The Mount Gilead boys’ cross country team won their district meet on Saturday with a total of 30 points to advance to regionals.
Competing in the first of two Division III boys’ races at Hilliard Darby, the Indians had the first three finishers in the race. Will Baker won in 15:46.55, while Parker Bartlett was second in 16:26.8 and Owen Hershner took third in 16:44.55. Nolan Hershner claimed eighth in 17:11.8, while Nathan Smith ran 16th in 17:45.8 and Tommy Emberg placed 17th in 17:46.8. Also, Collin Gabriel finished 20th in 17:59.79.
The Lady Indians also moved on as a team, finishing third in the first of two Division III girls’ races. Kimberly Staley placed fourth overall in 20:14.7 to lead the team. Danielle Pohlkotte ran 19th in 21:50.96, while Ava Baker placed 21st in 21:54.21 and Sophie Mosher finished 25th in 22:20.45. Natalie Jagger ran 37th in 23:31.96, Adriana Hershner claimed 38th in 23:42.46 and Haley Pfeifer placed 42nd in 23:51.21.
In the second girls’ race, both the Northmor team and both Cardington individuals were able to advance.
Northmor took third in the race with Kate Lehman running fourth with a time of 20:05.59 to lead the way. Ryann Brinkman finished 17th in 20:52.85 and Natalie Hunter placed 21st in 21:11.59. Elizabeth Ruhl took 34th in 22:19.09 and Haylee Walker ran 37th in 22:35.58, while Macie Witherall took 48th in 23:08.09 and Shelby Cooper finished 57th in 23:51.34.
For Cardington, Gracie Meade placed eighth in 20:20.34 and Magi Hallabrin was 10th with a time of 20:35.35.
In the second Division III boys’ race, Northmor finished fifth to finish one spot out of team advancement. Two individuals did move on, though. Ryan Lehman took third place with a time of 16:29.06, while David Blunk ran 11th in 16:59.32. Thomas Keen placed 34th in 18:39.56 and Vinton Naylor took 37th in 18:40.32 for the Golden Knights. Also, Owen Yunker was 40th in 18:45.07, Bryce Cooper took 43rd in 18:48.81 and Levi Hunter placed 46th in 18:56.81.
Cardington also ran in that race and sent one runner to regionals in Aidan Reitmire. He took 10th place in 16:59.78 in the race. Riley Patterson was 75th in 20:27.57, while Brayden Rammelsberg placed 79th in 20:57.32 and Brandon Hughes claimed 80th in 21:17.31. Luke Viscotti finished 88th in 22:09.05, Danny Townsend ran 92nd in 23:10.31 and Thor Kovacs took 95th in 23:35.31.
In the Division II races, both Highland teams advanced runners to regionals. Two boys and one girl for the Scots finished highly enough to earn a trip to Pickerington this Saturday.
On the boys’ team, which finished fourth in a race where the top three teams advanced, Matthew Miller finished seventh in 16:58.69 and Cael Gilmore took 10th in 17:08.45 to move on. Brendan Lester was 17th with a time of 17:30.20. Henry Spence placed 45th in 18:52.2 and Ethan Harmon claimed 49th in 19:01.95. Also, Daniel Grandstaff ran 55th in 19:22.7 and Maddox Weiss took 56th in 19:25.45.
In the girls’ race, Kindylle Mallow claimed the final individual bid to regionals by finishing 12th in 21:44.81. Riley Matthews just missed out by taking 13th in 21:49.81, while Abbie Pruett ran 34th in 25:27.81. Audrey Weaver was 39th in 27:30.55 and Lizzie Beck finished 40th in 27:36.56, while Allison Minkos went 42nd with a time of 28:25.8.
Rob Hamilton can be reached at 419-946-3010, ext. 1807. Connect with him on Twitter at @SportsMCS
