Good enough by a 'Tadd'

COLUMBUS — Typically, you want to save your best for last. Columbus Grove's Tadd Koch's probably has heard that throughout his life, not only in sports but everything in between. He decided to go the other way during the discus final at Friday's Division III Ohio High School Athletic Association state track meet at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The junior tossed it 174-6 on just his second throw and that held for a third-place finish behind Norwayne's Colby (185-0) and Dillon (177-1) Morlock. "My first two throws were my best two throws and I think after that, I started pressing a little bit. But I'm happy with how I did," Koch said. "You obviously can't complain about third on the podium, but overall, I'm happy where I ended up. "I was just thinking about my personal best and focusing on what I can do because there's some really good throwers here. We knew they were going to be good, but we can't control how they throw, so I just came in and do my personal best. I did that and I'm happy with that." Leipsic's Seth Apple finished ninth with a throw of 163-2 and Hopewell-Loudon's Ryan Cook (147-10) took 12th. Koch's teammate, Lawson Maag, finished in tenth behind Apple with a throw of 161-6. "Division III discus was absolutely stacked this year," Koch said. "Going into this, we knew there were going to be some great throwers, but we just wanted to do our personal best. We didn't really want to compare it to other throwers." This might be the junior's first time competing at the state level, but it's not the first time he's been at the state meet. Last year, Koch watched Maag and Ethan Halker take third and fourth place. Not being there fueled him this season. "I knew I wanted to be down here and I knew I wanted to do well," he said. "There's a great energy here. We've been throwing at all of these smaller venues and this is such a huge jump up. It's awesome and it's something I definitely won't forget. "Last year, my last meet was a Grove quad in April, so this was definitely a big step up. It's been exciting, but now the goal is to get back here next year and win." He's not the only Bulldog looking to get back to next year's meet as freshman vaulter, Lauryn Auchmuty, took fifth place, clearing 11-8. "It was a lot of pressure," Auchmuty said. Her best going into the weekend was 10-8. "But knowing that my team was there supporting me lowered the stress and the anxiety." "I've got three more years ahead of me, so I'm hoping I can get a little bit better, but overall, this year, I was pretty happy." Margaretta's Kenna Stimmel not only set an OHSAA record but a national high school record when she won the event with a mark of 14-6 1/4. Bluffton's Bri Taber took eighth place, clearing 11-0. Auchmuty's weekend isn't over, as she, Brynn Fortman, Kierston Closson and Savanah Ridenour will compete in the 4x100 and 4x200 finals later today. Grove's boys 3,200 relay team of Caleb Stechschulte, Caleb Morman, Trent Koch and Carson Closson took sixth place with a time of 8:07.76. Stechschulte and Closson, along with Trent Barraza and Anden Blankemeyer, advanced to today's 4x400 final with a time of 3:28.66.