Several area schools shine at state cross country meet

HEBRON – Coming into Saturday’s Div. III boys state cross country meet, the KMAC’s brass thought it had already accounted for any surprises it might face.

Last Thursday, just two days before the meet was originally scheduled to take place at National Trail Raceway, OHSAA officials announced that the race would be postponed one week due to an oversaturated course.

Mount Gilead and Fredericktown planned accordingly, taking the extra week to continue peak training and maintain the positive momentum they’d already gained. Coming into Saturday’s race, they were ranked first and second in the state, respectively.

But on a blisteringly cold morning, with temperatures in the mid-twenties and the wind chill well below that, the state’s favorites were shocked again.

Mount Gilead and Fredericktown placed first and second, respectively, after two miles. But in the final 1,770 meters, the wheels fell off.

Mount Gilead sophomore Brett Shipman, one of the team’s top five runners, went down and did not finish. Head coach Jake Hayes couldn’t comment immediately after the race on what happened, as he was unsure of what transpired.

Fredericktown slowed down considerably, as all five of the team’s scoring runners dropped places down the stretch. The Freddies finished eighth while the Indians placed fifth.

Standing outside the podium just minutes after the race, senior Freddie runner Paden Spencer was visibly frustrated.

“Not at all,” Spencer said when asked if the team met expectations on Saturday. “We were trying to win, obviously. We were ranked second coming in.

“I don’t know, I think we kind of underestimated the competition a little bit and we didn’t really scope out the entire field. We were looking mostly at the top three teams, we weren’t really looking past that because we didn’t really see them as a threat.”

Spencer wouldn’t use the weather as an excuse, as all runners battled the muddy course and brutally cold wind, but he did say it dictated “60 to 70 percent of how the race went.”

“I think it was just harder today for everybody,” Spencer said.

Spencer placed 20th in the race, leading all Fredericktown runners with a time of 17:04. He was given All-Ohio honors for his top-30 finish, a marked improvement over his 85th-place finish at last year’s state meet.

He was in 12th place before he fell on a slippery turn near the two-mile marker, which set him back. In his sprint to the finish line, Spencer scratched and clawed to keep his place near the front of the pack. Given the conditions, the senior said he was less focused on time and more focused on placement.

“I wasn’t really going for time today just because obviously you just know that it’s not going to be a fast day,” Spencer said. “So I tried to run as tough as I could and didn’t really worry about splits so much as placement and how I was feeling in the race.”

After Spencer, Fredericktown scored points from senior Connor Riley (34th), sophomore Thomas Caputo (47th), freshman Evan France (91st) and sophomore Titus Krabill (114th).

Spencer said that inexperience might have also played a role in Saturday’s result, as several of Fredericktown’s top runners were making their first trip to state.

“We don’t really go to that big of races, we don’t really race these kids all year long,” Spencer said. “So coming out here and seeing unfamiliar faces I think can faze guys, especially because a lot of our team is younger.”

Mount Gilead faced similar challenges in addition to Shipman’s absence. Hayes said afterwards that the race provided a valuable lesson for his team: to always be ready.

“The biggest thing to take away is that every person matters, so run as though you’re the one that your team is counting on,” Hayes said. “You never know what’s going to happen or who’s going to go down, or what might occur during the race, so just always run like you’re the guy the team is counting on and see how that takes you.”

Mount Gilead received points from junior Liam Dennis (27th), senior Kyle White (41st), senior Casey White (43rd), junior Ethan Supplee (50th) and freshman Michael Snopik (104th).

Despite a disappointing end to the season, both Hayes and Spencer quickly regained perspective following the race. A lot had been accomplished over the past four months – and for Spencer, the last four years – and Saturday’s result wouldn’t change that.

“I think we did what we could and I’m still proud of these guys,” Spencer said. “It was the best season I’ve ever had, so even if the place didn’t really work out in our favor, it was still a pretty solid performance today.”

“Fifth place after kind of a disappointing last mile isn’t the worst thing in the world,” Hayes added. “Not what we hoped, not what we wanted, but not something we’re disappointed with either.”

Cardington-Lincoln sophomore Mason White also competed individually in Saturday’s race, and he finished 64th with a time of 17:42. It was his first year participating in the state meet.

Three KMAC teams finish in top 10

In the Div. III girls championship meet, which took place less than two hours after the boys’ race, the KMAC showed once again why it is one of the fastest conferences in the state.

Four KMAC teams competed in the state meet this year. Centerburg (8th), Mount Gilead (9th) and Fredericktown (10th) all cracked the top 10, while Northmor finished 20th.

Mount Gilead junior Baylee Hack recorded the conference’s highest finish by placing fifth. She recorded a time of 19:17, 26 seconds behind first-place Miranda Stanhope of Badger. Like Spencer, fellow Freddie senior Nichole Groseclose earned All-Ohio honors for her 27th-place finish. All five of Centerburg’s scoring runners finished in the top 100, while Northmor made it back to state on Saturday after a one-year hiatus.

For the Trojans, it was another year of improvement. In 2015, Mike Eblin’s first year as head coach, only two girls – then-freshman Sarah Thatcher and since-graduated Alyssa Holt – made it to state. Since then, Centerburg has been ranked as high as sixth in the state and has sent full teams to Hebron two years in a row.

Centerburg, which won the KMAC a month ago, used a pack mentality on Saturday to finish near the top of the field. The Trojans battled the elements and held their ground, as they placed eighth at the two-mile mark and held on for an identical finish. After placing 18th at state last year, Eblin seemed satisfied with this year’s improvement.

“We made it here and we did it,” said Eblin, grinning widely. “It was an awesome race and I’m just really proud of our girls and how they came here ready to race. (We) showed up and did exactly what we planned on doing and it payed off for them.”

The Trojans saw scoring from seniors Dreanna Perry (46th), Thatcher (69th), freshman Avery Tucker (75th), freshman Abigail Dickhof (93rd) and junior Aeryn Walters (96th).

“We have a few new runners up front, there’s a good mix of freshmen and seniors, and underclassmen and upperclassmen that are up in those spots, Eblin said.

“So I think that having a good balance of new runners that are trying to learn, and then you’ve got the right upperclassmen that are leading these underclassmen on and showing them how to do things and giving them someone to chase after.”

Coming into the state race, Centerburg and Mount Gilead were ranked seventh and eighth in the state, respectively, while Fredericktown was ranked 10th and Northmor placed 19th. Eblin believes that racing against such tough local competition allows the KMAC to perform well on the big stage, as it did on Saturday.

“Being able to go throughout a season and you’re competing against any of these teams… it’s nice to know if you can hang with these teams at a certain point in the year, then you’re in good shape coming into the end of the season. It’s a nice little guideline for us,” Eblin said.

“I think competing against each other week-in and week-out is definitely what’s helped make all of our programs what they are right now.”

With young runners thriving in all four of the conference’s state-bound programs, Eblin expects the KMAC’s success to continue. He hopes it will grow alongside his own program, which has made remarkable strides over the last four years, inching closer each year to title contention.

“We’ve gotten something going in our program. Each year the culture gets developed a little bit more, more people buy into the program and they buy into what we’re doing. They become closer together as a team,” Eblin said.

“We’ve definitely come a long way in a short amount of time.”

To see all state results, click here.