Fairfield Lions win Div. III SE District championship for 10th straight year; Whiteoak, LCHS also qualify for regionals
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
On Saturday (Oct. 24), the Fairfield Lions were at full health and returned to the top of the cross-country standings, winning the Division III SE District boys cross-country championship for a 10th straight year at Southeastern High School.
The Top 2 teams in the event win district titles, and the Lions were the second-best scoring team at 122.
The other district champion was Belpre with a score of 66.
In third place was Lynchburg-Clay at 131, and fifth overall was Whiteoak at 160, as both LCHS and WHS also qualified for regionals.
The Lions were led by senior Cohen Frost with a third-place finish, completing the race with a time of 16:55.18.
Next for Fairfield was senior Blake Haines at 17th place with a time of 18:09.71.
In 24th place for FHS was senior Brant Haines at 18:34.83.
“Cohen Frost and the Haines twins are the leaders on this team, and I look for them to have a great race next week,” Fairfield head coach Raymond Friend said. “Cohen Frost looks to improve on his 16th-place finish in the state last year.”
The fourth-best scorer for the Lions was freshman Nolan Campbell in 49th place at 19:39.78.
Finishing in 50th place and as the fifth scorer was senior Nathan Vidourek at 19:41.80.
Also racing for the Lions was sophomore Dalton Hampton in 52nd place at 19:44.89, and sophomore Landry Hattan was 64th overall at 20:24.90.
There were a total of 130 runners in the event.
“It takes five to score, and I have student-athletes that have really worked hard this season to help us win this title,” Friend said. “Nathan Vidourek is a senior that joined our program just last year. Dalton Hampton is a sophomore that has worked hard to be in our Top 7, and our only freshman on our tournament team is Nolan Campbell. Also, Landry Hatten has been injured for the majority of this year.
“Of course, our goals include qualifying for the state meet, and all of our runners will have to really run well at Pickerington next Saturday for us to reach that goal.”
The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs finished in third place with a 131 score, as they were led by senior Dawson Osborn in seventh overall with a time of 17:30.38.
In 15th place was sophomore Logan Shope at 18:07.27, followed by a 35th-place finish from sophomore Kaydon Fyffe at 18:57.01.
Next for the Mustangs was sophomore Trey Pitzer in 47th place at 19:39.61. LCHS had freshman Landon Kohus in 51st overall at 19:42.76, and Ian Waits (a sophomore) was 61st overall at 20:20.55. Freshman Justin Qvick finished the LCHS run in 118th place with a time of 24:49.51.
The Whiteoak Wildcats had a final score of 160 for fifth place. In their run, they were led by junior Robbie Raines in 20th overall at 18:27.86.
Next for the Wildcats was a 30th-place finish from sophomore Wade Evans at 18:50.87. WHS also had a 39th-place finish from Weston Blair at 19:09.04.
In 40th place overall was sophomore Christian Price at 19:20.92. The 59th-place spot went to junior Connor Butler at 20:11.35. In 62nd place overall was junior Tristan Helterbrand with a time of 20:22.59. The 88th-place finisher was senior Garrett Miller at 21:54.24.
Also on Saturday (Oct. 24), the Hillsboro Indians and the McClain Tigers raced in the Division II district event held at Southeastern High School.
McClain finished 17th overall, and Hillsboro was 21st overall as a team. MHS had a team score of 444, while Hillsboro scored 566.
McClain’s top finisher was senior Nathan Ernst in 79th place (out of 152 runners) with a time of 20:05.65.
Other McClain times included: freshman Justin Legge (20:18.62), junior Luke Bliss (20:47.67), junior Garett George (21:07.36), senior Lyle White (21:53.80), freshman Robert Surritt (22:00.39) and junior Mason Reichman (22:43.60).
Hillsboro’s top finisher was sophomore Garet Thompson with a time pf 21:41.40.
