Expectations for Lions an all-time high entering state tournament; Colwell set to make state debut
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
The journey to being one of the favorites at the OHSAA Division III State Cross-Country Tournament has been a process of building the No. 2 state-ranked program for a number of years. At one time, the Lions didn’t make the yearly visit to the state tournament, and now this year they are a team to beat as they have runners capable of bringing home the hardware in what is the final race of the 2017 season.
The Lions have a core of seven to eight runners they’ve used this postseason to reach the state tournament for a fifth consecutive year as a team, and on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., all of the hard work and sacrifice they’ve put in since the summer months and even in past years will come to fruition.
Four years ago, the Fairfield Lions were 16th place at the state tournament. The following year, they improved to eighth place overall, and last year they placed fourth in the Division III event. Now, if they keep up that same pace, there is only one spot remaining to finish, and that is the top of the mountain in cross-country.
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Improving those four spots isn’t easy by any means, but the Lions have a senior duo in regional runner-up Noah Richmond and fourth-place regional finisher Matthew Mangus who are by far the leaders of the Lions team. These two have consistently been the top two finishers for the Lions all season long, and with what will be their final race for the Lions, they are finishing their season with another visit to the state tournament, only this time with even loftier goals than ever before.
The Lions are what all teams in southern Ohio are striving to become as they have not only won seven consecutive Southern Hills Athletic Conference championships, but they’ve achieved the same feat with seven straight SE District championships, plus last weekend earned a second straight regional championship, a feat no athletic program in Fairfield history has ever achieved.
Fairfield cross-country has proven to be special throughout the years, but there is something more about this team, a team that consists of two seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and one freshman entering the state tournament.
The seniors are Noah Richmond and Matthew Mangus, followed by the junior trio of Austin Setty, Bennett Hodson and Brandtson Duffie. There are also sophomore Ethan Davis and freshman Cohen Frost.
Why this team is special isn’t by coincidence, but by sheer hard work, great effort, excellent coaching and a will to be the best in the state. It is no secret the Lions’ ultimate goal is to be the best in Division III, and in every race featuring Division III competition up to this point of the season, the Lions are undefeated, as their lone team losses have come against Division I and II opponents.
This season, the Lions have defeated 155 total teams in all of their races combined, while having just four total teams finish ahead of them all season.
Even with those stats, the Lions are still underdogs to a certain degree. Being the “new guys” in the talk for a possible Top 2 finish is the state Division III race, the Lions still have to overcome powerhouses such as East Canton and Fort Loramie this weekend to achieve their ultimate goals.
“I want each one of them to have a great race,” FHS coach Raymond Friend said. “I know that if they have a great race, run smart, run within their means and push themselves throughout the total of the course, regardless of what place they’re going to be in, I’m going to feel really good about that race. I think that if we do run that well, we can be in the top two in the state.”
Assistant coach Bill Mangus also spoke about the team having an underdog role entering the event.
“We’re clearly the underdogs. We’re going against some legends. Coach (Lee) Sternberg (East Canton)’s team has won a state track title last year, won a state cross-country title in 1998,” he said. “Fort Loramie is returning, and they’re the defending state champions that also won their region. We’re clearly the underdogs, and we relish that role. We’re going to show up and perform to the best of our capabilities and see what happens.”
As for the runners, they too know what is at stake and know that they need to have their best race to date to be atop the Division III podium. Even with this being his fourth visit to the state meet, Richmond says it is still exciting every time.
“A lot of people think because we’ve been here before, we lose the excitement, but it just gets better and better every year,” Richmond said.
One strategy Richmond uses all season is being competitive with teammates, as they are all usually toward the front of the pack in a given race.
“My motivation to get back to state is just racing our own teammates because we’re really competitive and just push each other,” he said. “It’s actually really encouraging (racing teammates) because you know you’re doing well, and then you see your other teammates up there with you, so you know they are doing well too, which is best for the team.”
The meaning of this being his fourth trip to the state tournament isn’t lost on Richmond because of the expectations he has for himself.
