Crestview Cougars won the Division III OHSAA state title in the 4x400 relay

COLUMBUS — What doesn't kill a Crestview Cougar, makes it stronger.

For the 4x400 relay team of Adison Reymer, Malachi Spoerr, Caden Cunningham and Logan Friges, each one of them know that saying to be true. On Saturday, at the Division III state track meet, the quartet brought a state championship home to Olivesburg in the event with a new school-record time of 3:22.76 less than 24 hours after first breaking the school mark with a 3:23.25 in the prelims.

But the historic finish didn't come without its fair share of hurdles. Reymer, who also took fifth in the 200-meter dash to earn All-Ohio honors in that event, suffered an Achilles injury at the end of the football season that forced him to miss the Division VI regional semifinal game which also kept him out of basketball and away from preparing for track. But, he recovered in time to anchor the Cougars to a state title.

"I had no clue what track was going to look like this year because that Achille's took forever to heal," Reymer said. "I sat out basketball and tried doing indoor track and just couldn't so I didn't know what I was going to be able to do this year. But here we are."

And there they were atop the podium in front of thousands who attended the Division III state track meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. It made all of those moments of recovery worth it for Reymer.

"It feels so good, especially after last year and going through some troubles, trials and tribulations," Reymer said. "It feels so good to come in this year and end it all as a champion."

Spoerr, who runs the second leg of the relay, had his fair share of trials as well. Last season, he suffered a devastating knee injury that kept him from competing in track so to come out and finish on top of the podium with gold around his neck made every single physical therapy session worth it.

"It means so much because last year, I tore my ACL, MCL and meniscus," Spoerr said. "To make this comeback and finish on top of the podium made all of the rehab work worth it."

Spoerr also gave a lot of credit to Cunningham who ended up moving into the rotation due to an injury and he helped the Cougars continue their historic postseason run.

"For me, it means a lot," Spoerr said. "We came in this season not knowing what to expect. Caden joined the relay during the postseason because our other guy got hurt and the work he put in just made me want to work harder to see what we could accomplish."

Cunningham was running with a heavy heart after being on the relay team last year and not even making it to the finals. So the Cougars went from not qualifying to state champs in a matter of a year.

"I was on the relay team last year and we didn't even make the finals," Cunningham said. "So to win this after losing it last year is super special and validating for everything we put into this."

Friges had to overcome a hurdle that happened just moments before the 4x400 race. During his fifth-place run in the 800 where he posted a 1:55.78, he took a tumble right after the finish line and took a long time to recover from expending all of his energy in the race to earn an All-Ohio spot.

But, he had a secret tactic that the entire team runs with as they never sport socks under their track shoes. Friges admits it is a small but beneficial tactic that helped the Cougars bring home a state title.

"It makes us run faster," Friges said. "When you run in socks, you tend to slip around the corners. The key to a 400 dash is to get out of the corners fast so when we don't wear socks, we get that extra grip. It is one of those things that helps; one of those tiny things that helps us shave off time. In this race, we needed every single second we could get."

And they got it. They won the state championship 4x400 meter relay race by nearly a second over Marion Local which ran a 3:23.70 to take second.

The state championship left Reymer feeling grateful to end his career atop the biggest stage in the sport.

"Most importantly, the credit goes to the lord," Reymer said. "Being here, in general, is a blessing and being able to stand on top of the podium is something to be thankful for so we have to give credit to the lord, where it is due."

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