By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
For seven members of the North Adams High School girls and boys track teams, the 2026 season came to a close late least week, but it came to a close at the highest level achievable. Those seven young men and women had the honor of participating in the OHSAA State Track Meet, held on June 4 and 5 at Jesse Owens Stadium at Ohio State University.
The North Adams boys went into last week’s state meet with high hopes, but they ended up faced with the worst possible scenario. It is well-known the talents and abilities of North Adams senior Beau Hesler, who went into the meet a heavy favorite to win a state title in the 400M, where he had set a new state record in the regionals with a time of 46.52. Hesler was the state champion last year in the 800M, but left that event to concentrate on sprinting events this spring.
Hesler placed ninth in the preliminaries in the 200M the Thursday prelims, not qualifying for the finals , but did qualify in three other events, the 1ooM, the 400 M, and the 4 x400 relay with teammates Dalton Pence, Coy Fogle and Kaleb Eldridge. Hesler was the regional champion with his record time in the 400M, while the 4 x 400 relay team also was coming off of a regional title.
Friday’s finals for Hesler began with the 100M and that was the moment described as “heartbreaking” by those around the North Adams track program In the 100M, Hesler pulled a quad muscle and ended up ninth with a time of 13,56. The trainers from Ohio State worked furiously to get him ready to run the 400M, where he was very likely to win another state championship, but to no avail and the Devils’ senior had to be scratched from the race.
The injury had a domino effect as Hesler gamely returned to run the 4 x 300 with his trio of teammates, and many say that if he had been full strength the foursome would have been the state champions and possibly set a new state record, they had been running that well going into the state meet. Even with the injury looming over them, the North Adam,s quarter still managed to make the podium with a valiant sixth place effort in a time of 3:25.65. Hobbled by the quad injury, Hesler ran the anchor leg six second above his average time and if he had been 100% and ran his usual time, the Devils’ relay team would have claimed the state championship.
The 4 x 400 team was not the only green and gold to find themselves in a podium spot at the state meet. In the 300M Hurdles, senior Coy Fogle claimed the eighth and final spot with his time of 40.64.
There were three North Adams girls who qualified for the state meet- Bella gray in the High Jump and sisters Eden and Ellie Bosko in the Discus. After setting a school record in the regionals, Gray placed ninth in the Division IV prelims, her best jump clearing the bar at 5’2”.
The Bosko sisters also did not advance past the preliminaries in the Discus, senior Eden placing 11th with a throw of 120’11” and sophomore Ellie 12th with a toss of 120’6”.
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