“I’m just hoping for my last race with the team for all of us to do our best and just have a good race to remember,” he said. “Having high expectations, it always makes you nervous because you know everyone’s expecting really high of you, so there’s really no room for flaw. You’ve got a lot to run up to.”
Mangus is another senior who is making his fourth trip to state, but like his teammate, he’s ready to run at National Trail Raceway for the last time as a Fairfield Lion.
“I feel really comfortable with it because I’ve been going to National Trail Raceway for many years now,” Mangus said. “I’ve watched my brother [FHS graduate Michael Mangus] run there, and this will be my fourth year competing in it, so I’ve raced on it three times already. It’s a familiar place, and I think we’re all ready to run.”
Mangus then spoke about having the motivation needed to succeed this season and in the final race of the year, and the fact that most of his teammates have already raced at the state tournament in the past.
“The main thing that we need to shoot for this Saturday is just to run the best we can as a team. If we run our best, that’s all we can ask for,” Mangus told The Highland County Press. “I think it’s a huge help for individual runners to have a great team. A lot of people that make it to the state meet as individuals don’t have the luxury of having a team to help push them in training runs and in races, so I think it’s a great help.”
Also with experience and having a season of improvement are Setty and Hodson, who have more than filled the void left by graduated seniors from a year ago. They both are having their best seasons to date, but they each knew they had to step up from where they were last season … and they have. Now all that is left is the most important race of the season.
“I got to this point by training with Noah all summer long. We did multiple workouts each week and trained different miles every day, harder and harder,” Setty said. “I feel like we have a lot better team. We have a team that can actually compete with top guys, and we have a closer pack. We have to run well as a team, and I think if we all run well as a team, we have a chance.”
Hodson also spoke about his season and state expectations, even speaking about how he saw improvement at the start of the year, hit a wall and then eventually got past that obstacle and broke the under 17:00 mark in a race.
“Putting in all that work was hard for me at the start of the season, and then midway through the season I didn’t think I was going to get any faster,” Hodson said. “At the end of the season, I PRed [personal record] with a 16:59 at league, and I just felt great after that.
“We have a great team this year, and they’re all pushing each other. I’m glad that we’re going back to state. We want to use where we’re at right now as motivation. Not just us, but coaches, the community, even God has given that.”
Then there is Duffie’s story, as his season didn’t go as planned after missing the first five weeks due to recovering from an injury, then having to work his way back up to strength and competitive running condition, too.
“I was out the first five weeks of the season with an injury, so it was a big battle. When I finally got back to strong enough where I could run a great race, it really felt good,” Duffie said. “It felt good to come out here and be a part of this team, even with missing some time this year.”
Missing those five weeks was tough on the junior, as he had to watch his teammates do what he loved to do, seeing his teammates race without him on the course. He also talked about the recovery process and what it was like after his return to competition.
“I really wanted to be out there, so it hurt to just watch,” Duffie said of missing races. “The first meet of the season, I went out to cheer on the boys and I was just sitting there itching to run. But I knew I needed to take my time and not hurt myself trying to get back too fast.
“At first, I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, but after missing five weeks of no running and then a week of getting back into it, it really took a toll on how good I was running at the beginning of the year. I felt like I had to hit the reset button and completely start over, but I feel like I’m prepared enough to go into the meet and run a great race.”
Running in their first state tournament this year will be Davis and Frost.
A sophomore, Davis has taken over one of the two vacant spots left by graduated seniors from last year, and in his second season as a high school runner he has achieved success, resulting in him making his state debut this upcoming Saturday.
“It’s been a lot more pressure than expected,” Davis said. “I’ve trained all summer for this, and it was one of my main goals, so now that I’m here I just have to work for it. I’d say I definitely got my goal, if not exceeding it by a little bit. My goal was to make it to top seven, and this year I’ve approximated about fifth man in every race. They score top five, so being in that spot, I know I have to beat as many people on other teams as I can just to help out my team.
“I’m definitely looking forward to the trip, and getting the opportunity to do this has been just a blessing. I can’t wait to get out there and give it everything I have to do my best for my team.”
Frost is also taking in the experience and knows not many freshmen will get to race at state their very first year of running in high school.
