Area cross-country teams competed in their conference championship meets on Saturday.
The West Liberty-Salem varsity girls won their eighth consecutive Ohio Heritage Conference title Saturday at Cedarville University’s Elvin R. King Cross Country Course. This is the sixteenth OHC title in the program’s history.
Team Scores: 1st WLS 20, 2nd Fairbanks 58, 3rd Cedarville 80, 4th Mechanicsburg 81, 5th Greenon 121
Malia Miller continued her impressive freshman campaign leading WLS with a second-place finish (19:20.6) and earning first-team all-conference honors. The Big Orange went on to take the next four places and first-team all-conference honors with Ashley Yoder finishing 3rd (19:35.3), Addison McAuley 4th (20:10.1), Gwen McCullough 5th (20:17.6) and Breece Gullet 6th (20:27.5).
Earning second-team all-conference honors were Taylor Kennedy in 11th place (21:22.8) and Teagan Boyd in 15th (21:28.0).
Honorable mention conference honors went to Claire Longshore 16th (21:32.8) and Emma Smith 18th (21:35.8)
WLS went on to place thirteen runners in the top 30 with Mallory Bostick 22nd (21:56.6), Elise Longshore 23rd (22:25.4), Chloe Griffith 25th (22:42.9), and Mylee Dooley 30th (22:53.9).
Also placing for the Big Orange were Abriley Krabill 36th (23:54.0), Geneva Estep 37th (23:57.8), Lily Smith 38th (23:59.0), and Anna Knox 48th (25:14.4).
“We take pride in keeping the conference trophy at WLS,” said Big Orange head coach, Ann Vogel. “Our girls raced with confidence and focus today. I love the energy and the team-first attitude they’re bringing into championship season.”
WL-S ranked fifth in the latest OATCCC state coaches poll will compete in the DIII Southwest District meet Saturday at Cedarville University.
The West Liberty-Salem varsity boys, #3 in this week’s OATCCC D3 State Poll, captured the OHC Championship. It marks the 32nd time the Big Orange have won the conference championship and the 12th over the past 14 seasons.
Sr. Owen Harrison 4th 16:37.8 1st Team All OHC; Fr. Garrett Wallen 5th 16:53.6 PR 1st Team All OHC; So. Asher Knox 7th 17:08.4 1st Team All OHC; So. Troy Bradley 8th 17:16.4 1st Team All OHC; Fr. Dylan King 9th 17:17.7 PR 2nd Team All OHC; Jr. Joey LaRoche 10th 17:19.3 PR 2nd Team All OHC; Fr. Brevin Louden 11th 17:22.7 PR 2nd Team All OHC; Sr. Michael Jones 12th 17:23.2 2nd Team All OHC; Sr. Micah Smith 14th 17:32.2 PR 2nd Team All OHC; So. Quentin Rudolph 16th 17:39.3 Honorable Mention OHC; Fr. Taryn Bradley 17th 17:40.4 PR Honorable Mention OHC; Fr. Caleb Larson 18th 17:43.1 PR Honorable Mention OHC; Jr. Ryan Henry 23rd 18:02.3; Jr. Mason Barger 31st 18:52.3 PR; Sr. Chandler McCafferty 32nd 18:53.6 PR; Jr. Maxwell McCombs 67th 23:47.6
Coach Mike Louden remarks, “I’m very proud of the entire program today, four wins speak volumes to what these young men and women put into this sport each and every day. Winning a conference championship is something we definitely take great pride in and doing it is definitely a big deal for these young men. I was very pleased with all sixteen guys’ performances but especially proud of the four seniors that competed in their final conference championship. Owen Harrison, Michael Jones, Micah Smith, and Chandler McCafferty.”
The Indian Lake varsity girls won the CBC Mad River Division team title at Springfield Shawnee on Saturday. The Lady Lakers took 2nd overall at the meet.
Freshman Reagan Rash was named Runner of the Year.
“It was great to win the CBC team championship and have the runner of the year. This is our second team title in three years, and we are excited to get it back. Reagan is a very talented runner who works hard and this recognition is well deserved,” said Coach Metzger.
Reagan Rash led the Lakers with a 3rd place finish in a time of 20:19. Evie Wagner placed 9th (21:09), KaiLea Miller finished 13th (21:35), Elayna Richardson was 20th (21:52) and Hannah Metzger was 26th (22:13). Also finishing was Maggie Reese in 76th (26:19), Makayla Motter in 77th (26:31), Andi Miller in 82nd (26:54), Ariel Brielmaier in 98th (28:59 PR), and Eva Carney in 103rd (30:20 PR).
Reagan, Evie, and KaiLea earned first-team CBC honors. Elayna and Hannah earned second-team CBC honors.
The Laker boys finished 8th of 12 teams and 4th place in the Mad River Division of the CBC. Grant McPherson led the Lakers placing 15th (18:00), Tony Cummins was 32nd (18:33), Heath Wilson was 43rd (19:13), Brody Parsell was 44th (19:18), and Brant Parsell was 45th (19:19). Also finishing was Titus Kelly in 60th (20:15), Vince Wilson in 68th (20:42), Daniel Wahl was 76th (21:02), Creek Wischmeyer was 101st (22:32), and Owen Pummel was 114th (25:27).
