A Celebration of Champions: Hiland baseball caps off spring of state success

The Daily Record coverage area spans all of Wayne County and Holmes County, stretching into Ashland and Stark Counties as well.

It's not the biggest or most populated area. But every year, the Wayne/Holmes are produces some of the best teams and players in Ohio.

This year was no different, with two teams winning state titles, along with four individuals.

Here's a look at every state champ from the 2023-24 season:

Hiland baseball

Winning one state championship cements a team's place in history. Winning two in a row makes them stand out in an entirely different way.

The 2023 and 2024 Hawks will be talked about for a long time in Berlin, rolling through the best teams in Ohio for two solid years. It didn't matter Hiland lost Div. IV Player of the Year Nolan Yoder in between championship seasons, along with several other impact players. Hiland went back to work and repeatedly found ways to win — whether it was hitting everything in sight like in an 18-0 regional championship win or taking advantage when the opportunity arose like a 2-0 state semi win over Russia and a 3-2 state championship game victory over Fort Recovery.

Hiland's boys and girls basketball programs — the boys back-to-back winners in 2011 and 2012 and the girls in 2005 and 2006 — are already renown throughout the state. Hiland baseball has now established itself on the same level.

Smithville girls track and field

Many of the runners Smithville sent to the OHSAA state meet in Dayton were freshmen or sophomores. Turns out, it doesn't matter when those freshmen and sophomores run faster than everyone else.

Kaitlyn Carr and Maryn Erdman — more on them later — won individual state titles and were a part of Smithville's gold medal 4x800 relay team with Claire Haas and Cadence Amstutz to help the Smithies capture the state title fairly convincingly, beating second-place Coldwater by 17 points Maddy Lengacher, one of the few seniors making a big impact in Dayton for the Smithies, finished third in the 400 and led Smithville's 4x400 team to a third-place finish as well to help cement the title.

With internal competition to push each other, the Smithies won't be going anywhere any time soon.

Dillon Morlock

A few years ago, there may have been an argument to who the best thrower in Wayne/Holmes area history was. Morlock made sure any argument would be for second place after his senior season.

He re-wrote the local record book in the shot put and discus almost weekly, continually resetting his own area records and eventually setting new all-time Division II OHSAA records in both throwing events. Morlock was almost playing a different game than everyone else, with nobody seriously challenging him in any meet this season, culminating in a sweep of the Div. II shot and discus for the second straight season.

In all, Morlock won five individual state titles, and helped Norwayne win a team title in 2022. Morlock is one of the most dominant athletes in Wayne/Holmes history, regardless of sport.

Kaitlyn Carr

Carr was already one of the best distance runners in the state before her sophomore year began. Now, everyone will be chasing her for her final two years of high school. She won the Div. III 1,600-meter title, placed second in the 3,200 and anchored the first-place 4x800 relay during a state meet where she proved herself as the top girls distance runner in Div. III.

Carr will be a threat to win at the state level in both cross country and track during her final two years if she keeps up her training and desire.

Maryn Erdman

While top track athletes generally succeed in high school right away, winning a state title right away usually isn't part of that success. Consider Erdman far from usual. One of several star runners for the Smithies, Erdman found her niche in the 800, dominating the event all year, including at the OHSAA state meet in Dayton.

Erdman won the Div. III 800-meter title by more than a second, dominating a field that featured 10 upperclassmen. Like her teammate Carr, Erdman could certainly end up a state champion again — and perhaps more than once.

Luke Snyder

Distance running isn't for the faint of heart and Snyder pushes himself as much as any runner in the Wayne/Holmes area. He pushed himself all the way to a cross country state title as a sophomore, taking the Division III title in 15:23.1, finishing 3 seconds better than second place and more than 18 seconds better than third.

Snyder will be a state title contender in cross country and track in the years to come.