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Marion Local's Jack Knapke, seated center, signed a national letter of intent on Wednesday to join the Ohio State track and field team. Seated with him are his parents, Kate and Dale, and standing from left are Marion coaches Rob Pleiman, Dani Otte, Kyle Grabowski, Katherine Dirksen, Elle Sutter and Alex Hemmelgarn.
MARIA STEIN - Marion Local senior Jack Knapke signed a national letter of intent on Monday to throw for the Ohio State track and field team.
Knapke, also a star basketball player, considered throwing for two other schools, Kentucky and Hillsdale, before settling on the Buckeyes.
"Track and field was my first choice," he said.
Knapke has made three trips to the state tournament in discus, finishing 14th his freshman year before placing in sixth the last two years.
"Discus, from seventh grade, we knew there was something there," Marion Local track and field coach Kyle Grabowski said.
Knapke threw 165 feet, 2 inches at the state tournament in 2023. He also came in sixth with a 53-6 1/2 in the shot put, earning a total of six points for the Flyers in their eight-point state tournament win.
Those showings caught the attention of Ohio State throwing coach Travis Coleman.
"He came up to me after the state meet last year," Knapke said. "He talked to me, he'd watched me there."
In college, where he will major in engineering, Knapke intends to continue with discus and add two new disciplines, the hammer and weight throws.
Grabowski and Marion throwing coach Katherine Dirksen said he would be well-suited to hammer throw because of his 6-foot 8-inch frame.
"His body type leans more hammer and discus than it does shot put, because it's hard to fit 6-8 into the small ring," Grabowski said.
Knapke started his high school discus career throwing in the 120-130 range as a freshman and exceeded 175 last year. In the shot put, he bowed out in districts as a sophomore before breaking through to state last year.
"Patience, I would say is where he's most improved," Grabowski said, "from when he was a freshman or a sophomore and wanting to just throw it 180 feet the first time he threw it. Patience, letting it come to him, instead of trying to force it out there."
With one season left at Marion Local, Knapke hopes to improve both marks substantially.
"I'm hoping to hit at least 190," he said of the discus. For shot put: "58, a school record."
Coleman started with the Buckeyes in September 2021, and since then, he has coached a first-team All-American in shot put (Hayden Tobias), two second-team All-Americans in discus (Faith Bender, who holds the women's program record, and Carlos Aviles), and a national champion in shot put (Adelaide Aquilla).
