Ashland boys track & field hoping to build onto OCC dynasty

ASHLAND – In the beginning of this whole streak thing, some might simply have looked at it as a brief uprising.

After all, the Ashland High School boys track and field program had collected just seven total conference titles from 1960 through 2015 – never winning more than two in a five-year span.

Now, though, to look at the Arrows as anything less than an Ohio Cardinal Conference dynasty is just plain old disrespectful.

On Friday, the Ashland boys will try to chase down their eighth consecutive league crown. Since the OCC began in the 2003-04 school year, no other boys or girls sports program at AHS has captured more than five straight league championships.

It’s juggernaut status, and the guiding light ushering it in was Dan Fuller.

“Something I’m proud of is that when I arrived at Ashland, track was never really something that anybody thought about here that much,” said Fuller, who took over the AHS boys program in 2003 and retired in 2022. “People thought about it as a sport that other athletes could use to get ready for their main sport, but it wasn’t anything special.

“Now, even the kids at Ashland who don’t do sports recognize, ‘Hey, we’re really good in track.’ And they’re more inclined to come out to the conference meet and watch their friends run and take a little more interest in what it’s all about.”

Fuller’s 20 years leading the program rank among the longest head coaching tenures leading any sport in AHS history.

His first track and field head coaching gig came as a 27-year-old in 1988 at nearby Northwestern High School, where the position essentially was tied to him getting his teaching job.

Fuller said he had to learn everything about the sport and recalled having just one volunteer coach to help out.

In his first year, he could fit his entire team on one van.

The Huskies scored about eight points at the league meet that season. A few years later, Fuller and Northwestern won the conference title; he still remembers winning a 4×400 relay to clinch a district championship with the Huskies as well.

Looking back now, experiences like that were seeds that helped grow what Ashland has become.

Fuller is two years removed from leading the Arrows, but still lives in town and follows the team and second-year head coach Ryan Stackhouse – a former assistant coach who also was an AHS sophomore in Fuller’s first year as head coach.

For his part, Fuller said he misses the strategy of the sport, the chess match of putting athletes in the right spots for the team to have success.

“Most kids don’t have any idea what track is about,” he said. “To them, it’s just running around in a circle, and the only time they’ve had any interaction with running is because they got in trouble in another sport and the coach made them run.

“You just always had to sell the program, but then once you had some success, the kids wanted to be part of it. They wanted to be able to contribute.”

Finding success

During their streak, the Arrows have almost made it seem like OCC dominance is simple. Four of the seven titles have come by more than 20 points.

But it took layers upon layers of experience, skilled coaching and bought-in athletes to get to this point.

In his first 13 seasons as Ashland’s head coach, Fuller finished above third place in the OCC Championships just once – ironically, it was Stackhouse’s senior year in 2005.

There were growing pains.

While Fuller said former Ashland girls track and field head coach Deb Gallagher was a massive wealth of knowledge and a great sounding board to lean on, he admitted he was jealous of her program’s success.

From 1997 through 2011, the AHS girls won 11 league titles. Gallagher guided the program to six of those while Steve Smalley led the Arrows to the other five. One of the greatest athletes in Ashland-area history – thrower Beth Mallory Lesch – was critical to that stretch from 1999 through 2002, winning three state titles in the discus and one in the shot put.

On the boys’ side, Fuller said he had a deep respect for former Lexington head coach Dan Whitmer, who helped steer the Minutemen to OCC crowns during a seven-year streak from 2006 through 2012.

But it got under his skin, too.

“In my mind, I always wanted us to be able to challenge them,” he said.

Fuller said there was never any huge coaching epiphany that got his squad over the hump. But he and his staff did tinker with how the team would warm up, how they could gain flexibility and strength.

He said they pulled back on concentrating on OCC titles and instead simply trusted the process.

“I think in the beginning I was maybe a little too obsessed with focusing on winning the conference. (After that), it was, we’ll plant the seed (early on in the season) and then we just keep working and we’ll see where we’re at in May.”

