2024 All-Area Boys' Track and Field Athlete of the Year: Blue skies ahead for Josiah Hortin

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TUSCOLA — As Ryan Hornaday watched the 2024 United States Olympic Track and Field Trials last weekend in Eugene, Ore., he couldn’t help but think of Josiah Hortin.

Hortin was in Florida with a handful of friends getting some “much-needed, much-deserved rest.”

The recent Tuscola graduate had just wrapped up a historic senior track season, winning a Class 1A individual state title in the 800-meter run and placing third in the 1,600 to lead the Warriors to a runner-up team finish, the highest team placement in program history.

His season got even more decorated and his vacation got a little sweeter after learning he had won The News-Gazette boys’ track and field Athlete of the Year award.

“The area was super loaded this year with a bunch of great athletes,” Hortin said. “I had a really great season, but you never know if you’ll actually get it. It was definitely a bucket-list type of goal, so it was awesome to get that.”

That’s partly why Hornaday, Tuscola’s athletic director and boys’ track and field coach, couldn’t shake the thought that his TV was showing a glimpse into what could possibly be Hortin’s future.

‘Josiah was the fastest’

Hortin has been around sports his entire life and been a runner for almost just as long. Hornaday remembers seeing him run the local 5K as a fourth-grader.

Elementary school was when Hortin became friends with Jackson Barrett, a senior teammate this year who joined him in Florida and the N-G boys’ cross-country Runner of the Year last fall. From the beginning of their friendship, Barrett knew Hortin was athletic. Neither of them necessarily expected to get where they are today — Hortin is committed to run at the University of Louisville and Barrett the same at the University of Illinois — but they had fun playing basketball and tag during PE class and recess at an early age.

“I was always the slowest kid on the playground, and Josiah was the fastest,” Barrett said. “At every stage, he was always the quickest one.”

That helped Hortin in Little League baseball, youth basketball and playing quarterback for his junior high football team. It wasn’t until he got to high school when he decided to use his running gift to do just that: run.

‘Jo sets the standard’

That’s when his work ethic began to shine. When Hortin made the decision to run cross-country and track as a freshman, he put everything into being successful.

“I wanted to play football in high school because of the pressure of the town. If you’re a good athlete, you play football,” Hortin said. “My mom was like, ‘This is your calling.’ Having the guts to not do what everybody else does and work at it, that’s what worked the best and cleared the way for everybody else.”

Much of Hortin’s success comes from the work he’s willing to put in, which all stems back to his desire to win. And that goes well beyond the track. Hornaday said it could be a friendly game of badminton in gym class, and Hortin will be doing everything he can to win.

That’s the mindset he has, and it works. Just look at the numbers. Hortin won the 800 title this spring with a time of 1 minute, 51.98 seconds, just three-quarters of a second off the 1A state meet record and nearly five seconds faster than any other area runner’s best time. His season’s top 1,600 time of 4:15.85 was tops in the area and would have won him another state title. And his personal-best 3,200 time of 9:05.86 was the best in all of 1A this year.

“He’s got a lot of God-given talent, but — big but here — he has absolutely maximized it,” Hornaday said. “He’s put the work in, and he’s a talent. … Jo sets the standard for performance, effort, training and competitiveness.”

Hortin was upset when he finished third in the 1,600. Of course, he wanted the win, but he was more disappointed with what that meant for the team.

The Warriors went into the state finals knowing they had a shot to win a team track and field championship, which would have been their first in school history. When it was all said and done, they finished second, just three points behind Winnebago. A second individual win for Hortin would have put Tuscola right back in that mix, and the first thing he said after stepping off his third-place podium was “I think we just lost the title.”

“I never have to chew him out for underperforming because his expectations of himself are higher than anybody could ever place on him,” Hornaday said. “I hate that it even crosses his mind that it’s somehow his fault. How many people would be upset after taking a third-place medal at state? That’s the expectation he has for himself. He came up to me and was moping, and I just told him I loved him and hugged him. He’s a great kid, and I’m proud of him.”

Hortin’s drive was just as evident over the last two cross-country seasons. He helped lead the Warriors to their first-ever state appearance as a junior and turned right around and placed 10th individually as a senior in the Warriors’ first state team title in the sport.

Behind the scenes of their historic success were miles upon miles run by the team’s top five: Hortin, Barrett, Will Foltz, Blake McLeese and Xander Neamtu. They’d go on long runs together every day, and while it was undoubtedly hard, tedious work, it didn’t feel like work because of the bond they shared. They kept their minds off the fact that they were running countless miles by talking about “anything and everything.”

“Maybe it’ll be like ‘Who’s better, Michael Jordan or LeBron James?’” Hortin said. “It gets heated, but it makes the run go faster when you’re arguing for a mile or two. You also realize your heart rate might be a little higher because you’re yelling and arguing. Just discussing random topics, just about anything you can think of.”

‘It was hard to fail’

Hortin has been able to take a step back and appreciate all he’s accomplished. He’s pretty mellow and doesn’t get too excited about his successes, but “it was cool” to see all his hard work eventually pay off.

“I definitely have looked back on it and am super proud,” Hortin said. “We put in so much work where it was hard to fail.”

The best part about it, he added, is everything that has resulted from all this running success. He’s seen some athletes start to transition from football to cross-country heading into next year.

“Two or three years ago, you would never see that,” Hortin said. “Tuscola’s always been a football school, but it feels like people are shifting more toward basketball and track. That’s cool to see that a few people can make such an impact and change the way a whole town goes about their sports.”

A lot of that is thanks to the senior trio of Hortin, Barrett and Foltz. They all finished top 10 in last fall’s cross-country state meet. Along with Hortin’s 800 title on the track, Foltz — who will run at Southern Illinois University next year — won the 3,200, and Barrett placed top four in both of his events. And to top it off, they’re the tightest of friends.

“It was kind of our goal to become the best top three in the history of 1A,” Barrett said. “Honestly, I think we were able to do that. We go to every meet, and people look at Tuscola like a distance powerhouse. It didn’t used to be like that, but we were able to rewrite that.”

Those three collectively put Tuscola distance running on the map. As for this past track season, Hortin was the guy, becoming the first-ever runner to win Tuscola’s Most Outstanding Track Performer all four years.

“If somebody gets it back-to-back years as a junior and senior, that’s pretty exceptional,” Hornaday said. “To have a kid get it all four years, that just tells you where he stands in the history of our program.”

‘I’m going to shoot high’

Between beach days, Hortin talked about his 800 state champion medal, which he said will travel with him to Louisville. It’s hanging front and center with his other state medals back home and is “probably my favorite.”

At the same time, Hornaday watched the 1,500-meter runners in the U.S. Olympic Trials, contemplating Hortin’s possible future, thinking to himself “he’d be a phenomenal 1,500 kid.”

Hortin is ready to compete on the college scene. As for his plans after that, he’ll run as far as his work ethic can take him.

“I have a lot in mind,” Hortin said. “Even if I don’t say it out loud, I might have something in mind that’s a little outlandish. … I think I have enough talent to do about anything I want at that level with enough work. I’m going to shoot high and hope it all comes together.”