Cross-Country: Lions are district champions

The Fairfield Lions boys cross-country team continued to race along in their postseason with very high goals in mind as they continue to race on trails throughout the state.

This past weekend the Lions did what they do best by winning the Division III SE District (Rio Grande I) for the fifth consecutive year.

As a team, the Southern Hills Athletic Conference champion Lions totaled 24 points for the first-place finish en route to the district title (defeating 11 other teams), with a total team time of 1:26:40 with finishes for second, fourth, sixth, seventh, ninth, tenth and eleventh. The next team in the standings was Racine Southern with 86 points and a total team time of 1:33:32.

Mangus led all Lions with a district runner-up finish in second place, as the sophomore finished with a time of 16:56.7, averaging a mile time of 5:26.9.

Fellow sophomore Noah Richmond raced his way to an overall fourth-place finish at 17:09.8 on the Rio Grande course, with his average mile being 5:31.1 on the day.

"Matthew and Noah both had really strong races," FHS head coach Raymond Friend said.

In sixth was sophomore Andrew Davis at 17:20.9 (a 5:34.7 mile average), and in seventh was Trent Swisher, a junior, at 17:31.7, with that time being an average mile time of 5:38.1.

The ninth-place finisher was freshman Austin Setty at 17:41.1 (5:41.1 average mile time). Junior Dillon Burley was 10th in the race of 87 runners at 17:43.7 (5:42.0 average mile time), and in 11th was junior Wyatt Evans with a time of 17:53.8, giving him an average mile time of 5:45.3.

"Andrew seems to get faster each week," Friend said. "I can count on Austin, Trent and Dillon every week, and Wyatt gutted out a good time while battling bronchitis."

Also in the final team standings, in third was Manchester (99), followed by Trimble in fourth (133), and in fifth place was Huntington (144). Also from the SHAC were West Union in ninth place (244) and North Adams in 11th place.

Next for the Lions is a trip to the regional tournament that will be held on Saturday, Oct. 31 at 11 a.m. at Pickerington North High School. Last year, the Lions were third at regionals when they qualified as a team for state.

"The real test will come next week when we battle the likes of Fredericktown, Columbus Academy, Mt. Gilead and Rock Hill," Friend said.