State Cross Country Numbers & Notes

The 95th annual boys and 46th annual girls OHSAA State Cross Country Championships are this Saturday at Fotress Obetz. Division III girls open the meet at 10:00 with D-III boys at 10:45 and awards at 11:15. Following that is D-II at 12:00 and 12:45 with awards at 1:15. D-I races are last at 2:00 and 2:45 with awards at 3:15. Below is a Fish Report preview for local fans interested in what to watch in the small school D-III races. 

The girls battle includes 20 teams and 51 individuals for a total of 188 runners. Anyone doing the math should know that three of those teams include only six runners, rather than the maximum of seven. Minster is the two-time defending team state champions. They've also won six of the last seven titles with a total of 15 gold trophies in program history. Last year the Wildcats topped runner-up Ft. Loramie by the score of 63-119. This year head coach Jessie Magoto's team is ranked #1 in the final state poll of the season with all 12 first place votes. At last weekend's loaded 23-team Northwest Regional Championships in Tiffin, Minster won with three girls finishing under 19 minutes. Senior Chaney Cedarleaf was 2nd-place in 18:33, sophomore Maria Niekamp was 5th in 18:45 and senior Maggie Hemmelgarn was 8th in 18:57.  

Fans of the Midwest Athletic Conference might also enjoy hearing that Minster isn't the only girls team that will represent their conference. Ft. Recovery punched their tickets at Tiffin with a 6th-place team finish. Topping the Indians this Saturday should be senior Natalie Brunswick who ran a 19:26 for 19th-place.

The smaller Southwest meet qualified three teams and eight individuals this year

Malia Miller

Two traditional area powerhouses from the 11-team Southwest Regional Championships are advancing to Obetz with West Liberty-Salem and Ft. Loramie. The Big Orange beat the Redskins last Saturday on the levee bank of the Great Miami River at Troy. West Liberty head coach Ann Vogel won a state title three years ago in 2020 and is anchored this season by sophomore Malia Miller, who finished runner-up at the regional clocking a 19:09. Not far behind was Malia's classmate Breece Gullet in 9th with a 19:40 and senior Ashley Yoder in 19th with a 20:08. 

Ft. Loramie girls & boys head coach Dennis Prenger was an assistant back in 2002 when the Lady Redskins won their only state championship in program history. He was later head coach when the boys program won state titles in 2016 and 2018. Last Saturday Coach Prenger had two girls break 20:00 with sophomore Camille Borchers leading the way in 7th-place with a 19:37 and junior Ariel Heitkamp in 14th with a 19:55. Emerging freshman Carly Holthaus also looked promising after cutting 31 seconds off her district time to finish 21st in 20:30. 

Qualifying for state as individual runners were four veteran stars and one rookie. At the head of the class is none other than 2022 state champion Paige Steinke from Anna. Paige topped the podium in Obetz last year with a blazing 17:46. Over the past two weekends the senior has coasted to wins in 18:47 and 18:50. Also from the Shelby County Athletic League, two teammates from Botkins that pushed each other the last three seasons will do it again one more time. Junior Alaina Mann was 3rd-place in Troy with a 19:10.4 and senior Brittany Arnold was 4th in 19:10.5. Alaina's first-ever state meet was last year and she made a splash with a 12th-place finish. For Brittany, the three-time SCAL Runner of the Year will cap a career that includes four individual appearances at the state meet with her previous finishes all in the top 20. Troy Christian freshman Elisabeth Waltz will make her state debut after finishing 11th on her hometown course in 19:43. Finally, Versailles senior Meredith Barga was smiling wide last Saturday in Troy after grabbing the last individual qualifying spot to state, finishing 12th in 19:47. Meredith's final high school race this weekend marks back-to-back appearances for her. 

SCAL honorees Brittany Arnold, Paige Steinke, Alaina Mann, Ariel Heitkamp & Camille Borchers were all under 20:00 minutes at the regional meet (Picture via X)

Seniors John Young & Parker Schnippel

After the dust (or mud) settles following the girls race, it's the boys turn. Division III is comprised of 20 teams and 48 individuals for 188 total runners to match the girls number. 20% of those 20 teams will hail from the Midwest Athletic Conference. Qualifying last weekend from the 22-team Northwest Regional is 4th-place New Bremen, 5th Minster and 6th Marion Local. Qualifying from the 12-team Southwest Regional is 2nd-place Versailles. While cross country isn't what most folks think about with MAC boys sports, the conference does have one state championship won by Ft. Recovery back in 1996. Leading each of their teams this Saturday should be New Bremen senior Zach Wiedeman, Versailles sophomore Tony Moorman, Minster senior Ryan Halpin and Marion Local sophomore Trey Goettemoeller. Lastly, one other MAC individual qualifier to keep an eye on is Ft. Recovery senior Trevor Heitkamp. (We'd also like to note that Coldwater junior Mason Ayers will be running as an individual in the D-II race)

The Shelby County Athletic League is sending just one team to Obetz and it's no surprise it's the Botkins Trojans. Head coach Ryan Gutman has a well oiled machine in northern Shelby County with his fifth straight boys team heading to state. Junior Carson Brown, senior Parker Schnippel and junior Collin Doseck are the top Trojans and all 1st-team all-league honorees. Joining the Botkins boys on Saturday will be two-time SCAL Runner of the Year, John Young from Anna. John was the top talent from the league a week ago in Troy finishing 8th overall in 16:20.

