Fink, Work lead the field

St. Francis takes boys title; Northview claims girls crown

Maumee's Willy Fink won his first district championship in 16:20.7.

The Blade/Jetta Fraser
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Maumee's Willy Fink won his first district championship in 16:20.7.

Not long after crossing the finish line first to claim the Division I District I boys cross country individual title, Maumee's Willy Fink celebrated by sitting at a picnic table and indulging in a hotdog topped high with relish.

Fink, a senior, relished the moment of winning his first district championship.

"I'm pretty happy," said the Panthers senior, who covered the 3.2 mile course in 16 minutes, 20.7 seconds. "I was just gunning for the win. I wasn't worried about my time and it went pretty good."

The afternoon also went well for Fink's teammate Joel Edwards, who placed second with a time of 16:45.60.

Yet, the Panthers team came up shy of qualifying for regionals after finishing fifth overall (111 points) behind district champion St. Francis de Sales (31 points), Perrysburg (72), Ashland (89), and Norwalk (100).

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The Knights' top five runners placed in the Top 10, led by Kyle Lach, who ran third (16:45.90). He was closely followed by Anthony Maraldo (5th, 16:51.40), David St. John (6th, 16:56.60), Daniel Siebenaller (7th, 16:57.0), and Chris Schenk (10th, 17:04.30).

"I thought they did a great job," St. Francis coach Jim Neary said. "We had great success at our league championship last week. We took a lot of pride in racing well there, so we tried to just maintain our preparation and training through the week and put ourselves in position to run the type of race we're capable of."

Alison Work, of Sylvania Northview, finishes first in her event with a time of 18:48:60 The Division 1 Districts 1 and 2 cross country meets at Pearson Park in Oregon.

The Northview girls also delivered a championship performance, winning the Division I District I girls title decisively with 25 points. Alison Work paced the Wildcats in a winning time of 18:48.60, holding off Clay's Erin Gyurke (18:54.0). Abigail Masters (4th, 19:29.30), Maureen Dean (5th, 19:45.60), Janelle Noe (6th, 19:52.90), and Robin Foster (9th, 20:21.90) helped the Wildcats.

Northern Lakes League rival Perrysburg also qualified for regionals by placing second in the team standings with 73 points, followed by Maumee with 90 and Clay 116.

"I was really pleased with the team's overall performance today," Northview girls coach Jodie Smith said. "They pulled even closer together and closed the gaps with good individual efforts."

The Knights entered the district meet with confidence, according to Lach.

"We ran really good today," Lach said. "We were really connected and it feels great."

Perrysburg's Bryant Byrd helped the Yellow Jackets' cause by finishing fourth (16:48.10). Norwalk's Quentin Howell (8th, 16:59.40) and Jacob Kluding (9th, 17:03.80) also placed among the top 10.

Perrysburg's Bobby Borger (13th, 17:05.90), Andrew Bayes (16th, 17:14.80), Austin Eber (18th, 17:19.20), and Parker Calvin (21st, 17:31.30) did their part to help the Yellow Jackets finish as district runners-up.

The Yellow Jackets also delivered a strong effort in the girls competition with Taylor Monheim leading the way by finishing third in 18:59.70. Amanda Poll (14th, 20:53.90), Cynthis Ocana (15th, 20:54.10), Jessica Bohnenkamp (19th, 21:16.90), and Jennifer Baum (22nd, 21:30.80) helped Perrysburg place second.

Maumee's Madison Buck (8th, 20:05.80), Megan Freeman (11th, 20:37.70), Kelsey Brebberman (21st, 21:23.40), Jessica DeArmond (24th, 21:32.30) and Sabrina Cereceres (28th, 21:38.30) teamed up to run third and earn a spot at regionals.

Clay's Alexandra Selee (10th, 20:29.40), Jessalyn Bohland (20th, 21:22.20), Brooke Gyori (38th, 22:17.80), and Danielle Shanaver (51st, 23:37.10) did their part to help the Eagles qualify as a team for regionals.

Norwalk's Sydnie Fetherolf posted a time of 19:53.20 to finish seventh overall.

Besides the top four teams advancing to the Tiffin regional, the Top 16 individuals not among the top four teams also qualified.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302, or on Twitter @demmonsblade.