'The Magnificent Seven:' Fairfield Lions 4th at state
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HEBRON — Just call them the “Magnificent Seven.”
The Fairfield Lions boys cross-country team improved four spots in the Division III State Meet from a year ago by placing fourth on Saturday at National Trail Raceway, the highest finish in program history.
Fairfield did so with junior Noah Richmond leading the Lions with an 11th-place finish, earning a spot on the podium for All-Ohio status. In his third state meet, Richmond finished with a time of 16:09.5.
“Everything just went like I planned. I trained all year for this time, and all the pain and all the hard work you go through all season just paid off,” Richmond told The Highland County Press following his 11th-place run. “This was probably one of the most physical races I’ve been in. You’ve just got to keep the intensity up, or you’ll just get passed, or get buried, more or less.
[[In-content Ad]]
“I felt like I started out pretty good. At the beginning, I felt like I was kind of getting closer off to the back a little too far, but I kind of just went as well as planned. I picked out people from the top from my region and tried to sit behind them and use them to set my pace.”
Richmond also spoke about the Lions’ fourth place-team finish, improving four spots from last year and eight spots from two years ago.
“We got four places better than last year, so I’d say that’s progress,” Richmond said. “I’m proud of my team as a whole. We did well for the season. The feeling’s just amazing. You can’t really explain it. It just makes you feel so good.”
As a team, the Lions placed fourth overall with 170 points.
Junior Matthew Mangus, also in his third state race, finished in 45th at 16:46.7 as the second-highest finisher for the Lions.
First-time state qualifier Bennett Hodson, a sophomore, finished 76th with a time of 17:09.9.
Four-time state qualifiers Trent Swisher and Wyatt Evans each finished in the top 100. Swisher finished 83rd at 17:12.8, and Evans was 93rd at 17:21.4.
Sophomores Austin Setty (a two-time state qualifier) and Brandtson Duffie (a first-time state qualifier) rounded out the scoring for the Lions. Setty was 119th with a time of 17:38.2, followed by Duffie in 157th at 18:10.1.
“We ran the best that I could have imagined we would run today,” FHS head coach Raymond Friend said. “Noah had the race of his life and got to finish on the podium. I’m extremely proud of him. He’s worked for it, and he’s earned it. Matthew was in the 16s.
“Bennett Hodson, only a sophomore, was not here last year. He ran a 17:09, which is an amazing race for a first-time sophomore.
“Trent Swisher really came through today with the best race he’s ever had with a 17:12. Wyatt bounced back from a bad week last week. So our top five … this is probably the first time in school history we’ve ever had the average time under 17 minutes.”
Friend continued to talk about the race.
“Yes, I would like to be in that top one or two teams, but we finished eighth last year, 16th two years ago and now fourth,” he said. “Now, we’re going to be losing some really good kids with Wyatt Evans and Trent Swisher, but we do have some ready to take their places next year.
“Austin Setty improved his time by about 30 seconds from last year, and he’s only a sophomore, and Brandtson Duffie, for his first time up here, gained invaluable experience. We really look for him to help us out a lot next year, as he’s also a sophomore.”
There were 188 total runners in the Division III race, where Ft. Loramie won the team championship with 98 points. The state runner-up was St. Thomas Aquinas with 120. In third was Maplewood with 125 points. The individual state champion was Colonel Crawford High School junior Chad Johnson with a time of 15:18.5, winning the race by 16 seconds.
With the season now complete, Friend spoke about his team that won Southern Hills Athletic Conference, Southeast District and Regional championhips, and the support they received from the community.
“It’s been such an enjoyment coaching these guys,” Friend said. “You can just see the community involvement here. When we first came here as a team, we might have had five to 10 people here. Now we have people from the community, we have the parents’ support.
“I’m so pleased that the community’s here. I have two wonderful assistant coaches in Bill Mangus and Carol Grate that really get the kids out running and push them. More experience will build us better and stronger for next year. I’m really pleased with the way we’ve run.”