Also in the race for Hillsboro were senior Owen Ryan (22:21.77), freshman Keahi Mhanna (22:22.47), freshman Jacob Schommer (23:38.24), sophomore Ethan Griffin (23:55.53), freshman Mason Hostetler (25:30.81) and sophomore John Rinehart (27:03.40).
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The Top 2 teams in the event win district titles, and the Lions were the second-best scoring team at 122.
The other district champion was Belpre with a score of 66.
In third place was Lynchburg-Clay at 131, and fifth overall was Whiteoak at 160, as both LCHS and WHS also qualified for regionals.
The Lions were led by senior Cohen Frost with a third-place finish, completing the race with a time of 16:55.18.
Next for Fairfield was senior Blake Haines at 17th place with a time of 18:09.71.
In 24th place for FHS was senior Brant Haines at 18:34.83.
“Cohen Frost and the Haines twins are the leaders on this team, and I look for them to have a great race next week,” Fairfield head coach Raymond Friend said. “Cohen Frost looks to improve on his 16th-place finish in the state last year.”
The fourth-best scorer for the Lions was freshman Nolan Campbell in 49th place at 19:39.78.
Finishing in 50th place and as the fifth scorer was senior Nathan Vidourek at 19:41.80.
Also racing for the Lions was sophomore Dalton Hampton in 52nd place at 19:44.89, and sophomore Landry Hattan was 64th overall at 20:24.90.
There were a total of 130 runners in the event.
“It takes five to score, and I have student-athletes that have really worked hard this season to help us win this title,” Friend said. “Nathan Vidourek is a senior that joined our program just last year. Dalton Hampton is a sophomore that has worked hard to be in our Top 7, and our only freshman on our tournament team is Nolan Campbell. Also, Landry Hatten has been injured for the majority of this year.
“Of course, our goals include qualifying for the state meet, and all of our runners will have to really run well at Pickerington next Saturday for us to reach that goal.”
The Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs finished in third place with a 131 score, as they were led by senior Dawson Osborn in seventh overall with a time of 17:30.38.
In 15th place was sophomore Logan Shope at 18:07.27, followed by a 35th-place finish from sophomore Kaydon Fyffe at 18:57.01.
Next for the Mustangs was sophomore Trey Pitzer in 47th place at 19:39.61. LCHS had freshman Landon Kohus in 51st overall at 19:42.76, and Ian Waits (a sophomore) was 61st overall at 20:20.55. Freshman Justin Qvick finished the LCHS run in 118th place with a time of 24:49.51.
The Whiteoak Wildcats had a final score of 160 for fifth place. In their run, they were led by junior Robbie Raines in 20th overall at 18:27.86.
Next for the Wildcats was a 30th-place finish from sophomore Wade Evans at 18:50.87. WHS also had a 39th-place finish from Weston Blair at 19:09.04.
In 40th place overall was sophomore Christian Price at 19:20.92. The 59th-place spot went to junior Connor Butler at 20:11.35. In 62nd place overall was junior Tristan Helterbrand with a time of 20:22.59. The 88th-place finisher was senior Garrett Miller at 21:54.24.
Also on Saturday (Oct. 24), the Hillsboro Indians and the McClain Tigers raced in the Division II district event held at Southeastern High School.
McClain finished 17th overall, and Hillsboro was 21st overall as a team. MHS had a team score of 444, while Hillsboro scored 566.
McClain’s top finisher was senior Nathan Ernst in 79th place (out of 152 runners) with a time of 20:05.65.
Other McClain times included: freshman Justin Legge (20:18.62), junior Luke Bliss (20:47.67), junior Garett George (21:07.36), senior Lyle White (21:53.80), freshman Robert Surritt (22:00.39) and junior Mason Reichman (22:43.60).
Hillsboro’s top finisher was sophomore Garet Thompson with a time pf 21:41.40.
Also in the race for Hillsboro were senior Owen Ryan (22:21.77), freshman Keahi Mhanna (22:22.47), freshman Jacob Schommer (23:38.24), sophomore Ethan Griffin (23:55.53), freshman Mason Hostetler (25:30.81) and sophomore John Rinehart (27:03.40).
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