“It’s been a big ride,” Frost said. “It’s had its ups and downs. I mean, the team’s been good. The races have been really competitive, so it’s been a great experience. I had no idea how good I was going to do. I thought I was going to go out and do terrible, and I thought I put myself in a really bad position. I ended up coming out here, and I think I did pretty well for myself.”
Having a team consisting of all four grade levels is a plus for the present and future of the boys cross-country program, but Friend also spoke about the intelligence of his team and how that makes them better runners too, plus being motivated for success doesn’t hurt matter, either.
“This year’s team is a highly intelligent group of young men that have been pushing themselves from the summer on through,” Friend said. “It’s been fun to be around. They drive themselves, partly because it isn’t easy to be in the top seven, and they want to be in the top seven.
“This year, we put them in Division I competition a couple times just because they are highly driven and very self-motivated. Not all high school kids are like that. It’s refreshing to have a bunch of kids that really want to be good at something.
“They’re smart enough to realize that if they don’t put the work in, the success won’t come. I have a lot of students on this particular team who want to not only run for their high school team, but they want to run past high school. They’re smart enough to realize that to do that, it’s not just running. That just goes back to how intelligent they are. They realize that both of those are needed to be part of a good program.”
Friend and Mangus also credited the parents and other coaches of the runners in the program.
“The parents are here, and they’re encouraging the kids and they’re involved and very supportive. Both financially and emotionally, they’ve contributed a lot to the success of this program,” Coach Mangus said.
“The success of this program – I have excellent coaches that help out. Coach Mangus, Coach [Carol] Grate, Coach [Kesia] McCoy,” Friend said. “Without that, without a good successful middle school program, we wouldn’t be where we are. Without good parents, without having kids that really care ... all of those things are what make our program successful.”
The Lions are scheduled to race in the OHSAA Division III boys race at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4 at National Trail Raceway in Hebron.
• • •
Colwell set to make state debut
Fairfield sophomore Ciara Colwell will be making her state debut at the 2017 OHSAA Division III State Cross-Country Tournament on Saturday, as her hard work paid off in a season where she’s achieved her best success to date.
Colwell, who was eighth place at regionals, spoke about what it has been like for her to qualify for state in just her second year running at the high school varsity level.
“It’s been really cool and a good experience,” Colwell said. “Last year was kind of a tough year, and it really took a toll on my confidence, but I managed to get back up. I trained in the offseason, and I went into this season really confident. During this summer, I ran many miles every day to get ready for the season.”
Qualifying for state didn’t happen by chance, as it was a goal of Colwell’s for over a year. Getting there, she not only put in the miles needed, but changed her mentality along the way as well.
“It’s been a goal for actually about a year and a half now, so it was cool to actually achieve that,” she said. “This year, I had a lot different mentality. I had a lot more confidence in how I’d race, and when I would set my goals, I would go after them this year, unlike last year when I kind of just gave up. Just seeing where I was last year and having people say ‘Ciara, you have the skills and you have the talent to do it, and if you really work for it, you can do it’ … I worked for it and did it.”
Colwell is just the second girls cross-country runner to be a state qualifier, as the first was Debi Hattan in 1988. This season, Colwell became the first FHS girls runner to break the 20:00 mark in a race.
“Not too many people have done this. I’m looking forward to getting to race with some of the best competition, and knowing I could probably get in the top fourth of that race,” Colwell said.
The sophomore spoke how her teammates improved this season as well, as they reached the regional tournament following a district runner-up finish.
“The team’s season was very good,” Colwell said. “I think this year has been one of the best years we’ve ever had. Seeing the team push to where they never thought they could was a really cool experience.
“Not only am I seeing myself work, but I’m seeing my teammates pushing to the point where they know they’re giving everything they have, and it will only make us better for next year.”
FHS coach Raymond Friend spoke highly of Colwell before she makes her state debut this Saturday.
“It’s just nice to finally break that and get a girl to go to state,” he said. “That’s kind of what kickstarts your program a little bit. When we first started to get individuals at state with the boys, other kids saw that and said ‘hey, I can do that. I want to do that.’ Now, having a girl do that, hopefully that will inspire some girls so we can get the girls program up to where the boys program is.
