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Fenwick grad taking to track at Rio Grande

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11:03 PM Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Cassie Mattia is leaving her mark on the University of Rio Grande track program.

The Fenwick High School graduate recently shattered the school’s 600-meter race record while competing at the University of Findlay Track & Field Classic on Jan. 31.

Mattia ran the race in 1 minute, 41.92 seconds to finish ninth overall. The record she broke was 1:46.14 set by Leslie Bales in 1996.

The time also qualified Mattia for the NAIA Indoor National Meet to be held March 4-6 in Johnson City, Tenn.

“The fact that I broke the record is great,” Mattia said. “But I’ve never been one to give myself too much credit. I’m just looking forward to the next thing.”

College has been an interesting experience for Mattia. Upon graduating from Fenwick, she headed to Rio Grande to play basketball.

That didn’t work out, however, and she ultimately found herself joining the track team.

“It was getting to the point where I just wasn’t enjoying basketball anymore,” Mattia said. “I miss the game because I played it my whole life, but my dad (Tony Mattia) always said track would be my sport.”

“I always enjoyed the conditioning for basketball, so I thought I’d give track a try,” she continued. “I’m very happy with the change. I made a good decision.”

Then, this past fall she joined the cross country team.

“It’s weird,” Mattia said. “My coach noticed I was getting slower over the last few hurdles and suggested I try cross country to increase my endurance. I did and I’ve never felt in this good a shape in my life.”

Mattia is two seconds off qualifying for the national meet in the 800 run as well. She has one more chance at that when she competes at the Marietta Open on Feb. 27.

Men’s indoor track

• Jeff See (Middletown) was named the athlete of the week for track and field Monday, Feb. 8, by the Big Ten Conference after running a sub-four minute mile at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational.

See used an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:58.82 to finish in first place in the prestigious Meyo Mile on Saturday in South Bend. A three-time All-American, See recorded the second-best time in the NCAA this season and the second-best run in Ohio State indoor history. He’s only the second Buckeye to ever run a sub-four minute mile, indoor or outdoor.

Let us know

The Journal is compiling a database of college athletes, so if someone you know fits that description, please send an e-mail to sweaver@coxohio.com with class, school and sport.

College insider

Skip Weaver

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