The Fairfield Lions boys cross-country team improved four spots in the Division III State Meet from a year ago by placing fourth on Saturday at National Trail Raceway, the highest finish in program history.
Fairfield did so with junior Noah Richmond leading the Lions with an 11th-place finish, earning a spot on the podium for All-Ohio status. In his third state meet, Richmond finished with a time of 16:09.5.
“Everything just went like I planned. I trained all year for this time, and all the pain and all the hard work you go through all season just paid off,” Richmond told The Highland County Press following his 11th-place run. “This was probably one of the most physical races I’ve been in. You’ve just got to keep the intensity up, or you’ll just get passed, or get buried, more or less.
[[In-content Ad]]
“I felt like I started out pretty good. At the beginning, I felt like I was kind of getting closer off to the back a little too far, but I kind of just went as well as planned. I picked out people from the top from my region and tried to sit behind them and use them to set my pace.”
Richmond also spoke about the Lions’ fourth place-team finish, improving four spots from last year and eight spots from two years ago.
“We got four places better than last year, so I’d say that’s progress,” Richmond said. “I’m proud of my team as a whole. We did well for the season. The feeling’s just amazing. You can’t really explain it. It just makes you feel so good.”
As a team, the Lions placed fourth overall with 170 points.
Junior Matthew Mangus, also in his third state race, finished in 45th at 16:46.7 as the second-highest finisher for the Lions.
First-time state qualifier Bennett Hodson, a sophomore, finished 76th with a time of 17:09.9.
Four-time state qualifiers Trent Swisher and Wyatt Evans each finished in the top 100. Swisher finished 83rd at 17:12.8, and Evans was 93rd at 17:21.4.
Sophomores Austin Setty (a two-time state qualifier) and Brandtson Duffie (a first-time state qualifier) rounded out the scoring for the Lions. Setty was 119th with a time of 17:38.2, followed by Duffie in 157th at 18:10.1.
“We ran the best that I could have imagined we would run today,” FHS head coach Raymond Friend said. “Noah had the race of his life and got to finish on the podium. I’m extremely proud of him. He’s worked for it, and he’s earned it. Matthew was in the 16s.
“Bennett Hodson, only a sophomore, was not here last year. He ran a 17:09, which is an amazing race for a first-time sophomore.
“Trent Swisher really came through today with the best race he’s ever had with a 17:12. Wyatt bounced back from a bad week last week. So our top five … this is probably the first time in school history we’ve ever had the average time under 17 minutes.”
Friend continued to talk about the race.
“Yes, I would like to be in that top one or two teams, but we finished eighth last year, 16th two years ago and now fourth,” he said. “Now, we’re going to be losing some really good kids with Wyatt Evans and Trent Swisher, but we do have some ready to take their places next year.
“Austin Setty improved his time by about 30 seconds from last year, and he’s only a sophomore, and Brandtson Duffie, for his first time up here, gained invaluable experience. We really look for him to help us out a lot next year, as he’s also a sophomore.”
There were 188 total runners in the Division III race, where Ft. Loramie won the team championship with 98 points. The state runner-up was St. Thomas Aquinas with 120. In third was Maplewood with 125 points. The individual state champion was Colonel Crawford High School junior Chad Johnson with a time of 15:18.5, winning the race by 16 seconds.
With the season now complete, Friend spoke about his team that won Southern Hills Athletic Conference, Southeast District and Regional championhips, and the support they received from the community.
“It’s been such an enjoyment coaching these guys,” Friend said. “You can just see the community involvement here. When we first came here as a team, we might have had five to 10 people here. Now we have people from the community, we have the parents’ support.
“I’m so pleased that the community’s here. I have two wonderful assistant coaches in Bill Mangus and Carol Grate that really get the kids out running and push them. More experience will build us better and stronger for next year. I’m really pleased with the way we’ve run.”