GALION — Shelby’s Huck Finnegan may want to consider transferring to Galion.
That way he could always run at Amann Reservoir Park.
A senior, Finnegan won the Division I boys race in a personal-record 16 minutes, 1.9 seconds at Saturday’s Galion Cross Country Festival. In doing so, Finnegan nearly joined Shelby’s exclusive 15-minute club.
“I was surprised,” Finnegan said. “Last year I PR’d here, too, at 16:16. It must be the heat and Galion, I just do well.”
The Division II Whippets finished second in the final team standings with a score of 63. Lexington, which moved up to Division I this season after finishing 10th at last year’s Division II state meet, won with a score of 46.
What’s more, the Minutemen won without a senior among the top seven. Lexington’s varsity lineup included one junior, two sophomores and four freshmen.
“Being young and not knowing what you’re doing, that’s dangerous,” Lexington coach Denise Benson said. “They don’t overthink anything.
“Then you add talent to it. I’m just excited and proud of these guys. I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do the rest of this year, let alone three more years.”
Freshman Latrell Hughes finished fourth in 16:45.3 to lead Lexington. Sophomore Chance Basilone (16:52.5) was fifth and sophomore Joey Aquino (17:15.5) was sixth. Freshman Lincoln Rice (17:22.2, 10th), Freshman Gage Devaney (18:03.5, 21st), junior Ethan Slone (18:10.3, 28th) and freshman Drew Hooper (18:30.7, 33rd) rounded it out for the Minutemen.
“They went out there and were fearless today,” Benson said.
Lexington’s victory celebration was subdued because of a scary moment that happened near the finish line. A Shelby runner was overcome by heat, crawled across the finish line and had to be tended to for several minutes in the medical tent.
“We have the utmost respect for Shelby,” Benson said. “We never want to celebrate a win in a situation like this. Safety is the most important thing.
“We’re proud of what we did, but we’re very concerned about that young man.”
Division II
With Lexington moving up to Division I and Shelby competing in the Division I race, Galion and Clear Fork were the only area teams to compete in the Division II race.
Galion finished 12th in the final team standings with a score of 312. Clear Fork didn’t have enough runners to field a complete team.
Caleb Brutchey led Galion, finishing 32nd in 18:32.6. Ben Wallis topped Clear Fork, finishing 43rd in 19:05.3.
Division III
Even on an off day, East Knox’s Nathan Streby is among the best in the state.
A senior, Streby finished second in the Division III boys race at Saturday’s Galion Cross Country Festival at Amann Reservoir Park.
Streby finished in 16 minutes, 37.4 seconds, helping the Bulldogs to a 12th-place finish in the team standings. East Knox had a team score of 283.
“It’s a little slow,” Streby said. “I ran 15:59 earlier in the year. Today I was just a little bit off.”
Rittman’s Luke Snyder won in 16:13.2.
“I never raced against (Snyder). He just put some distance on me and I couldn’t put a surge in to catch up to him,” Streby said. “Finishing second at this big of a meet, I feel good about that.”
Norwalk St. Paul won the team event with a score of 75. Fredericktown (108) was second. The Freddies were led by Owen Krabill, who finished sixth in 17:06.3.
Centerburg was fifth with a score of 197. Greg Beard topped the Trojans, finishing 15th in 17:501.
Bucyrus was 11th with a team score of 279. Karter Boggs led the way, finishing 19th in 18:00.3.
Lucas finished 17th with a score of 469. Gavin Bichsel (18:37.7) was the top finisher for the Cubs.
Plymouth was 18th with a score of 489. Colton Sundstrom paced the Big Red in 19:33.7.
Mansfield Christian placed 19th with a score of 491, followed by Loudonville (492), Crestview (507) and Buckeye Central (507). Grantham Trumpower (19:25.8) paced the Flames, while Austin Cawrse (20:26.8) led the way for the Redbirds.
Cooper Brockway finished 11th for Crestview in 17:32.1, while Braden Siefert (19:47.8) led the charge for the Bucks.
