Whiteoak’s Eyre and Blair, Hillsboro’s Winkle qualify for OHSAA Cross-Country State Championships; Eyre wins regional title
From left, Whiteoak's Landen Eyre and Weston Blair and Hillsboro's Corbin Winkle qualified for the 2023 OHSAA Cross-Country State Championships Saturday. (Photos courtesy of Doug Hughes and Rob Snavely)
One Highland County team and six individual runners raced at the OHSAA Division II and Division III Regional Meet at Pickerington North High School Saturday, with Whiteoak’s Landen Eyre winning a regional title and teammate Weston Blair and Hillsboro’s Corbin Winkle also advancing to the 2023 OHSAA Cross-Country State Championships.
Landen Eyre, a junior at WHS, won the Division III regional championship with a time of 15:38.08, as the runner-up, senior Ryan Richendollar, finished with a time of 15:57.12.
WHS head coach Doug Hughes detailed the race.
“Landen was one of two runners leading the front pack of the race at both the one and two-mile marks, and then it was time for him to go to work,” Hughes said. “Landen won by an impressive 19 seconds the last 1.1 mile, and that was also his final winning margin.
“The race had 142 competitors that qualified by being the top runners from 68 different schools encompassing 35 different counties in the large region. With the win, Eyre becomes the first Whiteoak cross-country runner to win a regional championship.”
Joining Eyre at the Division III state meet will be his teammate, Weston Blair, a senior, who finished 15th will a time of 16:33.
“I’m super happy for Weston,” Hughes said. “Last year he wasn’t able to physically give it everything, but I knew he’d come back and finish this thing off his senior year. This is Weston’s second time qualifying for the state cross-country meet, and he’s not going just to go, he’s going to compete, and anyone that’s ever watched Weston over the years knows he will.”
Also from Highland County, Hillsboro junior Corbin Winkle will be running at the state meet in Division II, as he ran a 16:22.43 at regionals for a 22nd-place finish.
The county was well represented at the regional meet, with Lynchburg-Clay sophomore Kyler Fite finishing in 32nd place in the Division III boys race with a time of 17:06. In Division II, Hillsboro freshman Rason Brunck was 151st (19:12.66).
On the girls side, Hillsboro’s team finished 17th as a whole, led by sophomore Jailyn Williams, who was 41st with a time of 20:44.18. Taylor Thoroman, also a sophomore, followed in 63rd place.
Senior Ramsey Haines was 124th at regionals (22:59.79), and fellow senior Brooklyn Lucarello was next in 128th (23:07.76). Abbey Letts, a junior, ran a 23:54.35 for 139th place.
Kennedy Sexton (24:09.61) and Olivia Covault (24:14.79), both sophomores, rounded out the scoring for Hillsboro in 143rd and 144th place, respectively.
In Division III, Whiteoak freshman Addy Hauke was 88th (22:40.42).
Eyre and Blair will run Saturday, Nov. 4 at Fortress Obetz in Columbus at 10:45 a.m. in the state meet. Winkle’s race will begin at 12:45 p.m.
(Doug Hughes contributed to this article.)
