Fairfield Lions race to 8th-place finish at state championships
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HEBRON — The Fairfield Lions were twice as improved from last season in the 2015 Division III OHSAA State Cross-Country Championships, as they placed eighth as a team overall.
Fairfield finished with 206 points, tied with Colonel Crawford, but the Lions won the tiebreaker as their sixth runner had a better finish than that of Colonel Crawford.
After the first mile, the Lions were in 11th, and after mile two, they moved up to the ninth-place spot. In mile three, that is where they finished in eighth.
"My goal going into the season was to get eighth, so to reach that … I knew it would be tough. There is some very good competition up here, and so coming from 16th last year to eighth this year, with all returning varsity runners, it puts a smile on my face knowing what we can do in years to come," Fairfield head coach Raymond Friend said.
Individually for the Lions, leading the way was sophomore Matthew Mangus (who was also an individual qualifier) with a 42nd-place finish, as his final time was 16:46.9, averaging a mile time of 5:23.8.
Next was sophomore Noah Richmond in 57th place with a time of 16:58.6 (5:27.6 average mile), followed by junior Wyatt Evans and sophomore Andrew Davis in 90th and 91st overall. Evans finished with a time of 17:29.5 (5:37.6), and Davis had a time of 17:29.9, also with an average mile time of 5:37.6.
Junior Dillon Burley was 100th at 17:39.5 (5:40.7), and junior Trent Swisher finished 108th at 17:53.4 (5:45.1). Freshman Austin Setty was 113th overall with a time of 18:00.3 (5:47.7).
[[In-content Ad]]"I'm very happy with what I saw from my sophomores," Friend said. "Noah really rebounded from last week. He didn't have a great race then, but he came through here at state, and Matthew once again had a stellar race. As a sophomore, to be 42nd overall is great to see.
"Wyatt has been battling some injuries, and he came through and really helped us. Andrew, Dillon, Trent and Austin all raced well, and that was good to see. Racing in a pack again, that's what got us in a Top 8 spot."
The Lions this season also accomplished winning a Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC) championship for five consecutive years, and this season were runners-up at regionals. This was the third consecutive season the Lions have reached the state championships as a team and fifth year in a row the program has competed at the state level with at least individual qualifiers.
Before the state meet this season, only three schools have finished ahead of the Lions in a meet in 2015.
"This was a phenomenal season for these student-athletes and something to really build upon," Friend said. "I hope they aren't happy to be Top 8 next year. I also expect some of these guys to be up on the podium next year."
Winning the Division III State Championship was Maplewood with 61 points, followed by St. Thomas Aquinas in second with 87 points. In third was McDonald (141), and in fourth place was Liberty Center (156). Rounding out the Top 5 was Ft. Loramie (179).
In sixth through 10th places were Anna (195), Fredericktown (202), Fairfield (106), Colonel Crawford (206) and Carey (219). Rounding out the finishers from 11th through 16th were Garaway (254), Milton-Union (275), Lincolnview (315), Botkins (332), Columbus Academy (333) and Minster (362).
The individual champion of the race was Tristan Dahmen of Maplewood with a time of 15:18.8.
From the surrounding area, Peebles runner Dan Seas was 10th overall with a time of 16:08.2, and Eastern Brown's Blake Rigdon was 51st with a time of 16:55.1. Also from Peebles, Matt Seas finished 86th overall with a time of 17:26.9.
In all, there were 156 racers in the Division III event.
Fairfield finished with 206 points, tied with Colonel Crawford, but the Lions won the tiebreaker as their sixth runner had a better finish than that of Colonel Crawford.
After the first mile, the Lions were in 11th, and after mile two, they moved up to the ninth-place spot. In mile three, that is where they finished in eighth.
"My goal going into the season was to get eighth, so to reach that … I knew it would be tough. There is some very good competition up here, and so coming from 16th last year to eighth this year, with all returning varsity runners, it puts a smile on my face knowing what we can do in years to come," Fairfield head coach Raymond Friend said.
Individually for the Lions, leading the way was sophomore Matthew Mangus (who was also an individual qualifier) with a 42nd-place finish, as his final time was 16:46.9, averaging a mile time of 5:23.8.
Next was sophomore Noah Richmond in 57th place with a time of 16:58.6 (5:27.6 average mile), followed by junior Wyatt Evans and sophomore Andrew Davis in 90th and 91st overall. Evans finished with a time of 17:29.5 (5:37.6), and Davis had a time of 17:29.9, also with an average mile time of 5:37.6.
Junior Dillon Burley was 100th at 17:39.5 (5:40.7), and junior Trent Swisher finished 108th at 17:53.4 (5:45.1). Freshman Austin Setty was 113th overall with a time of 18:00.3 (5:47.7).
[[In-content Ad]]"I'm very happy with what I saw from my sophomores," Friend said. "Noah really rebounded from last week. He didn't have a great race then, but he came through here at state, and Matthew once again had a stellar race. As a sophomore, to be 42nd overall is great to see.
"Wyatt has been battling some injuries, and he came through and really helped us. Andrew, Dillon, Trent and Austin all raced well, and that was good to see. Racing in a pack again, that's what got us in a Top 8 spot."
The Lions this season also accomplished winning a Southern Hills Athletic Conference (SHAC) championship for five consecutive years, and this season were runners-up at regionals. This was the third consecutive season the Lions have reached the state championships as a team and fifth year in a row the program has competed at the state level with at least individual qualifiers.
Before the state meet this season, only three schools have finished ahead of the Lions in a meet in 2015.
"This was a phenomenal season for these student-athletes and something to really build upon," Friend said. "I hope they aren't happy to be Top 8 next year. I also expect some of these guys to be up on the podium next year."
Winning the Division III State Championship was Maplewood with 61 points, followed by St. Thomas Aquinas in second with 87 points. In third was McDonald (141), and in fourth place was Liberty Center (156). Rounding out the Top 5 was Ft. Loramie (179).
In sixth through 10th places were Anna (195), Fredericktown (202), Fairfield (106), Colonel Crawford (206) and Carey (219). Rounding out the finishers from 11th through 16th were Garaway (254), Milton-Union (275), Lincolnview (315), Botkins (332), Columbus Academy (333) and Minster (362).
The individual champion of the race was Tristan Dahmen of Maplewood with a time of 15:18.8.
From the surrounding area, Peebles runner Dan Seas was 10th overall with a time of 16:08.2, and Eastern Brown's Blake Rigdon was 51st with a time of 16:55.1. Also from Peebles, Matt Seas finished 86th overall with a time of 17:26.9.
In all, there were 156 racers in the Division III event.