For the second straight year, both Mount Gilead cross country teams will be competing in the state meet, as the girls dominated in claiming a regional title at Pickerington on Saturday, while the boys’ team placed third. The top five teams advanced to state, as well as top-20 individuals not on state-qualifying teams in the Division III races.
The girls blew away the competition in their 16-team race, finishing with a mere 40 points. Second-place Fredericktown tallied 120. The Indians had four girls finish inside the top 10 in the meet, highlighted by regional champion Baylee Hack, who won the race in 19:09.11. Allison Johnson took second place in 19:18.94, while Emily Hanft was sixth in 19:52.13 and Olivia Millisor took ninth in 20:06.9. All four earned all-region honors for MG.
Micah James ran 29th for the girls in 20:52.42, while Madison Fitzpatrick placed 72nd in 22:29.29 and Selia Shipman claimed 77th in 22:37.29.
The race for first in the Division III boys’ race was much tighter, with Mount Gilead scoring 95 points to only finish behind Leesburg Fairfield (75) and Columbus Academy (84).
Liam Dennis led the Indians by finishing ninth in 16:42.9, while Casey White was right behind him in 10th with a time of 16:43.57. Kyle White ran 26th in 17:16.62, Brett Shipman claimed 31st in 17:26.07 and Ethan Supplee took 47th in 17:56.27 to round out the team’s top five. Also, Brandon Stevens finished 59th in 18:12.72 and Trevor Ball placed 95th in 19:02.91.
Also competing in the Division III races were Northmor and Cardington. The Lady Knights barely missed out on a trip to state, finishing sixth as a team with 184 points.
Samantha Peters led the team by finishing 24th in 20:40.03, while Jessica Duryea claimed 28th in 20:48.96. Julia Kanagy ran 61st in 22:02.9, while Olivia Goodson placed 64th in 22:11.03 and Julianna Ditullio was 65th in 22:12.34. Also, Brooke Bennett took 71st in 22:28.27 and Maddie Jordan claimed 96th in 23:16.25.
In the boys’ race, Northmor finished ninth. Gavvin Keen paced the team’s effort by running 24th in 17:15.14, while Austin Amens took 50th in 17:57.83. Ryan Bentley was 58th in 18:10.41 and Chase Hoover finished 66th in 18:19.49. Also, B.J. White ran 81st in 18:37.34, Mostyn Evans finished 98th in 19:14.62 and Kaleb Hart took 107th in 19:38.46.
Cardington had one boy run on Saturday, as Mason White finished 45th in 17.48.21.
In the Division II girls’ race, Highland had a pair of runners participate. Sophia Thompson placed 34th in 20:34.82, while Alex DeBord took 46th in 20:48.53. However, only the top 24 individuals advanced to the state meet.
