Wayne keeps the trophy home — again — at record-setting invitational

By Geoff Neville, Dayton Daily News

HUBER HEIGHTS — A whopping 103 squads descended upon Heinkamp Stadium with aspirations to take home the boys first-place trophy from one of Ohio’s most prestigious prep track-and-field showcases.

But the top prize will only be traveling 50 yards — from midfield to behind the home bleachers of the field — to be placed permanently on display inside the locker room of the host Wayne Warriors.

Again.

In what now appears to be an annual expected rite of passage, the Warriors dominated their own meet Friday, May 1, wrapping up their second consecutive boys team crown at the star-studded Wayne Invitational.

Tradition-rich Wayne, which is also the defending state title holder, has claimed either first or second place at its own invite in each of the past 10 renditions.

“It’s something we take a lot of pride in,” said Warriors coach Mike Fernandez. “We’re on our home field, so we get to defend and, in this case, defend our title from last year. We also like to compete against the best teams out there. And the fact that we can do it at our place and even be able to win a meet like this, it speaks volumes of how we set the tone every year.”

During his tenure, Fernandez has seen the Wayne Invitational — and his program — continue to grow and prosper. This year’s 103 teams was an all-time high, so Fernandez knew his talented group would be challenged — and the Warriors responded by piling up 65 points to easily outdistance the second-place tally of 36 that was registered by a strong Tippecanoe contingent.

“Key’Shawn is a program guy — a phenomenal kid,” Fernandez said. “He’s been with us starting in middle school and, when he was a freshman, we knew he was our building block for the next three or four years. He’s the one who represents what we try to do, and he’s gonna do pretty well the rest of the season and in college.”

The winner of each Wayne Invitational event receives a T-shirt and medal to commemorate the accomplishment, and Garrett had a handful of cotton to go with the hardware around his neck following Friday’s meet.

A University of Cincinnati signee, Garrett has won or been a part of seven Wayne Invitational first-place finishes as part of his illustrious Warriors’ career.

“At any home meet we have, I know I have a target on my back,” Garrett said. “I just focus on doing my part. This is a big meet — one of the biggest in the state and one of my favorites. The people (at Wayne) love this meet, so that makes you want to do well.”

The girls standings were much tighter, with Mason, at 78 points, outlasting Gahanna Lincoln (69.5). A well-rounded Oakwood group claimed the third overall position at 46 tallies.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the invite was that only two performers — Northwestern’s Crew Estep and Valley View’s Addy Abner — repeated as individual champions from the 2025 event.

Estep, a junior, successfully defended his Boys Shot Put title, while Abner, a senior and University of Kentucky signee, won the girls 800 in convincing fashion by over three seconds.

Look for both of those stars — along with several others from the Wayne Invitational — to be factors in their respective divisions at the upcoming state finals next month in Columbus.

“It’s funny because you can look back over the past 10 years, and the schools that win or place at this meet are always in the mix at the states,” Fernandez said. “This is a great measuring stick for us, and going up against this type of competition will definitely help us when we get to June.”