“Ciara’s really worked hard at this. This has been her goal for a long time. Seeing her face when she realized she qualified was quite special.”
The Lions have a core of seven to eight runners they’ve used this postseason to reach the state tournament for a fifth consecutive year as a team, and on Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m., all of the hard work and sacrifice they’ve put in since the summer months and even in past years will come to fruition.
Four years ago, the Fairfield Lions were 16th place at the state tournament. The following year, they improved to eighth place overall, and last year they placed fourth in the Division III event. Now, if they keep up that same pace, there is only one spot remaining to finish, and that is the top of the mountain in cross-country.
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Improving those four spots isn’t easy by any means, but the Lions have a senior duo in regional runner-up Noah Richmond and fourth-place regional finisher Matthew Mangus who are by far the leaders of the Lions team. These two have consistently been the top two finishers for the Lions all season long, and with what will be their final race for the Lions, they are finishing their season with another visit to the state tournament, only this time with even loftier goals than ever before.
The Lions are what all teams in southern Ohio are striving to become as they have not only won seven consecutive Southern Hills Athletic Conference championships, but they’ve achieved the same feat with seven straight SE District championships, plus last weekend earned a second straight regional championship, a feat no athletic program in Fairfield history has ever achieved.
Fairfield cross-country has proven to be special throughout the years, but there is something more about this team, a team that consists of two seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and one freshman entering the state tournament.
The seniors are Noah Richmond and Matthew Mangus, followed by the junior trio of Austin Setty, Bennett Hodson and Brandtson Duffie. There are also sophomore Ethan Davis and freshman Cohen Frost.
Why this team is special isn’t by coincidence, but by sheer hard work, great effort, excellent coaching and a will to be the best in the state. It is no secret the Lions’ ultimate goal is to be the best in Division III, and in every race featuring Division III competition up to this point of the season, the Lions are undefeated, as their lone team losses have come against Division I and II opponents.
This season, the Lions have defeated 155 total teams in all of their races combined, while having just four total teams finish ahead of them all season.
Even with those stats, the Lions are still underdogs to a certain degree. Being the “new guys” in the talk for a possible Top 2 finish is the state Division III race, the Lions still have to overcome powerhouses such as East Canton and Fort Loramie this weekend to achieve their ultimate goals.
“I want each one of them to have a great race,” FHS coach Raymond Friend said. “I know that if they have a great race, run smart, run within their means and push themselves throughout the total of the course, regardless of what place they’re going to be in, I’m going to feel really good about that race. I think that if we do run that well, we can be in the top two in the state.”
Assistant coach Bill Mangus also spoke about the team having an underdog role entering the event.
“We’re clearly the underdogs. We’re going against some legends. Coach (Lee) Sternberg (East Canton)’s team has won a state track title last year, won a state cross-country title in 1998,” he said. “Fort Loramie is returning, and they’re the defending state champions that also won their region. We’re clearly the underdogs, and we relish that role. We’re going to show up and perform to the best of our capabilities and see what happens.”
As for the runners, they too know what is at stake and know that they need to have their best race to date to be atop the Division III podium. Even with this being his fourth visit to the state meet, Richmond says it is still exciting every time.
“A lot of people think because we’ve been here before, we lose the excitement, but it just gets better and better every year,” Richmond said.
One strategy Richmond uses all season is being competitive with teammates, as they are all usually toward the front of the pack in a given race.
“My motivation to get back to state is just racing our own teammates because we’re really competitive and just push each other,” he said. “It’s actually really encouraging (racing teammates) because you know you’re doing well, and then you see your other teammates up there with you, so you know they are doing well too, which is best for the team.”
The meaning of this being his fourth trip to the state tournament isn’t lost on Richmond because of the expectations he has for himself.
“I’m just hoping for my last race with the team for all of us to do our best and just have a good race to remember,” he said. “Having high expectations, it always makes you nervous because you know everyone’s expecting really high of you, so there’s really no room for flaw. You’ve got a lot to run up to.”