We can't forget about about our neighbors from the Western Ohio Athletic Conference and they'll have two individual representatives. Both of those runners happen to come from Ansonia, as senior Matthew Lee finished in 10th-place with a 16:36 and freshman Bennett Lehman qualified in 13th with a 16:51. 

Finally, if you're wondering about boys teams or individuals that can win it all? Keep your eye on West Liberty-Salem from the Ohio Heritage Conference led by junior Asher Knox. Head coach Mike Louden's Tigers dominated the Troy Regional. The program also still carries a lot of pride after their four consecutive state titles from 1976-1979 when the Big Orange nickname was invented. As for individual contenders, nobody was hotter in October than Covington senior Asher Long who blazed a 15:46 on the slow levee bank at Troy last Saturday. The course record of 15:32 set in 2011 by a kid named Sam Prakel wasn't that far out of reach and might have been in jeopardy had Asher been challenged at all. By the way, Sam Prakel went on to win state the following week. Should Asher do the same, he'd become the second runner from Covington to win the individual title joining Ron Leach who did it for the Buccaneers in 1970.

Asher Long distanced himself from the competition early at last Saturday's regional

Address: 2015 Recreation Trl, Obetz, OH 43207

Tickets: https://www.ohsaa.org/tickets

Map: Parking & Course

Start Line: Girls ~ Boys

Watch: https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/ohsaa/gam2a325c743b

Results: http://milesplit.live/meets/520483

2023 SCAL Boys Golf underway

Last Friday Russia topped Versailles at Stillwater as senior Jude Count (right) led the way with an even-par 35. Junior Braylon Cordonnier (center) shot 39, while also scoring for the Raiders were junior Vince Borchers with 36 and senior Felix Francis with 39

As a lot of kids are still enjoying the final weeks of summer vacation, the high school golf season teed off last week for schools from the Shelby County Athletic League. Boys teams from Anna, Fairlawn, Ft. Loramie and Russia enjoyed early action playing on Thursday and Friday. This Monday is the annual Shelby County Preview at Shelby Oaks Golf Club in Sidney for all seven league schools and if 2023 turns into anything like 2022, local fans have plenty of excitement ahead.

Ross Dietz returns for the Trojans 

Here's a quick recap from last year in case you missed it. Russia won the SCAL with a perfect record of 12-0 while Ft. Loramie senior Adam Ballas earned Player of the Year honors for an amazing fourth consecutive year. In post season, the four teams that qualified for the D-III District Tournament from the 13-team sectional field all came out of the SCAL and that was Russia, Ft. Loramie, Houston and Jackson Center. Botkins sophomore Ross Dietz made it the furthest of anyone, individually advancing to the State Tournament and finishing in 18th-place overall. 

This year you can expect a strong group of returning Russia Raiders to be challenged, attempting to defend their league title. The SCAL has an outstanding format that is sure to keep folks entertained all season long. The seven schools will each duel one another in six head-to-head matches. After that, a September 14th league tournament at Arrowhead Golf Club in Minster will determine another six wins or losses (1st place = 6-0, 2nd place = 5-1, 3rd place = 4-2, etc.). One bad drive or one long putt can sometimes determine a championship. 

Be on high alert for some possible record breaking individual performances. In the middle of the radar is the previously mentioned Botkins star Ross Dietz. Ross and senior teammate J.J. Meyer stayed sharp over the summer on the Lima Junior Golf circuit and both are capable of sub-par rounds. A couple Russia Raiders on the list of super seniors include Jude Counts & Felix Francis. Jude has the power to drive greens on a short par-4's and Felix led the team twice last year with 37's in key league matches. Other top seniors are Houston's Ethan Lukey leading a resurgent Wildcats program that finished 3rd in the SCAL last year at 8-4, and Anna's Seth Hegemier who also played well this summer on the Lima Junior tour. Maybe hoping to fly under the radar was Ft. Loramie junior Beau Schafer, but after carding a 36 in the Redskin's opener last Friday at Arrowhead, the kid is definitely one to watch for a program that was runner-up in the league last year at 10-2. Fairlawn played their first match of the season last Thursday and were led by senior Aaron Maddy. Finally, we expect Jackson Center's top golfer to be senior Lucas Hartle when the Tiger's tee off on Monday at the Preview. 

Enjoy the golf season Shelby County fans.

Ethan Lukey already holds five Houston school records and could add to that this season

Russia Alumni Tournament schedule released

The 23rd Annual Russia Co-ed Alumni Softball Tournament runs August 11th-13th. If you missed our post from a couple weeks ago previewing the event, click here. Since then, the schedule of pool play games along with the single elimination tournament bracket has been released. All the details are below.