Fairfield boys and girls cross-country teams win Aaron Reed Memorial

The Fairfield Lions cross-country team kept on moving along with their overall season goal by staying undefeated, while the Fairfield Lady Lions also earned a win in the girls race this past Saturday at Southeastern High School in the Aaron Reed Memorial.

The Lions boys cross-country team won with a score of 48 points, averaging an individual time of 17:58.11, and had a team time of 1:29:50.51 against a total of 195 runners and 18 schools.

In the boys race, the Lions had two runners finish in the Top 10, including a third-place finish by Austin Setty with a time of 17:28.57 and Ethan Davis in ninth place in 17:49.91.

Matthew Mangus finished in 11th place at 18:09.10, along with the Lions having 12th- and 13th-place finishes with Bennett Hodson in 12th at 18:10.46 and in 13th place was Cohen Frost at 18:12.47. Also in the Top 20 for the Lions was Blake Haines in 19th place with a time of 18:35.87.

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“It was nice to see Austin Setty run so well,” FHS cross-country coach Raymond Friend said. “We have not been at full strength in our last few meets, and that has allowed some of our younger runners to step up.

“Freshmen Cohen Frost and Blake Haines have really taken on that challenge as they were 13th and 19th out of 195 runners and the first two freshmen in the race. Sophomore Ethan Davis also just seems to get better and better each week.”

Sam Buddelmeyer and Andrew Davis placed in the Top 30 for Fairfield with Buddelmeyer in 27th place at 18:49.77 and Davis in 30th at 18:54.73. In 38th place was Brandtson Duffie at 19:20.63, followed by Gavin Campbell in 58th place (20:11.54) and Brant Haines was 80th at 21:03.13.

Also running for the Lions were Gavin Cox (24:49.01), Riley Friend (26:01.41) and Orrie Friend (26:36.04).

“As a team, we run really well as a pack, but we need to have a few guys break out of that pack for us to reach our goals this year,” Friend said. “I am really confident that they will because our seniors Noah, Matthew and Andrew are such hard workers and really good leaders. We will learn a lot in the next few weeks.”

The Fairfield girls won their event with a score of 103 points, finishing with a team time of 2:00:01.63 and an average time of 24:00.33. In their race, there were a total of 16 teams and 134 runners.

Fairfield had two girls finish in the Top 10 with Ciara Colwell in third place at 21:22.04 and Morgan Richmond in 10th place at 22:54.93.

In 16th place was Chloe Barber with a time of 23:39.83, and in 23rd place was Megan Gragg at 24:26.00. Also for Fairfield was Sarah Young in 56th place at 27:38.83, while Laynee Duffie had a time of 29:54.99 and Sarah Wuellner finished at 31:04.81.

“I am really proud of the girls team who won this race because all of eight of them gutted it out on a very tough course,” Friend said. “I don't see any quit in this team. They come to practice, work hard and get better every week. This is the most driven group of girls that I have ever coached, and I can't wait to see what else they can accomplish this year.

“Ciara, Morgan, Chloe and Megan all had a great race and are amazing student-athletes, but in cross-country five runners score for your team and we needed a fifth runner. A senior who has is only in her second year of running coming off a significant knee injury is filling that job.

“Sarah Young knows how important the fifth runner is and has embraced that challenge. She is making our team better every week. I couldn't say enough about her work ethic and determination.”

The McClain boys were also at the Aaron Reed Memorial, where they finished in 17th place, scoring 405 points. The Tigers were led by Reece Schluep in 44th place at 19:44.00. Also for the Tigers in 79th place was Nathan Ernst at 20:58.61.

MHS also had times of: Miles McMurry, 22:45.92; Paul Bliss, 22:55.09; Cody Borsini, 23:16.40; Seth Cross, 24:44.10; Chance Lane, 25:16.12; Matthew Milnes, 27:11.13; Nick Cunningham, 33:18.75; and Noah Scott, 35:04.13.

As for the middle school race, the Fairfield boys team were also winners, taking home first place by seven points.

“Our middle school boys won first place by seven points with their best race of the year,” Friend said. “I know that for our high school teams to be successful that we have to be very proactive in the middle school, and Coach McCoy does a great job with them.”