JEROMESVILLE — Making it to state is something most high school athletes can only dream of.
Doing it twice in a sports year is the stuff of fantasy.
All three seasons? A moonshot!
“It’s a surreal feeling,” Hillsdale’s Hayden McFadden said. “Going out your senior year and going to so many big things … getting to the ending of your sports career, hitting that final mark is better than ending it early.”
McFadden was part of the Falcons’ state runner-up football team in the fall and helped the basketball team make its first state semifinal appearance over the winter. And now, he’s preparing for his second trip to Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium for the Division V state track meet after placing third in long jump, fourth in the 200-meter dash, and fourth with the 4×200 relay alongside Davis Radcliffe, Braxten Burgett, and Mikey Schenberger III.
“He’s one of the few athletes in recent history that have made it to the state championship in the fall, the final four in basketball this winter, and now state again in the spring,” Hillsdale assistant coach Doug Baker said. “That takes a special athlete, and he is one.”
Last spring he made it to state in both individual events placing 12th in the long jump and ninth in the 200.
“He’s continuing the success we saw last season from him both long jumping and in the 200, but now helping out the 4×2 getting a couple more guys to state is awesome,” Hillsdale coach Kyle Wissel said. “He’s definitely putting in the work and very much deserves this.”
The relay came into regionals seeded fifth overall but ran the seventh-fastest time in preliminaries. That must’ve been all the added fuel they needed before clocking a 1:33.47 in finals to not only secure an automatic bid, but a season-best time.
“It’s awesome to go with the 4×2 this year,” McFadden said. “It’s fun going by yourself, but with someone else is a lot better. I can’t wait to run the 4×2 with my team there.”
As coach Baker mentioned earlier, McFadden is a special athlete with the talent to not only play multiple sports, but do so at such a high level. That makes coaching him easy, right?
“Depends on the day,” Baker laughed. “Because he’s very good, and he knows that, he can get mentally down on himself. Sometimes it’s hard to get him past that and look at the bigger picture, but that only comes from experience.
“And at 18, I know I didn’t have it.”
One thing McFadden has for certain is another weekend with his teammates and one final shot at All-Ohio. He will jump at 1 p.m. on Thursday before running prelims in the 4×200 at 5:27 p.m. and the 200 at 6:35 p.m.; should he make finals in both they would be at 5:10 p.m. and 6:20 p.m. respectively on Friday.
As for which state experience he prefers…
“It’s two very different feelings,” McFadden said. “At Canton there’s two teams cheering, but Jesse Owens is a whole different thing. There’s multiple divisions, everyone’s screaming when you’re getting to the finish line.
“Jesse Owens is way louder than Canton.”
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Hillsdale’s Hayden McFadden’s state track bid puts him in rarified air