State track: Fort Loramie boys win championship in 4x800 relay

Colten Gasson crossed the finish line to win a Division III state championship in the 4x800-meter relay Friday for Fort Loramie at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.

“All I could think about was we did it,” he said. “Finally.”

Gasson ran the final leg, and his twin brother Colin Gasson ran the first leg. Frank Rethman and Trey Ranly ran the second and third legs, respectively.

Fort Loramie’s time (7:53.18) was more than seven seconds better than second-place East Canton, which had the top qualifying time (8:00.04). Fort Loramie placed 11th in the event last year (8:16.50) with the Gassons and Ranly and Adam Ballas.

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The Gassons, who are seniors, started running together in sixth grade, competing in triathlons and 5Ks in the summer. In seventh grade, they were inspired by older classmates. Then they won a state cross country championship as freshmen.

“That was exciting,” Colten said, “and it just kind of showed us your time will come. Sure enough, it paid off.”

Colten ran at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium as a freshman in 2019. There was no state meet in 2020 because of the pandemic. The Division III meet was held at Westerville North High School last year.

The other three members of the relay had not competed at this venue.

“This place is awesome,” Collin said. “I’m so glad they brought it back here. Being at a smaller school last year, it just didn’t bring the same vibe that this place has.”