CEDARVILLE — The Greene County area will be well represented at this weekend’s regional cross country championships. Beavercreek standout Taylor Ewert dominated the girls Division I race, and several local high schools placed well enough to advance their teams, Oct. 20 at the Southwest District Cross Country Championships, held on the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course at Cedarville University.
Ewert won the girls Division I race by more than a minute and a half over Beavercreek teammate Savannah Roark, who placed second. Fellow Beavers runner Juliann Williams placed fourth, to earn the Beavers three of the top-4 finishes in the event.
Beavercreek won the girls team event. In the D-I girls event, the top-8 teams and top 32 runners advanced to the Troy Regional. Xenia and Fairborn teams did not advance.
In the boys D-I race, the top nine teams and top 36 runners moved on. Beavercreek’s Riley Buchholz was the top finisher among Greene County-area runners, placing fifth overall. Carroll’s Grant Arnold placed ninth overall. Beavercreek’s Connor Ewert was 11th overall, with Carroll’s Kevin Agnew placing 14th just ahead of Bellbrook’s Max Bretland. Carroll’s Michael Osgood also finished among the top-20 in the race, placing 18th.
Carroll’s boys team placed third, followed by Beavercreek (fourth) and Bellbrook (fifth) as all three area teams advanced.
In the D-II girls race, Bellbrook’s team won the district crown by 20 points over Tippecanoe. The top-seven teams and top 28 runners moved on from D-II girls.
Golden Eagles sophomore Avarie Faulkner was the county’s top finisher, placing fifth overall. Fellow Bellbrook runners Elise Kemper (eighth), Minami Ford (ninth), Emily Pelfrey (12th) and Amira Faulkner (13th) each placed within the event’s top-20 runners. Bellbrook and Carroll each advanced their entire teams to the Troy Regional.
There were no boys teams or runners who advanced from the Division II boys race, or from the Division III girls race.
However, the Cedarville High boys team did advance in the D-III event. Led by sophomore Ethan Wallis’s third-place finish, the Indians placed third overall. Cedarville sophomore teammate Trent Koning finished 11th overall to also place among the top-20 finishers.
The Division I, II and III regional championships will be held on Saturday, Oct. 27 at Troy High School. The top finishers at the regional meet will then qualify for the Nov. 3 state cross country championships, held on the National Trail Raceway drag strip grounds in Hebron.
