SLONE
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If one cracked open the Marysville High School football record book, the name of Keith Slone would definitely stand head and shoulders above many others.
That’s due to the fact that Slone, who will be inducted into the Marysville Athletic Hall of Fame on Friday evening, holds a good number of those standards.
His single-game mark of 313 yards rushing against Watkins Memorial, his season record of 1,493 yards and his 25 touchdowns in one year are impressive enough.
Slone’s career marks are even more mind-boggling.
He leads all Monarch ball carriers with a career total of 4,265 yards, while his touchdowns (62) and points scored (372) are well ahead of any one else who has toted the pigskin in the school’s history.
Slone will be inducted into the Hall of Fame along with his Monarch teammate, Chase Blackburn, and former girls athletic standout Karen Hyland.
They will help mark the 20th anniversary of the Hall of Fame.
Slone and Blackburn starred on the 2000 football team that advanced to the Division II state Final Four.
They were also part of consecutive 10-0 regular season records as juniors and seniors.
“We were a special football team,” said Slone, who earned Ohio Capital Conference, Central District and All-Ohio accolades during his career.
Slone said that, perhaps more than the on-field glory, he remembers the friendships he made through sports.
“I think you reflect more on that now than when you were in the moment,” he said. “I really enjoy the camaraderie and brotherhood that we had as a football team.”
He also said playing football and being involved with the school’s powerlifting squad taught him many values.
“It taught me to be a respectful person and how to be a team player,” he said.
Slone moved into a career in law enforcement upon his graduation from MHS.
He graduated from the police academy at the Delaware Joint Vocational School and also attended Columbus State University.
He served for seven years with the Mechanicsburg Police Department and then was a corrections officer for several years at the Tri-County Regional Jail.
Slone was a private contractor for the department of Homeland Security and then joined The Ohio State Highway Patrol.
“I was 33 when I went through the Patrol Academy,” he said. “I was considered the old guy in my class.”
Slone served as a trooper with the Marysville Post of the Highway Patrol for eight months and then transferred to another position within the bureau.
“The State Patrol has several different divisions,” he explained, adding that road troopers are the primary face of the law enforcement entity.
Slone serves as a police officer within the patrol and his current assignment is security of the state capital building in Columbus.
“When I was a trooper, I had different working hours,” he said. “I’ve got three kids now, so working in the capital building provides me with more stable hours for them.”