Brock Iddings closed out a memorable career in the long jump and hurdles. Ashley Diltz heads down the home stretch of her final high school race.

After placing at state in the long jump as a freshman, Otte was looking to return as a sophomore and climb the steps of the podium.

Unfortunately, she tore her ACL prior to the track season and lost an entire year of jumping.

While others she competed against as a freshman made it back to state in 2007, Otte and he family was sitting on the sidelines thinking of what might have been.

"It makes you wonder what she would be jumping if it wasn't for that (the injury)," said her father August Otte after Renee's jump sealed her ticket to state. "Who knows, maybe she would be in the 18's."

Regardless, the long road of recovery and rehabilitation was rewarded with an historic jump for the Covington junior.

After qualifying for the final with the eighth best jump in the preliminaries (16-2.75), Otte didn't get the distance she needed in her first jump of the finals.

Needing to break the school record to secure a spot at state, Otte launched herself into the history books with a leap of 17-0.25 on her second attempt of the finals. She broke the school record that was set by Shannon Irvin back in 1981.

As the official distance was announced, Otte pumped her fist in celebration - a release of emotion that has built up for over a year.

"We're proud of her," her father said. "It's been a long tough road back for her."

Ashley Diltz was looking to join Otte at state as she competed in the finals of the 800 Meter Run.

Diltz ran a gallant race as she stayed in the middle of the pack in the first lap and kicked it in over the final lap - looking to have more left down the stretch to pull out a top four finish.

The strategy was working to perfection with 200 meters to go as she was approximately 15 yards behind the four runners ahead of her.

But a strong gusty wind - a wind that had blown hard all day - was in the face of the runners heading down the stretch. Diltz couldn't close the gap and finished fifth in the time of 2:24.56.

"That time is pretty darn good in these conditions (the gusty wind)," said Dave Tobias. "On a calmer day, she probably gets the school record."

Diltz gave everything she had in an attempt to catch the top four runners and had nothing left as she crossed the finish line.

"She's got everything to be proud of," said her dad Brian Diltz. "She ran a great race and had nothing left to give."

Which is how you want to go out in your final race.

May 27, 2008 – DAYTON
An outstanding career came to an end Tuesday in the Regional Track Meet at Dayton's Welcome Stadium.

Brock Iddings, the school record holder in both the 110 Meter Hurdles and 300 Meter Hurdles, failed to qualify for the state meet in the 300 and the Long Jump.

Iddings did find a spot on the podium with a sixth place finish in the Long Jump with a leap of 20-04.25. It wasn't enough to advance him to the state meet as the top four finishers make the trip.

The Covington senior was well on his way to Saturday's finals in the 300 Meter Hurdles until falling while rounding the turn before the final straight-away. I was de-javu for Iddings as he was leading the race at the time of his fall, similar to the 110 preliminaries at the district meet last week.

Still, Iddings managed to get to his feet quickly and made one final push toward a birth in the finals. In a tight race at the end, he came up short of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the finals. Idding's time was 43.59.

Iddings set the school record in the 300 Meter Hurdles at districts with a time of 40.57, breaking the old mark of 40.70 set by Brad Boothe in 2000.

His record in the 110 Meter Hurdles came at the CCC Meet two weeks ago as he ran a 15.4.

It was a remarkable career and senior season for Iddings, who first took up the hurdles in his junior season.

Also competing on Tuesday were four girls in the 4x800 Meter Relay. The team of Holly Tobias, Josselyn Tobias, Alyssa Angle and Ashley Diltz finished seventh with a time of 10:38.13.

It earned them a medal and a spot on the podium, but didn't qualify the team for the state meet.

Covington has two more chances of earning a state birth on Saturday as Ashley Diltz runs in he finals of the 800 Meter Run and Renee Otte competes in the Long Jump.