Willow's performance one for the vault

DAYTON – Calvin Willow had cleared every height in front of him.The Arlington high jumper – who finished runner up in the event at state a season ago – was practically flawless Thursday at the Division III OHSAA Track and Field Championships at Welcome Stadium in Dayton.Until the bar was raised to 6-feet-7 inches.Willow missed on his first attempt. So did the other two remaining jumpers: Hopewell-Loudon's Evan Kreais and Tinora's Owen Ackerman.Ackerman, Kreais and Willow also were the last three jumping a week ago when Willow won the regional title.Now, the stakes were higher.But Willow was ready"I would say I was mildly confident; I knew I was going up against some tough competition today," Willow said. "Just had to trust in what God's done."Arlington boys track coach Jon Branan said he believed in his man."I've had confidence in him, especially the last few weeks," Branan said. "He's just been jumping really good."Willow came through, clearing 6-7 on his second attempt. Willow celebrated briefly. But he wasn't sure he'd won."When I hit 6-7 I was pretty confident, but I did know that Evan and Owen could both hit that," he said, "so I was just preparing myself for 6-8."Neither Kreais or Ackerman were able to clear on their second and third attempts, giving Willow the state crown.Willow is the first boys state champion in Arlington history.Ackerman finished second and Kreais third, both having cleared 6-6. It was the same top-three finish as last week in Fostoria."I knew that it was probably gonna be us three at the top, and I knew it was gonna be tough, tougher than all the other years," said Kreais, a senior who will compete at the University of Findlay next year. "I was prepared to go as high as needed."Kreais said he was pleased with his finish."Of course you want to win it, but placing third is about as good as you can get without winning it," he said.As for Willow, he still has two years of high school remaining."Being a sophomore, he's got a lot more left, hopefully," Branan said. "Some more records we can hope for."