1964 Olympic gold medalist Bob Schul has been a
regular attendee at the Invitational that bears his name
Even though the local cross country runners have already began running at many schools, this Saturday is when it
officially feels like cross country season for me. That's because this Saturday is the 42nd annual Bob Schul Invitational in West Milton, the first really big cross country meet in the area. It's also a prestigious event considering Bob Schul himself will be there, the only American to ever win an Olympic gold medal in the 5000 meters. As he always does, Bob will be signing t-shirts, ribbons or whatever you would like him to sign. Over the years I've talked to a few older folks about that 1964 Olympics and they all say Bob Schul
was the big news story back then. Of course, the main reason I'm heading to West Milton on Saturday is not to see Bob, rather all the current running talent from around home. Here's a preview of the individuals I'm personally interested in watching.
The Bob Schul Invitational is so big they actually run two high school girls races and two high school boys races, one race they call Division I-II and the other race Division III. For the schedule of races this Saturday,
click here. I'm most interested in the D-III races and I'll begin with the boys. Let me start by saying I'm not sure it can get any better than last year...ever. Two of Ohio's best seniors put on a show, Sam Prakel of Versailles and Clayton Murphy of Tri-Village. Sam pulled away for the victory in a time of 15:40 while Clayton ran a 15:54. Those times for August are just flat out ridiculously good and I'm not expecting anything sub-16:00 this Saturday. However, my favorite this year has to be Lehman Catholic senior Joe Fuller. Joe just won the Shelby County Preview this past Tuesday for an unprecedented third straight year and his time was 16:45. I've talked to Joe a couple times over the summer and he seems to be focused on making his mark this season. I predict Joe's biggest challenge will come from Minster senior Dominic Slonkosky. Dominic also already has a race under his belt this month, the OHSAA Early Season Invitational at the state meet course back on August 17th. He picked up a win in the "A" race that day with a time of 16:39. Shelby County challengers I'm also watching include juniors Austin Jones from Botkins and Jordan Gariety from Russia. Those two battled neck-and-neck to the finish line on Tuesday for 3rd and 4th place at the Shelby County Preview, and will desperately be trying to stay in the lead pack in West Milton.
Can Jones & Fuller share a rivalry like Prakel & Murphy?
West Milton will be their second matchup in five days
(I was informed Botkins was running D I-II after this blog)
Like the boys race, the D-III girls race also lost their top two finishers to graduation. Last year's winner Lauren Francis from Russia is now running at Xavier and 2nd place finisher Meghan Vogel from West Liberty-Salem is now running at Penn State. Those stars were just two of only four runners to break the 20:00 minute mark that day. The other two were Russia's Emily Borchers who's a junior this year and Lauren Heaton who's a sophomore. I'm expecting big things from both those girls this Saturday, as each ran well at the Shelby County Preview on Tuesday for 2nd and 3rd place. Emily's time was 20:19 and Lauren's was 20:48 on a very warm evening. The West Milton course has over half the race on wooded trails, which claims to be 10-15 degrees cooler than outside the woods. As a result, I'm predicting both girls will break into the 19:00's again. Also like the boys race, there should be another Slonkosky challenging for the win. Minster sophomore Julia Slonkosky, Dominic's sister, seems to be running well after a 4th place finish in the OHSAA Early Season Invitational with a time of 20:44. I predict she'll be in the 19:00's also and right there with the lead pack. Another top runner I'm watching includes West Liberty-Salem senior Alyssa Strickland. Alyssa has run most of her career in shadows of three teammates who graduated this past spring, but she's expected to lead a group of really young runners on her team this year. She's accepted that role according to talks I've had with her coach and Alyssa will be a bright spot for the Big Orange this season. One last local talent I'm curious about is Covington sophomore Carly Shell. Carly ran well in cross country last year and had an outstanding track season in the spring. This Saturday will be the first meet of the season for Covington, so I'll be interested to see how Carly comes out.
As fast as Russia's Emily Borchers is, her Lady Raider
teammate Lauren Heaton is never far behind
One final note. The best runner in West Milton on Saturday and maybe in all of Ohio this year should be competing in the Division I-II girls race, which takes place between the Division III boys and girls races. Mary Kate Vaughn, a sophomore for Oakwood, is the defending D-II state champ and has a personal record of 17:22 in the 5K. Her ability to dominate races last year as a freshman was amazing to watch. I'm not 100% positive she's running on Saturday, but Oakwood is scheduled to be there, so enjoy the show if she does line up.
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