The focal point became keeping the athletes healthy and pacing them better to be at peak performance later in the season.

Once the streak began, more kids joined the squad. Fuller began to look at his veterans as “mini-coaches” because they had learned what it took to win late in the year.

“It’s more of a team atmosphere,” Stackhouse said. “Everyday, it doesn’t matter if you’re a thrower, a sprinter or a distance guy, they’re all doing the same dynamic stretch, all talking to each other, all hanging out, all friends.

“They’re all trying to improve each other and encourage each other and that’s something that Dan really hit on the past 10, 15 years. Just saying, ‘Hey, we need to be more of a team. We get that (everyone has their different events), but you’re still part of Ashland Arrows track.’ ”

OCC & district dominance

One season after the Arrows began their OCC streak in 2016, they started an even more improbable one.

Despite being stacked up against other Division I programs at schools with hundreds more boys enrolled, Ashland ripped off three consecutive district titles from 2017 through 2019.

Those were AHS teams buoyed by state-placing stars like Hudson McDaniel and David Amstutz, along with a collection of uber-talented relay units.

“I always thought district was really a true gauge of where you were at because most of those schools were bigger than us,” Fuller said. “I was most proud of the conference run because, in any sport, it’s hard to do that. But the district (streak), nobody does that. Even the big boys like St. Ignatius, they don’t do that very often.”

“Some of those district runs, we had kids that performed their best of the whole season there.”

Prior to the three-peat, the Ashland boys had just two district titles in their history – 2008 (when the squad was fourth in the OCC) and 1994.

Kamrin Knowlton Goings was a senior on the 2018 team, which qualified an AHS program-record 10 boys to the state meet. He placed 12^th in the high jump in Columbus.

“It was just a great experience,” said Knowlton Goings, now in his second year as an assistant coach working with the sprinters. “When I got there I just saw all the fans and all the parents. It was crazy.

“It was really a testament to the work ethic of all the athletes we had and the great coaching staff we had.”

Ashland also took fourth in its Division I regional meet in both 2017 and 2018.

At state in 2017, Amstutz placed third in the shot put and fourth in the discus after having won a state title in the shot put indoors.

Then in the historic 2018 campaign, it was McDaniel nabbing third (300-meter hurdles) and fourth (110 hurdles) in Columbus.

During the OCC meet that same year, McDaniel was involved in four of Ashland’s eight event wins. The Arrows’ 56.5-point margin of victory over second-place Lexington that year was their largest during the current streak.

“He was one of those kids who just refused to lose,” Fuller said. “If you told him you felt he could do something, he would do it or he would die trying.”

Had COVID not canceled the 2020 season, Fuller believes the Arrows might have had their best team under him. He said it’s hard to believe they wouldn’t have won the OCC, adding that it would have been fun to see if they could have stretched their district streak to four as well.

Different paths, same results

Ashland wrapped up its dominance under Fuller with two more OCC crowns in 2021 and 2022, winning six event titles each year.

The coach said the 2021 title still stands out to him because of the quad-event efforts of distance runners Dylan Hickey and Josh Hawley, who each ran in two relays while also going in the 1,600 and 3,200.

Performances like those are few and far between for most schools – even for consistent programs like Ashland.

“Most kids can’t handle (competing in four events at one meet) and still be at peak performance, so we never really wanted to do more than two with as many kids as we could,” Fuller said. “But every once in a while you have (athletes who can handle it).”

“Whether it was conference or districts,” he said, “it was always, ‘How many events can we double-score in? And how many events can we get double-digit points in?’ ”

While it was the distance runners highlighting the 2021 OCC efforts, Fuller’s farewell in 2022 – a fitting 150-123 win over Lexington – saw the sprinters taking their turn leading the way.

That year, the Arrows also collected 15 points in the pole vault, as Ashden Maffett tied for first and Colin Rohr was third.

