Regional Cross Country Preview...

The OHSAA Southwest Regional Cross Country Championships in Troy are always exciting

I have great news if you haven't been to a single high school cross country meet all season. You can see the best races of the year this Saturday at the Southwest Regional in Troy. I would know because I've been watching cross country for 30 years and I say the same thing every October! My biggest interest lies in Division-III where plenty of local schools will be represented by both teams and individual competitors. For me, there's nothing quite like watching small-town athletes run until exhaustion turns their legs into spaghetti, all for the chance to make it to state and represent their school. If you're hesitant to make the short trip to Troy because you don't know anything about cross country, below is your guide to the D-III races:

Ft. Loramie is state-ranked #3 and will be aiming for a regional championship on Saturday

BOYS DIVISION III 
Starting Time: 11:00
Record: 15:32.7, Sam Prakel, Versailles, 2011
14 Teams, 19 Individuals =117 runners from 29 schools
Advancing to State: Top 4 teams and Top 16 individuals minus team results

The southwest region hasn't produced a D-III boy's state championship team since 1995 when Anna coach Dean Stewart's Rockets brought home the title. Is this the year for the Troy Regional? Coach Stewart has another good team this season. His star is senior Lucas Huber who finished runner-up at last Saturday's southwest district meet in Cedarville and led Anna to a second place finish in the team results. The actual district winner was Ft. Loramie, currently ranked #3 in the state coaches poll. The Redskins will be aiming to avenge their 10-point loss to Anna at last year's regional meet and further prove their 5th-place finish at the state meet was no fluke. I think Coach Dennis Prenger has all the ingredients for big performances these next two Saturdays. Not only are his boys extremely fast, but I've observed complete humbleness from top five runners Jake Rethman, Joe Ballas, Tom Ballas, Noah Siegel and Alan Holdheide in the several races I've watched this year. I suspect the Redskins will take care of business in Troy and put the traditionally dominant region of northeast Ohio on alert for the following weekend.

As far as the individual race winner goes, I look for another strong performance from Bethel's Korry Hamlin, just a junior. Korry is a multi-sport athlete that has forever split his time in the fall between cross country and soccer, and not always in that order! Korry won the southwest district race at Cedarville last week in 16:26 and will get his biggest challenge from Chase Gardner of Seven Hills who also ran a 16:26 to win the West Chester district. Another notable contender includes Ryan Estes of Clark Montessori who finished runner-up at West Chester in 16:28.

Fish Report Predictions
State Bound Teams: Ft. Loramie, Anna, Summit Country Day, Clark Montessori
Bubble Team: National Trail
State Bound Locals: Korry Hamlin, Bethel; Cole Good, Franklin-Monroe; Nick Williams, West Liberty-Salem; Austin Fullenkamp, Botkins; Gavin Horne, Miami East; Tristin Freistuhler, Houston

Covington won the Southwest District at Cedarville and are slight favorites coming into Troy

GIRLS DIVISION III
Starting Time: 1:30
Record: 17:51.6, Sunni Olding, Minster, 2003
12 Teams, 16 Individuals =100 runners from 25 schools
Advancing to State: Top 4 teams and Top 16 individuals minus team results

Get ready for a good one folks. Who wins the girl's race is a toss-up in my opinion. Russia is riding an amazing streak of three consecutive regional championships and last year edged Covington by just six points for the title. The Lady Raiders have been led by three different girls this season in senior Audrey Gariety, junior Megan Frazier and sophomore Anna Fiessinger. Other top five runners include senior Shae Goubeaux and sophomore Claire Meyer who both have experience from Russia's run to the state meet last year. However, the Covington girls come into this weekend as slight favorites after beating Russia by ten points just a week ago at the district meet in Cedarville. The Lady Buccs have a definite leader in senior Anna Dunn who finished 5th overall in that race and would likely enjoy nothing more than one regional championship before she ends her career. Close behind Anna is a young group of teammates that includes sophomores Paige Boehringer and Ashlyn Plessinger, and rounding out the top five are juniors Kelsey Dysinger and Danielle Alexander.

Individuals competing for the race winner is highlighted by Bradford sophomore star Karmen Knepp. Karmen won last Saturday's Cedarville district by two seconds in 18:58, out-kicking Springfield Catholic Central freshman Addy Engel. Addy does double-duty as a runner and soccer player, and actually played in Catholic Central's tournament game later on Saturday night. Those two should go at it again this Saturday and I expect no competition from other individuals from the Cedarville district or the West Chester district where the top finisher won in 20:35.

Fish Report Predictions
State Bound Teams: Russia, Covington, Ft. Loramie, West Liberty
Bubble Team: Miami East
State Bound Locals: Karmen Knepp, Bradford; Lorenza Savini, Miami East; Marcy Bradshaw, Arcanum; Marie Ewing, Miami East; Lindsey Yingst, Miami East; Alanna O'Leary, Lehman

Note: If you're a Russia fan like I am, you're invited to the annual Raiders pre-race/post-race tailgate party. Just look for the largest camper in the Troy Memorial Stadium parking lot with lots of fans dressed in Blue & Gold. A large pot will be cooking chicken noodle soup to be served between the boys race at 11:00 am and the girls race at 1:30 pm. Feel free to bring your own chicken noodle soup to add to the pot or whatever else you like!