Salem’s Haley Rozeski, shown here in a 3200-meter Div. II regional race on Thursday at Austintown Fitch, has three at-large state qualification berths in her career. (Photo by Ron Firth)

SALEM — If some years from now the Ohio High School Athletic Association decided to do a historical survey regarding the implementation of at-large berths for the state track and field meet, they’d definitely want to talk to Salem senior runner Haley Rozeski.

The state governing board for high school athletics in the state decided to add two at-large berths for each event at the state meet beginning in 2018. Rozeski bucked the odds and has been a three-time recipient of at-large berths.

It’s not like she sets out to do that though.

“Last year was my first ever state berth so I was excited just to get to go,” Rozeski said. “This year I had much higher goals for myself but halfway through the season I was stuck with an injury.”

Rozeski is returning to the meet as a repeat at-large qualifier in the Division II 800-meter run and she will also be an at-large qualifier as part of the Quaker 3200 relay team which also includes Halle Cochran, Clara Double and Carly Hall.

The injury she has dealt with her whole running career is called Accessory Navicular Syndrome. It’s defined as an extra bone or piece of cartilage located on the inner side of the foot just above the arch.

“I have an extra bone in my foot and I get stress fractures really easy,” Rozeski said.

She said the painful condition does flare up from time to time and in this case she had to take two weeks off of normal training. Instead she had to settle for training in the pool and doing easy milage. That made focusing a lot more difficult.

She got back to full training right before the Eastern Buckeye Conference meet and refocused her energies into getting back to the state meet in the 800. It turned out that road was the same one traveled before.

“To go to regionals and get lucky again meant a lot to me,” Rozeski said. “I wanted to place higher in the 800 and the (3200 relay), but I really didn’t mind because I was going back to state.”

She was right behind the fourth-place finisher in the 800 in Saturday’s regional at Austintown Fitch and admitted to being disappointed in herself for finishing fifth but knew since she was so close to the fourth-place finisher in a rather tough regional that the chances for advancing were pretty good.

“I didn’t automatically know and I was upset at myself, but my teammates told me right after that I for sure was going to go in the 800,” Rozeski said.

She didn’t have as much confidence in the relay at-large berth which was run on Thursday.

“We were 7 seconds back from fourth place, so in the back of my head I just tried to stay positive thinking there was still a chance for us to go,” Rozeski said. “It was hard keeping everyone else positive because they saw us as almost 10 seconds behind fourth and thought there was no way we were going.”

When all the numbers from the other regionals came in Rozeski and the other relay competitors were all on their way to Columbus. She said knowing that her group already made it took the pressure off on Saturday and made her run a better race.

Last year was different story. Since the addition of the at-large berths was so new she wasn’t sure how it all worked.

“I never even knew that there could be more than eight lanes on a track,” Rozeski said.

Her coach, Amie Cochran, said having the at-large berths is a blessing for programs like Salem because it rewards the athletes for taking on a higher caliber of competition.

“Our region is one of the strongest regions and for years we watched athletes from other regions go to state with marks that did not meet our standards we had in fifth or sixth-place finishes,” Cochran said.

At state Rozeski hopes to run a school-record 2:17.00, but she’ll have a little bit of work to do as she ran 2:19.39 at the regional.

“I think I can shave off a couple seconds because I shaved off three last year at state,” Rozeski said.

Rozeski ran a personal-best 2:17.79 in the state 800 final last season. She finished in 10th place in that race.

“I want to place higher than I did last year and possibly get on the podium,” Rozeski said.

Notes

• Rozeski was an automatic state qualifier in the 3200 and 1600 relays last year.

• Despite her foot condition, Rozeski’s love of running will carry her to Cleveland State’s track and field team in the fall.

“It only flares up on high mileage, so my coaches there already know I can’t be doing anything that crazy,” Rozeski said.