St. Paul senior Ralph Pohlschneider rattled off a personal best of 50.03 seconds at the OSAA track and field championships on Friday, May 17, at Hayward Field in Eugene to win the 1A 400 meters state title.
“I knew coming in that I had to work hard for it, and that I had good competition and guys that wanted to catch up to me,” Pohlschneider said. “I tried to go fast out the start and I just kept with that.”
Pohlschneider entered the discipline as the overwhelming favorite, holding the top time in 1A for a majority of the season. He wasn't unaware of his status and its implications.
“It did add some pressure," Pohlschneider said. "I'm always talking to my friends and family and they're like, ‘You can talk all of this but you got to beat everybody you got to perform well.’”
Perhaps the most impressive aspect of Pohlschneider's feat is the conditions in which he did it. While the senior clearly exudes talent, it's likely his plate was fuller than most of his peers, as he splits time with St. Paul baseball.
“It's tough when we have games on Tuesdays and Fridays, and so it's hard to balance those things out and wanting to do the best in both,” Pohlschneider said. “It's a little bit more work than a normal person would (have) but I'm up for that challenge.”
Beyond his individual title, Pohlschneider finished seventh in the 200 meters and led the 4x100 relay team to its second consecutive state championship, as he blazed his way through the final stretch, producing an electric finish where he caught three runners. Pohlschneider was the lone returnee from last season's relay, joined by Diego Medina, Branson Cook and George Pohlschneider.
While most of the faces were new, the connection remained powerful.
"I didn't take it too much into consideration that we had a whole new (4x100 relay) team until we got into check-in today and they're like, ‘I don't know what to do,’” Ralph Pohlschneider said. “But I had trust in them, and I played sports with all of them and so I'm good friends with them. … I knew they’d do the best and they did.”
This particular victory, however, likely carried a bit more meaning than most. It's not everyday you reign atop the state alongside your twin, and while George Pohlschneider and the rest weren't on the relay last season, the need to repeat St. Paul's excellence was felt by all.
“It was all over our mind. That’s all we were thinking,” George Pohlschneider said. “We’re at Hayward — let’s go as fast as possible and get this win.”
When his brother entered the final 100 meters within — at least for Ralph Pohlschneider — striking distance of the leaders, George Pohlschneider knew their opposition was in trouble.
“I saw him like fourth, I'm like, ‘Oh boy. He's going to cook,’” George Pohlschneider said. “I (saw) him going right through everyone … I was screaming at the top of my lungs.”
“I was just amazed," George Pohlschneider continued. "He really, really came in clutch for us.”
In his final event of the state championships, Ralph Pohlschneider and the 4x400 relay team of Grady Wolf, Jesse Rincon and Medina finished fourth in 3:39.23.
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