The Mount Gilead boys’ cross country team had five of the top seven runners in the KMAC championships to win the team title with 19 points.
Competing at Kokosing Dam, the Indians boasted the top three finishers in the boys’ race, as well as the sixth and seventh placers.
“We’ll take that any day of the week,” said head coach Jake Hayes. “That’s about as good as it gets.”
Will Baker won the race in 15:56.06, while Reed Supplee took second in 16:09.8 and Parker Bartlett claimed third in 16:21.75. Hayes noted that those three have done a great job as front-runners for his team — something he feels is a necessity for the Indians to continue having the same success the program has gotten accustomed to over the years.
“Having those front three guys really close to each other and up at the front of the race is crucial to if we bring home hardware at the end of the season,” he said.
Owen Hershner took sixth in 16:51.02 and Aaron Gannon finished seventh in 16:59.49, while Cole Hershner placed 19th in 18:06.08 and Nathan Smith ran 20th in 18:11.27.
Also, Luke Fraizer was 29th, Collin Gabriel was 32nd in 18:42.68, Gage Baker was 36th, Tommy Emberg was 38th, Joshua Davis was 39th, Quade Harris was 41st, Ryan Swalley was 44th, Abram Newson was 48th, Nolan Hershner was 49th, Wyatt Mowry was 53rd, Samuel Baer was 56th, Landon Spoon was 59th, Josh Burnaugh was 60, Trinton McCarty was 68th, Gavin Keller was 69th, Carson Mowery was 75th and Travis Fox was 77th.
Hayes noted that he appreciated the efforts of those runners not in the top seven, saying that many of them would be varsity runners with other programs.
“Especially those 8-9-10-11 guys who probably would be on varsity at another school,” he said. “When we go to invites, we score out our second seven so they know where they’d finish. We know that it kind of stinks running for Mount Gilead because you’ll be running 18:40 and be the 10th guy, which is kind of a bummer.”
Northmor took third in the meet with 74 points. Ryan Lehman placed fourth in 16:30.92 to lead the team, while David Blunk ran eighth in 17:10.05 and Connor Radojcsics placed 15th in 17:44.01. Ethan Amens claimed 22nd in 18:14.57, Bryce Cooper took 25th in 18:22.29, Levi Hunter placed 30th in 18:37.72 and Thomas Keen finished 31st in 18:39.79.
Also, Dane Creswell was 46th, Parker Brown was 49th and Dylan Normant was 74th.
For Cardington, Aidan Reitmire placed ninth in 17:11.9 to lead the way. The sixth-place Pirates got a 37th-place finish from A.J. Brehm in 18:48.97, while Brayden Rammelsberg finished 43rd in 19:16.58 and Ryan Clinger took 58th in 20:43.43. Isaac Dela Cruz placed 61st in 21:19.16, while Brayden Lackey took 73rd in 23:18.53.
Fredericktown won the girls ‘race, with Northmor taking second with a score of 58 and Mount Gilead (third, 76) and Cardington (fourth, 80) following.
The Golden Knights were led by Kate Lehman, who finished second in 19:47.87. Natalie Hunter ran seventh in 20:31.07, while Ryann Brinkman took 11th in 20:50.99 and Lyla Bishop ran 19th in 22:03.98. Maizy Brinkman finished 26th in 22:48.18, Sarah Abrams placed 27th in 22:56.13 and Shelby Cooper finished 31st in 23:24.28.
Also, Hannah Kanagy was 32nd, Katie Statler was 40th, Ella Creswell was 47th, Harley Barler was 53rd and Emily Littleton was 60th.
Mount Gilead’s Haley Pfeifer was eighth in 20:37.13, while Kimberly Staley took 10th in 20:44.39. Danielle Pohlkotte finished 20th in 22:12.38 and Karley Wallace finished 21st in 22:18.24. Madilyn Elson placed 22nd in 22:20.05, Grace Shipman finished 33rd in 23:39.31 and Rebeka Clark took 43rd in 25:22.92.
Also, Tatum Neal was 48th, Natalie Jagger was 52nd, Gabrielle Mowry was 54th and Lexi Fox was 59th.
For Cardington, Loey Hallabrin claimed third in 19:51.71 and Magi Hallabrin finished fifth with a time of 20:11.06. Morgan White placed 18th in 21:37.72, Gracie Meade ran 30th in 23:18.46 and Meghan Greenawalt took 56th in 27:37.39.
MOAC Championships
In Saturday’s MOAC cross country meets, both Highland teams finished second with the boys scoring 61 points and the girls tallying 76. Shelby won both races.
The boys were led by Joel Roberts, who was sixth in 17:00.1, while Cael Gilmore took ninth in 17:11.3 and Hunter Bolton finished 12th in 17:35.6. Grath Garee was 17th in 17:55.5 and Matthew Miller took 19th in 17:58.4, while Caleb Wetzel finished 20th in 17:59.4 and Corban Benedict took 26th in 18:22.7.
Also, Colton Clarkson was 29th, Konner Blaney was 32nd and Jacob Garber was 37th.
For the girls, Lauren Garber placed sixth in 20:56.3, while Kindylle Mallow took ninth in 21:31.2. Riley Matthews took 17th in 22:51.5 and Abbie Pruett ran 21st in 23:19.3. Shelby Conley placed 23rd in 23:24.2, Morgan Snider took 28th in 23:40.6 and Brooklyn Damron claimed 41st in 24:49.5.
Also, Cara Chamberlain was 47th, Allison Minkos was 52nd and Audrey Weaver was 53rd.
