SLL cross country strong at D-II district
10/25/2009BETTSVILLE, Ohio - The Suburban Lakes League advanced more than half of its teams to the regional competition, thanks to fine performances in six district races held at Eells Park in Bettsville yesterday.
Five of seven boys teams and four of seven girls squads will run in Saturday's regional races at Tiffin's Hedges-Boyer Park.
The top four teams in each race advanced to the regional, as do the top 16 runners not on an advancing team.
In the boys' Division II race, Eastwood, Lake, and Otsego completed a sweep of the top three places.
The Eastwood Eagles won the team title with 53 points in part because of junior Nick Twining, who was fourth with a time of 16:57.66 over 5,000 meters, and senior Chase Baldwin, whose
17:17.13 clocking was good for seventh.
The Flyers were second with 87 as Lake senior Zack Powell won the individual title with 16:39.11 and senior Louis Szilagyi took fifth with a 17:04.69 clocking.
Otsego placed third with 97 points. Senior Josh Wazelle led the Knights as his time of 17:11.08 was good for sixth.
In Division III, Elmwood won the District 1 race by a score of 48-63 over Old Fort, while Gibsonburg was close behind in third with 67.
The Royals' Nick Goebel, a junior, won the district individual title, covering the course in 15:52.49.
Junior Jordan Rosenberger led the Golden Bears, finishing seventh with a time of 17:18.75.
Liberty-Benton won the D-III District 2 race with 74 points. The Eagles were led by senior Seth Butler, who won with a 16:31.14 clocking.
Among the top area individuals in the District 2 race were Lakota's Kyle Babcock, a junior who placed fourth with a time of 16:54.54, and Woodmore senior Brock Avers, whose 17:19.73 finish was good for sixth.
On the girls' side, SLL rivals Elmwood and Woodmore finished 1-2 in the District 1 race. The Royals won the title with 59 points, 10 fewer than the Wildcats, while Toledo Christian placed fourth with 100.
Elmwood was led by seniors Darla Heimann (20:26.11) and Bethany Flage (20:26.61), who placed seventh and eighth, respectively.
The Royals won with depth, with five runners finishing within the top 18.
Woodmore swept the top two spots with juniors Lacy Nagy
(19:50.63) and Bailey Ulinski
(19:54.19), the only two runners to finish in under 20 minutes.
Toledo Christian was led by sophomore Krista Wood, who placed third with a time of 20:07.66, while freshman Delainey Phelps took ninth with a 20:29.25 clocking.
Gibsonburg rounded out the SLL's performance by taking fourth in the District 2 race. Junior Samantha Hoffman led the Golden Bears. Her 20:09.42 was good for second.
Liberty-Benton used a 4-5-6 performance to win the team title in that race with 42 points, six fewer than Old Fort.
Other top area runners in that race included Otsego's Leah Wagoner in third (20:16.08) and teammate Kylee Bernthisel in seventh (20:55.39).
Oak Harbor ran away from the field to win the girls Division II race. The Rockets' top five runners placed in the top eight to finish with 26 points, 23 fewer than second-place Maumee.
Junior Kia Frank led Oak Harbor, finishing second with a time of 19:45.38.
Sophomore Megan Freeman of Maumee won the individual title, covering the course in 19:33.93, while junior teammate Brooke Tullis was third with a 19:52.82 clocking.
The Eastwood girls finished fourth to advance to the regional. The Eagles were led by sophomore Madi Renollet, who took 15th with a time of 21:32.03.
OTTAWA - The Delta boys won their fifth consecutive district title in the Division III race held in Ottawa yesterday.
The Panthers, ranked seventh in the most-recent state poll, placed all five of their scoring runners in the top nine to finish with 27 points in the District 2 contest. That far outdistanced second-place Coldwater, which had 86 points.
Delta was led by junior Colin Fisher, who won the individual title with a time of 16:32.3, two seconds better than senior teammate Elliott Oberneder.
The Panthers' NWOAL rival, Liberty Center, placed third as a team to advance to the regional.
Another NWOAL school, Archbold, advanced to the regional by placing third in the District 1 race, while fellow Fulton County school Fayette took fourth.
The Blue Streaks, whose top five runners finished within 30 seconds of one another, were led by sophomore Adrian Ramirez
(17:52.5) in 15th place.
The Eagles were led by junior Darrell Randall, who took third with a 17:05.9 clocking.
Stryker, led by individual champ Kenny Graber in a time of 16:53.1, won the team title with 35 points, 11 fewer than Buckeye Border Conference rival Hilltop in second.
In the first girls' Division III race, Liberty Center continued its season of firsts by claiming the school's first district cross country title in the District 1 race by scoring just 34 points, 49 fewer than second-place Pettisville.
The Tigers had three runners in the top seven after sophomore Chelsea Knapp took third with a time of 20:17.5, followed by freshman Jordan Sidel (20:47.8) in fourth and junior Mallory Spieth (21:23.0) in seventh.
Sophomore Tanner Hostetler won the individual title with a 20-flat clocking to lead the Blackbirds.
In the District 2 race Delta was the top area finisher, placing second with 55 points, 19 behind district champ Ottoville.
The Panthers were led by sophomore Kirsten Fruchey, who took second with a time of 20:48.7, and junior Jessica Kern, whose 20:48.8 clocking was good for third.
OTTAWA - Napoleon advanced its boys and girls teams to the regionals in the Division II races.
In the boys race, Napoleon moved to the regional by placing third. The Wildcats, led by sophomore Steven Weaver, finished third with a time of 16:30.3; junior Ben Majewski's time of 17:06.7 was good for eighth.
Junior Michael Becker of Wauseon advanced to the regional by posting a 17:18.7 clocking.
Napoleon also advanced a team in the girls' race as the Wildcats finished fourth. Senior Rachel Huddle led Napoleon as her time of 19:41.2 was good for third overall.
Wauseon just missed advancing as a team by placing fifth, but will send three individuals - junior Marin Baird (seventh, 19:55.7) and sophomores Tesse Herring (13th, 20:23.0) and Bailey Creager (16th, 20:31.9).