COLUMBUS — Emma Tyrrell keeps breaking records — mainly her own.
On Saturday the Bucyrus junior ran a 59.43 to place 8th in the 400-meter run and reach the podium at the OHSAA state track and field meet.
“It feels great. My goal was to make the podium, so it wasn’t the best race. I wanted to break 59 (seconds), but I did what I could do and PR’d so it got me where I wanted,” Tyrrell said.
With the placing, Tyrrell became the first female track All-Ohioan at Bucyrus since Brittany Parcell in 2014.
“Oh my gosh. It’s just crazy,” she said regarding coming in seeded 18th and placing 10 spots higher.
“It shows all the little things help. Practice this week was tough because I was all by myself with my coach and it’s hard to run alone.”
“I’ve been running since October, almost 9 months straight of going. It shows you that hard work is going to work, even if you’re not exactly where you think you should be.”
In the Friday prelims, she earned a PR and broke her own school record clocking in at 59.60 to finish fifth in her heat and eighth overall.
She had modest goals coming into the spring.
“This is my first year running the 400,” Tyrrell said. “I started off my go-to 200 wasn’t going like it was supposed to at the beginning of the year. So, we tried to work out what we could do, and this just happened to be it.
“I did not think I’d be right here, right now, for sure,” she said.
Tyrrell was also a bit nervous heading into the state meet, head coach Kevin Boggs said.
“She’s been with me working and lifting and training indoors since November. Today (Friday) was the culmination of that and I told her, ‘You’re in Lane 1. You’re in a good spot.’ She went out and broke her school record again. She ran really smart,” he said.
“I just told her it’s one race at a time. She looked at the girls times and I told her, ‘I don’t care what the time is, that’s who you have to catch.'”
Tyrrell was pulled out of other running events dealing with a hamstring issue that happened right before the post-season.
“I’ve had this injury for about 2 or 3 weeks. Just trying to work through what I have, but there was definitely a point where I thought I’d be done whether I was pulled or just couldn’t finish it,” she said.
“I’ve been stretching and this being my only race I knew I had to get through it.”
Boggs said she was pulled out of the 100 and 200 at regionals.
“She has run so well this season even dealing with hamstring issues and shin splints,” he said. “There were a couple of meets we didn’t even run her at all. But it’s awesome she had success this year.”
Boggs is optimistic for the future of the Redmen’s program.
“It’s such a big deal for him (Randy Banks) getting back to state. Getting here one time is hard as it is; twice is huge.”
Banks fought through some injuries this spring. He cleared 6-feet in the high jump for a 16th place finish.
“He stopped all of his running and he just jumped because he was having some quad issues. Last couple weeks graduating and the nerves from the pressure of getting back down was a big deal for him,” Boggs said.
He set the N10 record at 6-feet, 5 and 1/4 inches.
Having a teammate like Kavan Combs was a huge asset.
“They’re good friends, support each other; when Kavan didn’t make it that kind of hurt them both bad. They pushed each other all year.”
Bucyrus was runner-up at the district meet and has a lot of returning talent.
“I have a nice core of kids coming back. My son’s (Carter) class is very talented and have stepped in at the big meets scared to death to run. I told them, ‘I don’t care if you’re 14 years old, you’re running against the older guys,'” Boggs said.
“The middle school program has really grown, and I’ve got 4 freshmen, very big shot putters coming. In 2 years, they’re hopefully my 50-foot guys. They’re working out and we have some solid distance runners and sprinters coming back and we have Kavan.
“My girls team, I only graduate 1 girl. Coaches and I have been very positive working together and it takes time,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of talented kids coming back, so we’ll see what we can build on.”
Tyrrell has been part of that program building.
“It’s been fun, but it’s also been a challenge. There’s lots of meets where we really can’t fill an event,” she said.
“But we’re filling in what we have. Our 4X200 made it to regional finals this year but didn’t get out. We’re definitely working on building the program, and then working with who we have to make them the strongest they can be.”