In 2016, the Saint Ignatius track and field team helped cap off one of the most successful school years for the Saint Ignatius Athletic program. The Wildcats clinched the 2016 state title with 52 points. It was the school’s fourth state championship of the school year, the most OHSAA Boys State Championships in one school year. It’s safe to say history was made back on June 4 at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

This year, the Track & Field Cats are back and are nearly as strong as last year’s team. Saint Ignatius, after clinching the Amherst Regional Title for the second consecutive year, will send seven participants down to The Ohio State University for the 110th annual Ohio High School State Track and Field Tournament.

The Wildcats will definitely be facing some tough competition with the other Regional Champions from last weekend for the team points.

GlenOak edged Lake Catholic for the Austintown-Fitch Regional Title, 58 points to 56 points. Thomas Worthington won the Pickerington Regional, outrunning Pickerington Central 73-67. And at the Dayton Regional Meet, Mason easily won with 57 points. Trotwood-Madison was second with 45.

Competing for the Wildcats down in Columbus will be senior captain C.J. Ambrosio in the 3200-meter race, sophomore John Wetula in the 110-meter hurdles, and junior Phil Zuccaro in the 100m dash, 200-meter race, and the 4x100 relay. The other runners in the 4x100 relay include junior Connor Kennedy, sophomore Jack Kennedy, and senior Anthony Pelligrino. In the field events, junior Darian Kinnard will represent the Wildcats in the discus and shot put events.

Perhaps the Wildcats’ most veteran runner is CJ Ambrosio. The senior is a returning key runner from last year’s state championship team and the 2015 cross country state champion team. The Duke University recruit came in second last year in the 3200 meters, just 7 seconds behind now Andrew Jordan from Watkins Memorial. Jordan is now at Iowa State running for the Cyclones.

But this year, Ambrosio enters as a favorite to take first in this event. One near competitor for him is Matt Scrape from Pickerington Central, who qualified on his home turf with a time of 9:02.07. Ambrosio qualified at Amherst with a time of 9:03.27. Also looking to give Ambrosio a hard time is Hunter Moore from Olentangy Orange, who qualified at regionals with a time of 9:02.51.

Ambrosio runs in the heat of the day on Saturday at 6:20 p.m. Whether or not that works to his favor, we will have to see. He did run late at night last Friday at Regionals, and had one of his best races of the year.

Running before him will be John Wetula, who has been a blessing for Head Coach Chuck Kyle ‘69, running the hurdles for the blue and gold. Wetula will have to face some adversity in his event. The sophomore hurdler and football player will enter having the slowest qualifying time from Regionals with 15.02. The other seven participants have a time of at least 14 seconds. There is no clear favorite in the 110m hurdles this year, keep an eye on Andrew Whitaker from Lakota West and Jayden Rodgers from Olentangy Orange. Whitaker, who also runs the 300-meter hurdles, qualified with a time of 14.93, while Rodgers, who is also in the 4x100 relay team for the Pioneers, ran a 14.40 at Regionals.

The Wildcats did not have an advantage in the field events last year, competing without a representative. This year, the Wildcats are fortunate to have a star Football Cat in the State Tournament. Darian Kinnard, a Kentucky football recruit, will represent the Wildcats in both the discus and shot put events.

At the Amherst Regional, Kinnard placed second in both events, each time being outdone by Ashland senior David Amstutz. Amstutz will be in the same flight as Kinnard on Saturday in the discus and will enter with the longest qualifying distance from regionals. It will look different in the shot put, however. In Kinnard’s flight, he is the clear favorite entering as the only competitor to reach 59’ in his flight. The Amherst Regional is known as a big region for discus and shot put, so Kinnard has a great opportunity to score points for the Wildcats.

One of the most important events in track and field if you want to win a meet, or in this case a State Championship, are the relays. This year, the Wildcats are competing in the 4x100 meter relay. Last season, Saint Ignatius took third in the preliminaries in the 4x100, but then came back and took first in the finals with a time of 41.48. Quinn Lawless, Jack Cook, James Norris, and Phil Zuccaro comprised the 2016 team. This year, Zuccaro is the only man returning.

Luckily, Zuccaro is in good company, with Connor Kennedy, Jack Kennedy, and Anthony Pelligrino rounding out the four runners. At the Amherst Regional meet, the foursome finished first in the preliminaries, but then placed second to Lorain in the finals with a mere one-second difference. They also took first at Districts with a time of 43.08.

However, at States, it will be a tad different. The Wildcats are facing runners they haven’t seen this season unlike at Districts and Regionals, and it’s a larger stage. In the Wildcats’ first race, they will race against three very good teams in GlenOak, Westerville South, and Trotwood-Madison. Each relay team finished in the top three at its Regional meet, and the squads’ qualifying times are better than the Wildcats. The preliminary race on Friday will say a lot about how good this year’s team can be.

And finally, one runner on the 4x100 will be running in two other events. Phil Zuccaro will also be running in the 100m dash and the 200m dash. Zuccaro, a junior, is becoming one of the most elite short distance runners in the state of Ohio, and already one of the top runners at Saint Ignatius.

In the 100-meter dash, Zuccaro placed first at Districts with a time of 11.0, finishing .32 seconds in front of Lorain football star Zion Cross. At Regionals, Cross got the better of Zuccaro in the finals, taking first with a time of 11.04. Zuccaro actually fell back to third with a time of 11.13 due to a tough start. At States, he will have a lot of difficult competition, including J.J. Cooper from Reynoldsburg, who ran a 10.81 at Regionals, and Kayron Adams from Warren G. Harding, the youngest runner in the 100m dash.

While he succeeds in the 100m, Zuccaro’s better race might be the 200m. He broke the school record in the 200-meter dash at the Amherst District meet with a time of 21.39, beating James Norris’ time of 21.5 last year. Zuccaro qualified at Regionals with a time of 21.7, taking first place. As the only junior in the event at the state meet, Zuccaro enters with the best time. His other important competitors to watch include Jaden Walker from Lima Senior and Lonzell Feagin from Canal Winchester.

The events kick off Friday morning, but the Wildcats’ first event is not until the evening when John Wetula runs in the 110m hurdles semifinals at 5:25 p.m. After Wetula, Phil Zuccaro will compete in the 100m dash semifinals at 5:40. Following him, the 4x100 team will race in the semifinals at 6:10. Zuccaro will race once again at 7:05 in the 200-meter dash semifinals. Darian Kinnard doesn’t compete until Saturday afternoon when they hold the field events in a 4-hour time span. He’ll compete in the shot put at noon, and then the discus throw at 3 p.m. C.J. Ambrosio will race in the finals of the 3200m on Saturday evening at 6:20.

You can stay updated on all of the events and runners at the State Tournament by following Saint Ignatius Track and Field and Cross Country on Twitter at @IgnatiusXCTF. Also stay tuned to @SIHSSports for updates as well.