Thu Sep 09 2010
By KEVIN EIS
A gathering of 28 boys teams and 30 girls packs will converge at Ottawa Park on Saturday for the Division III district cross country championships to see who has what it takes to move on to Tiffin for regional competition.
Due to the large number of D-III schools involved in the Ottawa District, both the boys and girls teams will be put into separate races.
This year's boys district consists of teams and individuals from Allen East, Antwerp, Archbold, Ayersville, Bluffton, Coldwater, Columbus Grove, Delta, Edgerton, Edon, Evergreen, Fairview, Fayette, Hicksville, Hilltop, Holgate, Kalida, Liberty Center, Lima Central Catholic, McComb, Montpelier, North Central, Ottoville, Patrick Henry, Pettisville, Stryker, Tinora and Wayne Trace.
After claiming its third straight NWOAL boys title with a league-record 18 points, Delta appears to be a strong favorite to secure the D-III, District I title for the fifth year in a row. Leading the Panthers will be the All-NWOAL pack of Colin Fisher, Elliott Oberneder, Maxx Lackie, K.J. Abair, Zech Hites and Alec Nash.
"We've had a really nice run and our guys take a lot of pride in that," replied Delta mentor Jeff Taylor. "I know we're definitely looking into this weekend and trying to go after that number five."
When discussing D-III cross country, Buckeye Border Conference dynasty Stryker also ranks near the top and will figure into the large batch of competitive teams. One year ago, it was Kenny Graber's fourth-place finish which helped Stryker place second behind Delta in the team standings.
"We're going to run against a pretty strong Coldwater team," said Taylor of the additional competition his boys pack will face. "We've run against them one other time, and they've got three really strong front-runners. I think what makes us a little bit stronger is we have a nice, strong pack. These guys seem to find each other no matter where they are on the course."
Another D-III dynasty competing for district glory is Hilltop from the rigid BBC. Last year's individual district champion Cody Livensparger will again lead the Hilltop pack as it challenges for a third straight title in District II.
Challenging Hilltop for a top spot while hoping to move on will be Fairview. The Apaches brought home a Green Meadows Conference championship last Saturday behind solid running by Kyle Thomas and Travis Kempf.
Also fielding strong teams are Antwerp and Tinora. Josh Hilton will pace Antwerp following a GMC individual crown, while senior Josh Harpest earned GMC runner-up status for Tinora.
Individually, Cody Bigger of Edgerton could find the lead pack along with Ayersville's Cade Mansfield and Ryan Johnson.
Competing for a shot at D-III district crowns on the girls side will be runners from Allen East, Antwerp, Archbold, Ayersville, Bluffton, Columbus Grove, Delta, Edgerton, Edon, Evergreen, Fairview, Fayette, Hicksville, Hilltop, Holgate, Kalida, Liberty Center, Lima Central Catholic, McComb, Montpelier, North Central, Ottoville, Pandora-Gilboa, Patrick Henry, Paulding, Pettisville, Stryker, Swanton, Tinora and Wayne Trace.
After winning its first-ever district crown a year ago and topping Wauseon for its first NWOAL championship last Saturday, Liberty Center will return as a favorite to defend its girls title with a solid pack led by sophomore Chelsea Knapp and freshman Jordan Sidel.
Despite a recent bout with illness, LC head coach Tim Atkinson feels his girls will be ready to go as the team's health improves.
"Every week we go into the postseason is better for us," he stated. "We're really coming off the flu bug which hit us really hard the last two weeks. I don't think my kids are one-hundred percent yet, but we're a lot better than the previous week on both boys and girls.
"We're pretty excited about districts," he added. "I think we're going to be healthy and ready to go, and it should be exciting."
Behind the talent of returning champion Tanner Hostetler, Pettisville will be shooting to improve on its fourth-place district standing from last season.
"For the girls, we will be facing a very strong Pettisville team that have a very nice pack and a good, solid runner up front with Tanner Hostetler," Atkinson noted. "Our goal is going to be the same as we've done all year long, and that is find each other in the race."
Fairview will head into Saturday's district following its second-consecutive GMC title while trying to top last year's district runner-up effort. The Lady Apaches will follow the lead of Morella Roehrig and Tierney Czartoski.
"It's a big boost," said Fairview girls head coach Angela Karacson of her squad's back-to-back league crowns. "It's something that they really, really wanted. So they're ready to run Saturday, it definitely gave them a boost."
However, standing in the way will be the one-two combination of Ottoville's Shayla Siefker and Molly Maag. The pair placed first and third, respectively, in leading the Lady Green to a district title last year.
"Ottoville's going to be tough to beat," Karacson admitted. "The girls are really going to have to move up as a pack. With Delta and Lima Central Catholic as the other seeded teams ... they're comparable, but (the girls) are really gunning for Ottoville."
Tinora will be paced by Ashley Meyer and Michala Ross, while GMC individual champion Hannah McKibben and Dani Bassous will lead Ayersville in the quest for Tiffin.
Also expected to front the packs are Ellise Wetli of Antwerp and Shana Daniels of Edgerton.
In District I, the race schedule will see the boys running at 12:30 p.m., while the girls take the course at 1:15 p.m.
The District II boys race is slated for 2 p.m., with the girls set to begin at 2:45 p.m.
Moving on to regionals will be the top four teams in each race and the top 16 individual finalists who are not a member of a qualifying team.
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