Grant earned 1st-team CBC honors. Tony earned 2nd team CBC honors. Heath, Brody, and Brant earned honorable mention CBC awards.
The Lakers run next Saturday at the OHSAA District Championships at Cedarville.
The Benjamin Logan varsity girls placed 3rd in the Mad River Division of the CBC Meet.
Team Scores (Mad River Division): 1. Indian Lake (71), 2. Northwestern (99), 3. Benjamin Logan (126), 4. Graham (202), 5. Urbana (237), 6. North Union (243).
The Lady Raiders were led by Georgia Bates with her 5th place finish in a field of 105 runners. She covered the 3.1-mile course in a time of (20:48). Also scoring a medal was Estella Wenger with her 11th place finish in a time of (21:16). Completing the scoring were Mylee Boysel 27th (22:23), Hadley Boysel 41st (23:05), Scarlett Elliott 46th (23:44), Malori Barnes 49th (23:53) and Kendra Kennedy 58th (24:25).
Also competing for Benjamin Logan were the following athletes:
Peyton Smith – 60th 24:34
Nora Elliott – 70th (25:55)
Allie Fay – 79th (26:39)
Sarah Folk – 80th (26:42)
Libby Siefring – 99th (29:06)
The Lady Raiders will run next at the Southwest District Championships. The meet will be held on Saturday (10/22/22) at Cedarville College. The varsity DII girls’ race will begin at 12:15.
CBC Conference Honors
Mad River Division – 1st Team All-Conference Athletes
1. Reagan Rash – Indian Lake
2. Georgia Bates – Benjamin Logan
3. Alyssa Christian – Northwestern
4. Evie Wagner – Indian Lake
5. Kayley Yontz – Northwestern
6. Estella Wenger – Benjamin Logan
7. Kelsey Demarco – Graham
8. Kailea Miller – Indian Lake
Mad River Division – 2nd Team All-Conference Athletes
9. Kendal Music – North Union
10. Elayna Richardson – Indian Lake
11. Taylor Aldredge – Graham
12. Lauren Pollock – Northwestern
13. Alaina Freeze – Northwestern
14. Hannah Metzger – Indian Lake
15. Mylee Boysel – Benjamin Logan
16. Meghan Rosenbaum – Northwestern
CBC Sportsmanship Award: for Benjamin Logan – Malori Barnes
The Graham varsity girls’ team finished 4th overall (out of 12 teams) and 2nd in the Mad River Division.
The Lady Falcons were led by Kelsey Demarco who finished 12th (21:17.7)
Taylor Aldredge 21st (21:55.9)
Ella Putterbaugh 51st (23:56.6)
Ella Parke 68th (25:39.2)
Ivy Hatfield 71st (25:59.6)
Grace Smith 73rd (26:06.7)
Eliza Blosser 93rd (28:15.8)
Lydia Loos 105th (31:05.4)
Kelsey Demarco earned first-team all-conference in the Mad River Division and Taylor Aldredge was second-team all-conference.
The Falcon varsity boys finished 8th overall (out of 12 teams) and 4th in the Mad River.
Cayden Bonham finished 9th (17:38.5)
Ayden Rudolf 21st (18:08.3)
Ashton Aldredge 30th (18:24.7)
Jack Bonham 35th (18:41.1)
Carter Smith 50th (19:43.9)
Brayden Crooks 59th (20:13.8)
Sebastian Bowers (20:16.0)
Zach Wheeland 74th (21:01.5)
Hayden King 77th (21:03.5)
Tyler Shefbuch 88th (21:48.5)
Ben Parke 95th (22:12.9)
Weston Helman 96th (22:14.6)
Cayden Bonham and Ayden Rudolf earned first-team all-conference in the Mad River Division and Ashton Aldredge and Jack Bonham were second-team all-conference. Cayden Bonham was also selected as the Runner of the Year in the Mad River Division.
The Bellefontaine varsity girls finished 2nd in the Kenton Trail.
The Lady Chiefs were led by Montana Buck’s 22nd place finish (22:03). Kailyn Newman was 29th (22:24), Sophie Adlesberger 42nd (23:30), Aubrey Hudson 54th (24:09), Ella Reier 57th (24:21), Brianne Secrest 81st (26:49), Zoey Rister 87th (27:39), Emma Costin 91st (28:06), and Mia DeLong 95th (28:28).
The Bellefontaine boys placed 3 runners in the top 6 at the league meet to finish 2nd out of 12 teams. Gavin Wilson, Tony Stewart, and Hayden Maus earned first-team honors for their efforts.
Individual Finishers (116 runners)
4. Gavin Wilson 16:55
5. Tony Stewart 17:04
6. Hayden Maus 17:14 PR
26. Seth Taylor 18:17
27. Elias Abrego 18:19 PR
39. Ollie Moreland 19:02
87. Jake Christen 21:47
91. Ryan Alexander 21:54
100. Zerek Alexander 22:54
107. Nolan Core 23:01
111. Jaxon Sopher 24:10 PR
112. Grant Erickson 24:23
“It was a quality race for our squad gaining some momentum heading into the district. Gavin and Tony earn their third CBC first-team honors. The team did a nice job of fighting for our individual goal places throughout the race.”
