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Poetry in motion

Lisbon’s Seth Stokes places first in the high jump at 6-7 during the Div. III regional meet on Friday. (Salem News/Ron Firth)

MASSILLON — This time last week, Lisbon junior high jumper Seth Stokes had doubts he would return to the state track meet.

Stokes was a passenger in a car accident and his first thought was about what would it do to his state title hopes.

“I saw it a half-a-second before it hit,” he said. “My legs were bleeding and I was hoping I could come out here and jump.”

If anything bothered him Friday, he didn’t show it on the way to repeating as the Division III regional champion by clearing 6-foot-7 at Perry Stadium.

“My legs were kind of sore from that,” Stokes said. “I tried 6-8 and couldn’t get over it. I’ll be OK once my legs get rested.”

Kirtland junior Max Janas was second at 6-2.

Stokes, who was third at state last year, will jump in the Division III state finals at 1 p.m. next Friday at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium on the campus Ohio State University.

“I’m looking forward to going back to the stadium,” Stokes said. “I’m going to try to jump my best and win it.”

He almost didn’t get the chance.

Stokes said he had gone to Salem last Saturday afternoon to get something to eat. On the way home, the car he was riding in was hit by pickup truck on Route 344 and Lisbon Canfield Road.

It hit on the passenger side and the car was totaled, he said.

“I knew I wasn’t going to pass away, but I was sore,” Stokes said.

He went to the Salem hospital to get checked out. He tried some running and jumping at home before high jumping in Salem on Monday. He could only get over 6-4.

Stokes, who broke his school record by clearing 6-9 earlier his season, looked close to his old self by Friday. He just missed getting 6-8 1/4 that would have set the stadium record.

“After last year, I knew I had to come out and make a statement early and I did that with 6-9,” he said. “I have to get back to that.”

Stokes kept busy early in Friday’s meet by chatting with East Palestine sophomore Stephen Darlington

“It’s nice to have someone to talk to at big meets like this,” Stokes said. “We don’t know a lot of the schools that are here.”

Darlington finished 12th with a jump of 5-8.

“I was trying to keep him relaxed because he was anxious about this meet,” Stokes said.

Darlington hit the bar on all three attempts at 5-8, the last time the hardest, but it didn’t fall off.

“It was crazy how that thing jumped off and went back on,” Stokes said. “He was laughing about it, too.”

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