Marysville senior Jacob Ranker clears a hurdle on the far side of the track during the Division I state finals of the 300 event. Ranker placed fifth in the state on Saturday evening.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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Even the most inept speller will look at the name Jacob Ranker and realize there is no “Q” to be found.
One of the reasons is because there is no concept of the word “quitter” in the Marysville High School senior’s track and field vocabulary.
Ranker could have tossed in the towel a year ago when he just missed – by a fraction of seconds – from qualifying for the Division I state track and field meet in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles.
Instead, that 2018 disappointment made him work even harder.
The result was a trip to the state awards podium on Saturday evening at The Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Ranker went from a guy who didn’t even make the cut for the ultimate high school competition a year ago to one who made the huge jump all the way to fifth place this spring in the entire state.
Ranker cleared each hurdle of the difficult race during Saturday’s finals and crossed the finish line with a time of 38.58.
“This was so important to get here,” said Ranker while catching his breath. “I gave up a lot (basketball) to prepare for this.
“It just feels amazing to get to the awards podium.”
Ranker knew he faced stiff competition going into the race.
The top four finishers in the finals were Evan Matthews of Pickerington Central, 36.88; Cory Berg, Mount Vernon, 37.30; Ricky Hyatt Jr., Westerville Central, 38.15; and Tyler Hannah of Lakewood, 38.17.
JeSean Sledge from Warren G. Harding followed Ranker in sixth place with a time of 38.63.
The final two places on the awards stand went to Graham Aldredge, of Aurora, seventh, 38.71; and Jalen Daniel of Brunswick, eighth, 38.73.
While pleased with his state award, Ranker acknowledged it wasn’t his best race of the season.
“It could have been a little smoother,” he said. “There was a pretty strong wind on one of the curves and I kind of hopped over one hurdle.”
Ranker advanced to the state in both the 300 and the 110-high hurdle events.
He didn’t qualify for the finals in the 110’s.
“The 300’s are my best hurdle race,” said Ranker. “My two favorite events are the 200 and 400 dashes.
“I’m a good hurdler, so the 300’s are a good fit for me, even though it’s a grueling race.”
Ranker will attempt to continue his hurdling career on the next level.
“I know there are quite a few colleges here (at the state meet) and I hope to talk to some of them,” he said.
“Right now, my plans are to try and walk on to the track team at either Miami of Ohio, the University of Cincinnati or Louisville.
“As a walk-on, you can later earn a scholarship and I feel I can do that,” said Ranker. “I imagine I will know for sure what I’m going to do in the next few days.”
What lesson can be learned from Ranker’s perseverance between the 2018 and 2019 campaigns?
“I think I proved that anybody can accomplish anything they want to do if they work hard enough.”