ASHLAND — If he didn’t know his way around the Ohio State campus already, Hudson McDaniel will get a good look at his future home this weekend.
The Richland Bank Athlete of the Week, McDaniel qualified for the State Track and Field Championships in four events at the Division I Amherst regional. The Ashland senior won a regional title in the 300 meter hurdles and finished third in the 110 meter hurdles. He also anchored Ashland’s state-qualifying 4×400 and 4×100 relay teams.
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, site of the state meet, is located slightly less than two miles from OSU’s McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, where McDaniel will be spending a majority of his time during the next four years. The two-time Division II state champ in the 100 yard breaststroke committed to swim for the Buckeyes last fall.
So does he prefer the pool or the track?
“For me, it’s all about the competition,” McDaniel said after winning four events at the Ohio Cardinal Conference track meet at Lexington earlier this month. “I love to compete.”
If his seed times are any indication, McDaniel should be competing for a pair of gold medals this weekend. He owns the third fastest qualifying times in both the 300 hurdles and the 110 hurdles.
“I feel like my times are where they need to be,” McDaniel said after the OCC meet. “I’m pleased with where I’m at right now.”
McDaniel broke his own school records in both the 300 and 110 hurdles at the Amherst regional. He won the 300s in 37.92 seconds ran to a third-place finish in 14.09 in the 110s.
Ashland’s 4×400 team of McDaniel, Josh Mendenhall, Boaz Belsterling and Matthew Martin grabbed the fourth and final state qualifying spot in 3:20.93. The 4×100 crew of McDaniel, Martin, Owen Reef and Collin Fitzcharles grabbed one of the two available at-large bids from around the state. The Ohio High School Athletic Association this year added two at-large berths in every track event based on regional time. Ashland’s time of 42.32 seconds was good for fifth at the Amherst regional but was the fastest non-qualifying time from the four regionals.
While he is focused entirely on track this week, McDaniel will soon trade in his spikes for swimming goggles. He won Division II state titles in the 100 breaststroke in 2016 and 2017 and placed third in the Division I meet earlier this year (Ashland moved back up to Division I after spending two years in Division II). McDaniel placed 12th in the 100 breaststroke in the Division I meet as a freshman in 2015.
Last spring McDaniel qualified for the Division I state track meet in both hurdle events. He didn’t reach the finals in either, finishing 11th in the 110 prelims and taking 13th in the 300s.
That is all likely to change this weekend.
“I feel like I’m in a good position going forward,” McDaniel said at the OCC meet. “I’m looking forward to the postseason.”
