Boys Track Notebook: Norwayne's Morlock setting new records by the week

A week after adding another area record to his already-impressive prep resume, Dillon Morlock has a lot more he wants to accomplish.

The Norwayne senior became the first local thrower to break the 200-foot mark in the discus with a toss of 201-2 in a recent tri-match with Chippewa and Dalton but doesn’t have any plans on slowing down.

“This honestly just fuels my fire to try and beat this coming into the end of the season; making me concentrate even more to better my throws and physically keep myself healthy,” Morlock said. “I will celebrate this achievement, briefly, but in the grand scheme of things there’s always something more I can do.”

That ability to reset his goals is one of many things that has made Morlock a multiple-time state champ, but the record-setting pace of the Michigan State recruit is unlike anything the Holmes/Wayne County area has seen.

Before his area-best mark in the discus this past week — shattering a long-standing distance of 192-6 set by Triway’s Matt Hess back in 2002 — he already reset his personal local record in the shot with a throw of 70-0½ at the Triway Invitational.

“It was such a great feeling to hit that mark, very similar to hitting 70 feet in the shot put,” Morlock said, of the discus throw. “It’s something that I’ve spent my whole life leading into and it feels unlike any other feeling I’ve had.”

Entering the weekend, his shot mark is third in the nation, behind Samuel Garrison (81-11; Woodford County, Ky.) and Jackson Cantwell (72-3¾; Nixa, Mo.) and he is sixth in the county for the discus.

“He has been working to get the right release to his mark,” Norwayne throws coach Bri Indorf said. “He is so good at being patient and working to reach his goals one at a time.”

The area has been busy in the throwing ring with impressive marks in both the shot and discus in general. Morlock’s teammate, and cousin, Brandt Morlock also had a personal-best in that same tri-match against Chippewa and Dalton with a 170-4 in the discus and also jumped into second in the area for the shot (62-10½), while Orrville’s Talon Beichler recently reset career marks in the shot (58-3 ½) and discus (166-11).

Both Brandt Morlock and Beichler were All-Ohioans last season and are among the state’s top 10 in D-III for the shot and discus and are among a strong group of local throwers that also includes Waynedale’s Ian Sarver, Cade Herman and Gaitlin Herman, each of whom have posted PRs in the past week.

Back to work

It's been a trying season for Jeremy Reber, when it comes to injuries. From a right knee injury in football that the Waynedale senior played through during the basketball season to a nagging hamstring that delayed the start of the spring campaign, Reber has come out the other side as focused as ever.

And while the All-Ohioan is still working his way back to 100%, he knows there is a simple solution to getting back there.

"I definitely need to keep working harder in practice," Reber said, following his race at the recent Triway Invite. "Just starting late, and being a little behind in my conditioning, I have to keep working on my technique and getting better."

Reber, who picked up an additional 10-15 pounds of muscle since last season, has shown no signs of any of those setbacks thus far as he leads the area in both hurdle events.

Valuable experience

Kyle Maltarich is coming off of an All-Ohio season a year ago in the high jump, but the West Holmes senior left the D-II state meet with a lot more than just a medal. Maltarich took the opportunity to learn from his competitors, especially the three individuals that finished ahead of him in the event — all seniors — to change is overall approach to the event.

The results have already come in for Maltarich, who cleared 6-6 at a recent dual meet.

“I've actually backed my approach up almost 20 feet,” he said. “A lot of the guys at state were increasing speed at a much more significant level than I was and I noticed the difference. The three guys that beat me (at state) were actually going fast, so now I'm out in the middle of the endzone and it's been great for my approach.

“At state you have those long platforms to run off of, so backing it up and getting that speed to get over higher heights is huge.”

Final laps

Hillsdale senior Hayden McFadden has had a breakout spring, both on the track and in the field. McFadden is coming off of a week in which he clocked the fastest 200 time in the area, registering a personal-record 22.92 in a runner-up finish at the Josh Olin Invitational, along with breaking 20 feet in the long jump for the first time in his career, clearing 20-0¾. McFadden does a little bit of everything for the Falcons from running in sprint relays, to competing in the 100 and high jump.

** The Waynedale 4x800 relay team of Jackson Varner, Jaydon Varner, Nick St. John and Connor Reich came within a second of breaking the school record last week after a 8:27.76.

** Speaking of the Golden Bears, sprinter Rollin Hendrix enters the weekend off of impressive races in the 100 (11.39) and 200 (23.56) and Jackson Varner continues to lead local 3,200-meter runners with a 9:54.21.

** Known for the shorter sprints, Kanoa Hevia of Dalton showed his versatility last weekend with a 54.06 in the 400 at Smithville.

** Wooster sprinters Tristin Walker and Jayden Ortiz are both coming off of solid weeks. Walker clocked a career-best 52.71 to win the 400 at the Triway Invite, while Ortiz had a 23.89 in the prelims for the 200 at last week’s Nikki Reynolds Invitational.

** Competing in the 300 hurdles for the first time all year, Loudonville senior Sam Sly recently registered a 43.1 at Colonel Crawford.

** Evan Rastorfer of Rittman cleared an personal- and area-best 21-7¾ this past weekend in a win at the Tusky Valley Thrilla in Zoarvilla, while teammate Luke Snyder continues to shave seconds off of his 1,600 time (4:22.16).

** Hiland’s Logan Miller recorded a personal-best toss of 48-3 in the shot put at the Tom Lantz Invite. The Hawks have had only two throwers in school history break 50-feet, most recently with Brennan Coil (53-7) in 2015.

** Tripp Wingate is coming into the weekend on a tear as Norwayne junior has picked up impressive times in the 400 (54.85), 800 (2:03.75) and 1,600 (4:39.78).

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Boys Track Notebook: Norwayne's Morlock sets new local discus record