Trinity’s Iniyah Charlton capped her junior season with a state title at the 2024 OHSAA Division III state track & field championships at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.
Charlton, who won four regional titles last weekend, won the 100-meter dash in 11.95 seconds.
“I was actually really nervous because the girl that was in lane four ran 11.89 (in the preliminary race), and that was my PR, so I was scared she was going to run faster than that,” Charlton said. “But, then, I ran faster and I felt pretty good and my nerves went away after that.”
Once the race started, Charlton focused on the finish line and a surge near the finish line propelled her to the state title.
“I was feeling great throughout the race,” she said. “When we started, we were all close and as soon as I got to the 80-meter mark, I broke off. As soon as I took off, I started not to see them anymore and I knew I had it.”
Charlton also finished as the state runner-up in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.99 seconds, and she teamed up with Toni Jamison, Miracle Head, and Courtney McCray to finish as the state runner-up in the 4×100-meter dash with a time of 49.27 seconds.
She also competed in the long jump at the state meet.
“I feel pretty good about it because I’m only a junior and there’s always next year,” she said of her runner-up finishes. “I have a whole year to work in the offseason and maybe I can win three state titles and maybe four next year.”
The Trojans finished second in the 4×100-meter relay by just 0.17 seconds.
With that entire relay team returning next season, Charlton and her teammates already have focused their attention on climbing to the top of the podium next season.
“When we finished our 4×1, we all came together and said we’ve got this,” Charlton said. “Next year is going to be our year.”
Thanks to Charlton’s big day, Trinity finished third in the team race at the state meet.
Grand Valley’s Robert Rogers placed eighth in the high jump. He cleared 6 feet, 2 inches to earn his All-Ohio honors.
Independence’s Matt Wisniewski closed out his career with a pair of All-Ohio honors. He placed fourth in the 100 in 11.15 and sixth in the 200 in 22.71.
The Division I and Division II state championships conclude on Saturday.
