Mayforth puts botched relay behind her in capturing All-Ohio honors

Celina Mayforth was not going to let a botched hand-off define her time at state this season. Her perseverance paid off when she cruised across the finish line in the girls’ Div. II state finals of the 400 in eighth place, earning a spot on the podium and All-Ohio honors.The Indian Valley High School junior joined teammates Kaitlyn Hursey, Kiera Rakestraw and Kitanna Rakestraw in the Div. II 4x200 relay at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium in Columbus, where the annual state track and field meet took place June 3-4.The Braves had qualified for the finals in the 4x200 by snagging the ninth and final qualifying spot during the prelims, meaning that they had a shot at a spot on the podium. However, during the hand-off from Kitanna Rakestraw to Mayforth disaster reared its ugly head, and the teammates made the hand-off outside of the exchange zone, disqualifying them.“I don’t know what really happened,” Mayforth said. “I wasn’t facing the same way, and she was yelling at me to slow down. I tried slowing down, but if I had slowed down any more, I think we would have been at a dead stop. Honestly, looking back now, it would have been better to completely stop instead of going out of the exchange zone. At least we would have had a shot at finishing.”That meant Mayforth would have to remove the doubts and fears caused by a negative moment like that, turn around and compete in the finals of the 400 just two events later.She turned to her faith as a way of moving past the devastation.“I just relied on the fact that I knew God would be with me the whole way regardless of any outcome,” Mayforth said. That proved to be a calming factor in her ability to refocus her energy on the 400. “I knew if I put my faith in God, he would carry me and give me the strength to run my race.”Mayforth had qualified for the 400 by placing seventh in the prelims, and her soul focus was on grabbing one of the top eight spots in the finals.That came to fruition when she edged past Tuslaw’s Ke’Aijhan Strong by a mere one-hundredth of a second to snag the final spot on the podium. All-Ohio honors were hers.The mile-wide smile on the podium was more than enough to tell the story about how Mayforth was feeling.Having qualified for state three straight years and finishing 16th, then 14th and now eighth in the 400, Mayforth will use this momentum to spur her on to what she hopes will be a continuing upward arch.“It feels pretty amazing to finish up this high after finishing near the back of the pack in my first two years,” Mayforth said. Her times went from the 59s down into the 57-second range this year, which propelled her into the top tier.“That much of a drop really surprised me, honestly,” said Mayforth of her time.As a junior All-Ohioan Mayforth will have one more year to work her way back to state for what she hopes will be a fourth time.“I’ve got one more year to make my way up the podium even farther,” Mayforth said. “Really, it’s an honor to even stand up there with that kind of amazing talent.”