Fuller said double-scoring in the pole vault has consistently helped Ashland separate itself from the rest of the OCC pack over the years.

To understand that event is to know the talents of long-time pole vault coach Bill Bardy.

Still with the team now, Bardy has been teaching the ins and outs of pole vaulting for more than three decades and has been with the Arrows in all but the 2021 season during their OCC streak.

He was Mapleton’s first pole vaulting state qualifier in 1974 and has always been a coach that athletes seem to gravitate toward.

“Dan always gave me pressure and said, ‘We have to double-score (in the pole vault),’ ” Bardy said with a laugh. “(Other coaches) respect me for being here so long and that’s kind of neat. It’s just been a lot of fun.”

In all seven years of its OCC streak, Ashland has had two scoring athletes in the pole vault. In five of those years, the Arrows and Bardy have produced at least 12 points and a tie for first place in the event.

Bardy said he likes the young talent AHS currently features in the event, and said he likely will be with the program for another eight years or so while a few of his grandchildren make their way through.

“The biggest difference is always the depth,” he said. “Last year we only won one event (at the OCC meet), and that encourages the guys that are not tops on the team that, hey, you still count. … All the points count.”

To pile up points in the sport, a head coach needs trusted assistants all around the track. Along with Bardy, Fuller said he always had that luxury with guys like Stackhouse, Jerry Seiter, Mike Brubaker, Mike Anderson, Kenney Rohr, Brock Weaver, Cameron Johnson, Jason Goings, Brian Hennis and Matt Johnson through the years.

“There are 17 events in track and field, so you’ve got to have (coaches) who know what they’re doing and that you can trust,” Fuller said. “… Then you just try to build depth from there so that you have kids that are versatile and can do a bunch of things.”

From Fuller to Stackhouse

From the head coaching standpoint, it’s been a full-circle moment for Stackhouse, now in his second year.

He became a standout athlete in high school while under Fuller’s watch, eventually hurdling at Ashland University for a semester before concentrating on his football career with the Eagles.

Fuller still remembers giving Stackhouse a crash course in the hurdles for a few weeks before the 2005 OCC meet because the team needed another scorer.

The Arrows went on to win the league that year and Stackhouse ended up going to state; he’s still fourth all-time at AHS in the 110 hurdles.

“That’s the kind of athlete he was, and I think that’s pretty indicative of the (track and field athletes at Ashland),” Fuller said. “One of the reasons we’ve had success is that the kids have never been afraid to do something if you think they could be good at it.”

Eventually, Stackhouse joined up with Fuller as an assistant, helping with sprinters and hurdlers. Ironically, he’s also the defensive coordinator in football for the Arrows – a position Fuller held for many of the team’s best years as well.

“I loved him as a player, loved him as a coach, he’s a great teacher, a great dad,” Fuller said of Stackhouse. “I’d do anything for Stack anytime. He’s been around me a lot, so – good or bad – he probably picked up some habits from me one way or the other.”

Stackhouse has plenty of memories piling up as a track coach already.

In addition to being on the staff during the OCC streak, he was McDaniels’ sprints coach for a few years and he also coached Knowlton Goings, one of his current assistants who played football for three years at the University of Findlay.

“I went to college, came back and they were on four, five, six (OCC titles in a row). I was like, ‘Woah, they’re still going …’ ” Knowlton Goings said.

“Stackhouse has kept a lot of the traditions that Fuller had in place,” he added. “He’s been a great coach … and a great mentor with helping me to learn how to coach.”

Stackhouse said it was a huge boost to him that all of Fuller’s former assistant coaches stayed with him during the transition, particularly since it’s a lot easier to question his own decisions as the head coach.

He added that having Fuller as a constant resource is a godsend as well.

“When he was at Northwestern he coached everything (in track and field) – it didn’t matter what it was, he knew it all,” Stackhouse said. “So it’s been good just to be able to talk to him; he’s right down the road, so I still get advice from him.”

