Sat Nov 07 2009
By KEVIN EIS
OTTAWA -- It was a big day for area cross country teams as squads from Defiance, Napoleon and Wauseon all claimed top four positions Saturday at Ottawa Park in Division-II district competition.
All teams in the top four earned the right to advance to next Saturday's regional meet at Tiffin while individuals placing in the top 16 and not already on a qualifying team were also accredited regional status.
DHS saw its boys team take first for the second year in a row, defending its district tile while the girls placed second by a single point behind a strong Wauseon pack.
Also having a successful day was Napoleon, which advanced both its boys and girls teams with third-place honors garnered by each.
Wauseon claimed the girls' D-II district title with 55 points. After a bout with illness a year ago, senior Holly Baird returned to lead the Lady Indians with a time of 19:01 to capture the individual title.
"It was awesome," exclaimed the Wauseon senior. "We pulled it through, we worked well as a team and we kept our sixth runner up there with us in case. If a tie would have come up we definitely would have lost. We just need to get ready to work as a team for regionals because it will be difficult."
Wauseon also received strong performances by freshman Bailey Creager (fifth), sophomore Marin Baird (12th) and freshman Kristen Benschoter (13th) en route to being crowned district champs.
"We knew that it was going to be close because we knew that (Defiance) wanted it and they had the three really solid top runners," admitted Wauseon mentor Rebecca Stuckey. "We were going after Defiance as much as we could and we squeaked it out.
"Bailey Creager ran her best time of the year," she added. "Our three and four girls (Marin Baird and Benschoter) ran consistent solid times and our five girl (Bethany Wilson) dropped 20 seconds. I'm sure that's what did it for us."
Megan Vogelsong finished second behind Baird to lead DHS with a time of 19:15. The Lady Bulldogs totaled 56 points in just missing out repeating last year's district title performance.
"Our goal today was to get in the top two and we accomplished that," said Vogelsong. "We're really happy that we get to go to regionals next week. It was a close race but I think everyone did their best. I think a lot of the girls are really starting to step it up and next week we're going to try for a top four for state."
Anna Meyer placed fifth at 19:36 while Taylor Schultz, who went under 20 minutes for the first time since last year's district race with a time of 19:58, took seventh.
"They don't keep team scores on top threes," began DHS girls' head coach Scott Saner. "But if you take our top three girls, they can run with anybody. We've got three girls in the 19s, they are competitive and they've been that way all year."
Saner was quick to note the consistent improvement of the entire team, which also saw solid finishes by Alex Ramirez (18th) and Kelsey Dale (24th).
"My goal coming in was a top-four finish," he explained. "I would have loved to compete for the top one or two and we did that so I'm happy about it. They're a little disappointed about it because they lost by one point, but I'm happy with it because I know the bigger picture and that gives us a chance to go down and compete next week for the big step."
Napoleon placed third as a team behind a trio of top 10 performances by Rachel Huddle (third), Sara Lauf (ninth) and freshman Erica Monnin (10th). Huddle led the Lady Wildcats with a time of 19:29.
"The girls had a decent performance," said Napoleon mentor Randy Burke. "We're starting to run better, we're getting healthy. We wanted to qualify and I guess that's what we did with a third place.
"The girls in the top 10 ran better consistent races. We were hoping for a few more to be a little bit closer, but we'll take three in the top 10."
Van Wert placed fourth led by Lauren Taylor (sixth) and Taylor Greve (11th).
Individual qualifiers from the girls' race were Andrea Glenn (fourth) of Lima Shawnee, Kristi Steva (14th) of St. Marys, Jessica Kern (15th) of Delta and McKenzie Frazer (16th) of Bryan.
In the boys' race, DHS was paced to a district title by senior Zach Wiles, who placed first with a time of 15:58, 34 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Garrett Diltz of Lima Shawnee.
DHS placed six runners in the top 16 spots with Trevin Flickinger fourth, Sebastion Brown eighth, Mario Ramirez ninth, Ben Hackworth 10th and Ryan Zeller 14th.
"Coach (Obie Mouser) told us that this was the week we would have to run by ourselves," noted Wiles. "He said if you can do it by yourself you can do it when you get to the next level, which is regionals and state. I'm really proud of the way our team ran today. We had six in the top 15 so it was a good day."
Mouser agreed after seeing his pack defeat second-place Van Wert 32-69.
"Team-wise we just hung in there and survived," he stated, "It's great (defending the title). That was one of our goals ... winning the league, district, qualifying for state and doing well in the state. That's basically what it is. So we've got two of them now and next week we've got to be in the top four."
The Napoleon boys were third behind strong performances by Chase Sweeney (fifth), Ben Majewski (18th), Zach Walker (22nd) and Scott Bauman (24th).
"Zach Wiles did really well," lauded Sweeney, who posted a time of 16:46. "Trevin Flickinger did really well and the other two guys that beat me did really well, too. It was a good race, it was great weather."
"The boys ran a very nice race," said Burke, who also coaches the Napoleon boys. "A lot of them PRd. I'm very pleased to be in third and making it back to regionals for the second (consecutive) year."
Individual qualifiers from the area were Tyler Verhoff (12th) of Ottawa-Glandorf and Michael Becker (13th) of Wauseon.
At Ottawa
Girls Meet
Wauseon 55, Defiance 56, Napoleon 64, Van Wert 106, Bryan 135, Ottawa-Glandorf 174, Delta 186, Shawnee 205, St. Marys 221, Kenton 301, Elida 310, Paulding 368
Individuals
Holly Baird (W), 19:01; Megan Vogelsong (D); Rachel Huddle (N); Andrea Glenn (S); Anna Meyer (D); Lauren Taylor (VW); Taylor Schultz (D); Bailey Creager (W); Sara Lauf (N); Erica Monnin (N); Taylor Greve (VW); Marin Baird (W); Kristen Benschoter (W); Kristi Steva (SM); Jessica Kern (DT); McKenzie Frazer (B).
Boys Meet
Defiance 32, Van Wert 69, Napoleon 95, Shawnee 107, Ottawa-Glandorf 150, Bryan 170, Wauseon 188, Kenton 216, St. Marys 259, Lima Bath 268, Elida 287, Paulding 307
Individuals
Zach Wiles (D), 15:58; Garrett Diltz (S); Zach Diltz (S); Trevin Flickinger (D); Chase Sweeney (N); Jacob Bagley (VW); Kenton Holliday (VW); Sebastion Brown (D); Mario Ramirez (D); Ben Hackworth (D); Matt Schluneker (E); Tyler Verhoff (O-G); Michael Becker (W); Ryan Zeller (D); Brian Easley (VW); Derek Snider (K).
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