Dayton. She tested her leg but could not go in the hurdles.

“I warmed up and I knew I couldn’t do it,” Rall said. “It was a mental thing and I knew in my heart I wasn’t ready.”

That left the long jump and somehow Rall managed to qualify for the finals although she jumped just once in the prelims. She tried to find some magic in the finals but there was simply no explosion on her first two jumps.

“I was, ‘Ok, this is your last opportunity. Suck it up and go do it.’”

Somehow she pushed herself to a leap of over 18 feet and claimed that elusive state title along with a limping trip up to the top step on the podium.

“It was a tremendous, amazing feeling,” Rall said. “That was it. It was my last meet, my last sport.”

But it was not her last competition. Rall went on to a stellar collegiate basketball career at Ashland. There she was Freshman of the Year and was twice-named MVP for the Ashland women. Three years she earned all-league first team honors and left as Ashland’s all-time leading career scorer with 2,087 points.

“Coach (Amy) Taylor definitely got me prepared. A great coach. She was tough on us,” Rall said. “I had great teammates all the way along – on and off the court.”

Rall currently lives in Delaware and teaches physical education to preschoolers at Fairway in Bucyrus. She is engaged to Jesse Groves with a June wedding date.