DDN
4/29
Sprinter Saine dazzles at Wayne
OSU football coach Tressel watches Piqua star run 100 in 10.34.
By Mark Gokavi
Staff Writer
HUBER HEIGHTS | Like everyone else at Heidkamp Stadium, Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel smiled and shook his head in amazement.
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<!-- inset --> <!--begintext--> He and a big Wayne Invitational crowd Friday saw Piqua junior Brandon Saine run an automated-time of 10.34 in the 100. Meet officials said it was wind-aided, but . . .
"I didn't feel much wind at all," said Saine, who counts Ohio State as one of 16 schools that have offered football scholarships. "I felt fast.
"I just wanted to run a good time. I like running for the big crowds, try to put on a show, I guess."
Saine did that each time he ran. Wind-aided or not, the 10.34 is a meet record and pushes the defending Division I 100 and 400 state champion into the elite level of all-time Ohio high school sprinters.
Later, Saine ran a personal-best and meet-record 46.8 despite not being pushed in the 400. Saine ran 21.40 in the 200. He ran 10.56 in the 100 prelims and a meet-record 21.15 in the 200 prelims.
"I just try to beat my time from the previous meet," Saine said. "Whatever I can do."
Tressel wasn't giving interviews, but he was there to watch Saine and others. He watched for hours, signing autographs and posing for pictures.
Saine smiled when Tressel's name came up. "It's always fun to run for somebody like that," Saine said. "Try to do your best."
Saine's favorite sport is football, but his track times must have college coaches salivating. He said he'd like to do both. Saine said his offers include Big Ten schools and others like Stanford and Oregon.
Saine hasn't made any decision, but Buckeye fans should beware.
"I'm trying to weigh my options," he said. "I was always a Michigan fan. I just liked watching them play."