Sophomore Dakota Kruty, an indoor state-qualifying long jumper with a 21-1.5 PR said he was able to practice with the high school team a bit while Fuller was still the head coach. He said it was easy to see the impact he had on the program and why the OCC run has grown to what it is.

“When I heard Stackhouse was going to take over, I was fully confident we could (keep it going),” said Kruty, who could challenge the school record in the long jump. “All that man does is work.”

No. 8 in the crosshairs?

The OCC Championships will take place Friday at Ashland University and Stackhouse said this year’s version might be the toughest to pull off for the Arrows.

Crunching the numbers and trying to score the meet based on what he and his staff knew a few weeks ago, the coach said it could very well be just a few points, with Lexington and New Philadelphia bringing plenty of talent.

If AHS is able to reel in No. 8 in a row, it might be similar to 2019, when the Arrows squeaked out a 139-133 victory over Lexington.

Of course, if Stackhouse has his way, it will be more like last year’s 138-93 runaway over New Philadelphia.

He thought that meet would be within five points and the Arrows ended up with only one individual title. But their experience, depth and talent proved to make a bigger difference than even he imagined.

“When you compete all year and you’re trying to peak during conference, districts and regionals, you sometimes see that type of stuff,” Stackhouse said.

As a team this season, Ashland has won the Marion Night Invitational and Crestview’s Forest Pruner Invitational, and nabbed second at both the Mansfield Mehock Relays and Friday’s Galion Kiwanis Invitational.

All of that has given Stackhouse and his squad a good sense of what to expect at the OCC Championships.

Junior Tyler Sauder, a three-sport standout who set the school record last year in the 800 (1:55.85), will be key in the mid-distance spots.

“There’s a little bit (of team-wide confidence when Ashland walks into a meet), but we know we’ve got to take care of business no matter what,” he said. “… You’ve always got to show up and there’s a difference between being cocky and confident. You’ve got to find that fine line.

“We know we’re going to get there, we’re going to compete and we know we can perform at a high level.”

The Arrows have one of the best 1-2 punches in the hurdles in Ashland-area history with senior Braydon Martin and junior Jayden Goings, an indoor state qualifier in the 60 hurdles.

The duo currently carries the second- and third-best times in the 300 hurdles in AHS history (a Galion meet-record 38.84 for Martin, 39.17 for Goings) and they both could potentially finish Top 3 in the 110s as well.

Junior Jacob Holbrook, meanwhile, is second in program history in the 100 (10.82) and one of the best

200 sprinters ever at Ashland. He combined with Goings, Martin and Ayden Behrendsen on Friday at Galion to set a new school record of 1:30.14 in the 4×400 relay.

The squad also will bank on Kruty and distance runners like senior K’Tyo Hendershott and freshman Jonah Coffee – both steadily moving up the AHS all-time leaderboard.

“We know the history, that we have seven in a row, but right now we’re training like we have zero,” Kruty said. “We know everybody else in the conference wants to get an OCC win. … We’re fully focused on going for eight.”

This has grown into the only week where it’s first place or bust for Ashland.

Stackhouse said everything after the conference meet will be locked on the individual and trying to qualify athletes to state. Even last year, when the Arrows cruised to the OCC crown, they didn’t have a state qualifier.

Fuller said in Columbus, he was always focused on simply getting guys onto the podium because of the immense talent in Division I.

After the 1950s, Ashland’s lone state champ was pole vaulter Greg Steele. He won gold in both 1996 and 1997 before moving on to compete at Kansas University.

“If we can get kids on the podium at state,” Fuller said, “that’s a huge win for us.”

But at the OCC Championships?

“A lot of these guys want to become an OCC champ individually, but the main goal is to become the team champion – that’s what everybody’s going to remember here,” Knowlton Goings said. “We can’t wait to get to that meet and show what we can do with these kids now.”

Added Fuller, “When you see a good plan come together, and you bank on kids and they come through for you, that’s pretty special.”