Mangus is another senior who is making his fourth trip to state, but like his teammate, he’s ready to run at National Trail Raceway for the last time as a Fairfield Lion.
“I feel really comfortable with it because I’ve been going to National Trail Raceway for many years now,” Mangus said. “I’ve watched my brother [FHS graduate Michael Mangus] run there, and this will be my fourth year competing in it, so I’ve raced on it three times already. It’s a familiar place, and I think we’re all ready to run.”
Mangus then spoke about having the motivation needed to succeed this season and in the final race of the year, and the fact that most of his teammates have already raced at the state tournament in the past.
“The main thing that we need to shoot for this Saturday is just to run the best we can as a team. If we run our best, that’s all we can ask for,” Mangus told The Highland County Press. “I think it’s a huge help for individual runners to have a great team. A lot of people that make it to the state meet as individuals don’t have the luxury of having a team to help push them in training runs and in races, so I think it’s a great help.”
Also with experience and having a season of improvement are Setty and Hodson, who have more than filled the void left by graduated seniors from a year ago. They both are having their best seasons to date, but they each knew they had to step up from where they were last season … and they have. Now all that is left is the most important race of the season.
“I got to this point by training with Noah all summer long. We did multiple workouts each week and trained different miles every day, harder and harder,” Setty said. “I feel like we have a lot better team. We have a team that can actually compete with top guys, and we have a closer pack. We have to run well as a team, and I think if we all run well as a team, we have a chance.”
Hodson also spoke about his season and state expectations, even speaking about how he saw improvement at the start of the year, hit a wall and then eventually got past that obstacle and broke the under 17:00 mark in a race.
“Putting in all that work was hard for me at the start of the season, and then midway through the season I didn’t think I was going to get any faster,” Hodson said. “At the end of the season, I PRed [personal record] with a 16:59 at league, and I just felt great after that.
“We have a great team this year, and they’re all pushing each other. I’m glad that we’re going back to state. We want to use where we’re at right now as motivation. Not just us, but coaches, the community, even God has given that.”
Then there is Duffie’s story, as his season didn’t go as planned after missing the first five weeks due to recovering from an injury, then having to work his way back up to strength and competitive running condition, too.
“I was out the first five weeks of the season with an injury, so it was a big battle. When I finally got back to strong enough where I could run a great race, it really felt good,” Duffie said. “It felt good to come out here and be a part of this team, even with missing some time this year.”
Missing those five weeks was tough on the junior, as he had to watch his teammates do what he loved to do, seeing his teammates race without him on the course. He also talked about the recovery process and what it was like after his return to competition.
“I really wanted to be out there, so it hurt to just watch,” Duffie said of missing races. “The first meet of the season, I went out to cheer on the boys and I was just sitting there itching to run. But I knew I needed to take my time and not hurt myself trying to get back too fast.
“At first, I didn’t think it was going to be that big of a deal, but after missing five weeks of no running and then a week of getting back into it, it really took a toll on how good I was running at the beginning of the year. I felt like I had to hit the reset button and completely start over, but I feel like I’m prepared enough to go into the meet and run a great race.”
Running in their first state tournament this year will be Davis and Frost.
A sophomore, Davis has taken over one of the two vacant spots left by graduated seniors from last year, and in his second season as a high school runner he has achieved success, resulting in him making his state debut this upcoming Saturday.
“It’s been a lot more pressure than expected,” Davis said. “I’ve trained all summer for this, and it was one of my main goals, so now that I’m here I just have to work for it. I’d say I definitely got my goal, if not exceeding it by a little bit. My goal was to make it to top seven, and this year I’ve approximated about fifth man in every race. They score top five, so being in that spot, I know I have to beat as many people on other teams as I can just to help out my team.
“I’m definitely looking forward to the trip, and getting the opportunity to do this has been just a blessing. I can’t wait to get out there and give it everything I have to do my best for my team.”
Frost is also taking in the experience and knows not many freshmen will get to race at state their very first year of running in high school.
“It’s been a big ride,” Frost said. “It’s had its ups and downs. I mean, the team’s been good. The races have been really competitive, so it’s been a great experience. I had no idea how good I was going to do. I thought I was going to go out and do terrible, and I thought I put myself in a really bad position. I ended up coming out here, and I think I did pretty well for myself.”
