Eyre reigns supreme at district meet; 4 Div. III athletes from Highland County advance to regionals

On Saturday, Oct. 21, Highland County cross-country teams competed at the Southeast District Division III Cross Country Championships at the University of Rio Grande.

On the boys side, 154 runners from 32 different schools competed in the 3.16-mile race. Whiteoak’s Landen Eyre took the lead at the 1.5-mile mark and never looked back. Eyre finished the course in 16:15, outdistancing the second-place runner by 18 seconds.

Eyre also won last year to make him a back-to-back district champion runner. Coach Doug Hughes was elated with his performance.

“Landen has worked so hard for this,” Hughes said. “The people that see him train relentlessly every day know it. It was no surprise to us that he was the top runner in the district, but to go out and do it is another thing. He pushed hard the final two miles of the race and gave himself some distance to cruise in.

“Being a district champion is so difficult to achieve. Landen now has nine district championships between cross-country and track, think about that for a minute.”

Teammate Weston Blair finished sixth place and will join his teammate next Saturday in Pickerington.

Hughes added, “Blair ran a perfect race. I loved it. It was his best final mile of the season, and he held off some incredible runners to finish that high. Very proud of him.”

Also qualifying for state from Highland County was Lynchburg-Clay sophomore Kyler Fite, who finished the race in 13th place with a time of 17:39.83.

Other Lynchburg-Clay finishes included Wyatt Osborn in 58th (19:53), Caden Faust in 101st (21:18) and Cayleb Watson in 149th (28:02).

Whiteoak boys had four other runners that tackled the difficult but perfect Rio Grande course, as the team was ninth overall. Shawn Mitchell-Cox was 85th (20:45), Austin Richards was 91st (21:03), Jake Ward 95th (21:11) and Shane Mitchell-Cox 132nd (23:31).

Fairfield’s team was one spot away from qualifying for regionals, with the runners compiling a seventh-place finish (top six teams advance). They were led by Ryan Smith in 28th place with a time of 18:41.

Other FHS runners competing at districts were: Zach Ahsaruk, 41st place (19:18); Britton Campbell, 43rd place (19:22); Caleb Rice, 59th place (19:57); Connor Ayers, 67th place (20:09); Nolan Campbell, 68th (20:12); and Mason Lightle, 83rd (20:35).

On the girls side, Whiteoak freshman Addy Hauke continued her incredible season with a 17th-place finish and a spot at next week’s regional meet and first-team all-district.

“Addy has really figured out how talented she is at this sport,” Hughes said. “She really didn’t even get going until mid-September and then became all-county, then all-league, and today the freshman became first-team All-Southeast District. It’s been an incredible run, and next week she’ll give it her all for a chance at the state meet.”

Also running for the Whiteoak girls was sophomore Lexi Taylor, who finished in 82nd place (28:47). Hughes added, “It’s one of the more challenging courses and for my money that was Lexi’s top race of the year.”

Runners for Lynchburg-Clay included Reese Ruble in 42nd place with a time of 24:52; Claudia Etienne, 65th (26:50); and Destiny Reynolds, 66th (26:57).

Fairfield athletes running at districts were Emelia Roehm, 87th (29:38); Eleanore Warner, 89th (29:43); and Campbell Anne Friend, 98th (31:51).

Eyre, Blair, Fite and Hauke will run next Saturday at the Regional Championships on the campus of Pickerington North High School.

Check back to highlandcountypress.com for information on the Div. II meet.

(Doug Hughes contributed to this article.)