Having a team consisting of all four grade levels is a plus for the present and future of the boys cross-country program, but Friend also spoke about the intelligence of his team and how that makes them better runners too, plus being motivated for success doesn’t hurt matter, either.
“This year’s team is a highly intelligent group of young men that have been pushing themselves from the summer on through,” Friend said. “It’s been fun to be around. They drive themselves, partly because it isn’t easy to be in the top seven, and they want to be in the top seven.
“This year, we put them in Division I competition a couple times just because they are highly driven and very self-motivated. Not all high school kids are like that. It’s refreshing to have a bunch of kids that really want to be good at something.
“They’re smart enough to realize that if they don’t put the work in, the success won’t come. I have a lot of students on this particular team who want to not only run for their high school team, but they want to run past high school. They’re smart enough to realize that to do that, it’s not just running. That just goes back to how intelligent they are. They realize that both of those are needed to be part of a good program.”
Friend and Mangus also credited the parents and other coaches of the runners in the program.
“The parents are here, and they’re encouraging the kids and they’re involved and very supportive. Both financially and emotionally, they’ve contributed a lot to the success of this program,” Coach Mangus said.
“The success of this program – I have excellent coaches that help out. Coach Mangus, Coach [Carol] Grate, Coach [Kesia] McCoy,” Friend said. “Without that, without a good successful middle school program, we wouldn’t be where we are. Without good parents, without having kids that really care ... all of those things are what make our program successful.”
The Lions are scheduled to race in the OHSAA Division III boys race at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 4 at National Trail Raceway in Hebron.
• • •
Colwell set to make state debut
Fairfield sophomore Ciara Colwell will be making her state debut at the 2017 OHSAA Division III State Cross-Country Tournament on Saturday, as her hard work paid off in a season where she’s achieved her best success to date.
Colwell, who was eighth place at regionals, spoke about what it has been like for her to qualify for state in just her second year running at the high school varsity level.
“It’s been really cool and a good experience,” Colwell said. “Last year was kind of a tough year, and it really took a toll on my confidence, but I managed to get back up. I trained in the offseason, and I went into this season really confident. During this summer, I ran many miles every day to get ready for the season.”
Qualifying for state didn’t happen by chance, as it was a goal of Colwell’s for over a year. Getting there, she not only put in the miles needed, but changed her mentality along the way as well.
“It’s been a goal for actually about a year and a half now, so it was cool to actually achieve that,” she said. “This year, I had a lot different mentality. I had a lot more confidence in how I’d race, and when I would set my goals, I would go after them this year, unlike last year when I kind of just gave up. Just seeing where I was last year and having people say ‘Ciara, you have the skills and you have the talent to do it, and if you really work for it, you can do it’ … I worked for it and did it.”
Colwell is just the second girls cross-country runner to be a state qualifier, as the first was Debi Hattan in 1988. This season, Colwell became the first FHS girls runner to break the 20:00 mark in a race.
“Not too many people have done this. I’m looking forward to getting to race with some of the best competition, and knowing I could probably get in the top fourth of that race,” Colwell said.
The sophomore spoke how her teammates improved this season as well, as they reached the regional tournament following a district runner-up finish.
“The team’s season was very good,” Colwell said. “I think this year has been one of the best years we’ve ever had. Seeing the team push to where they never thought they could was a really cool experience.
“Not only am I seeing myself work, but I’m seeing my teammates pushing to the point where they know they’re giving everything they have, and it will only make us better for next year.”
FHS coach Raymond Friend spoke highly of Colwell before she makes her state debut this Saturday.
“It’s just nice to finally break that and get a girl to go to state,” he said. “That’s kind of what kickstarts your program a little bit. When we first started to get individuals at state with the boys, other kids saw that and said ‘hey, I can do that. I want to do that.’ Now, having a girl do that, hopefully that will inspire some girls so we can get the girls program up to where the boys program is.
“Ciara’s really worked hard at this. This has been her goal for a long time. Seeing her face when she realized she qualified was quite special.”