TROY — Four Greene County area teams and two individuals earned trips to this weekend’s state cross country championships, after turning in superior finishes in the Troy Regionals slop, rain and mud.
A steady rain made the 5-kilometer Troy High School course a slippery and muddy mess, but that didn’t stop Beavercreek’s Taylor Ewert (girls Division I) and Carroll’s Kevin Agnew (boys D-II) from claiming individual wins. The area almost had three regional champs as Cedarville’s Ethan Wallis was two tenths of a second from winning in the boys D-III race.
Beavercreek’s girls team and Carroll’s boys each claimed a regional team win, while the Beavers boys team and Cedarville’s boys squad both finished third in their respective divisions to advance.
The ‘Creek girls team claimed its regional team title in dominating fashion. Four of the top-five finishers in the girls D-I race were Beavercreek runners. Ewert was first, fellow senior Savannah Roark finished second, Mason’s Maddie Ullom was third with junior Juliann Williams fourth and senior Jodie Pierce fifth.
Ewert won in a time of 17 minutes, 19.40 seconds, followed by Roark at 17:53.09. Williams’ fourth-place time was 18:26.48 and Pierce was fifth in 18.26.75. ‘Creek senior Kendall Hobbs was the fifth scorer for the Beavers, finishing 21st in the scoring and 23rd overall. Beavercreek easily outdistanced Lakota East for the regional team crown with 33 points to the Thunderhawks’ 85.
While no area girls teams or individuals advanced in the Division II race, Cedarville junior Ellyn Coe placed 13th overall (10th in points) to advance in Division III as an individual runner.
According to the National Weather Service in Wilmington, more than an inch of rain is estimated to have fallen Saturday on Troy.
(We apologize for not having quotes from the winners and their coaches. Honest, we tried, but Saturday’s steady rain permanently damaged this writer’s digital recorder. — Ed.)
On the boys side, Beavercreek’s Connor Ewert placed fourth overall to lead the Beavers boys contingent to third in the D-I regional race. By placing among the region’s top-five teams, Beavercreek is sending its boys team to the state meet for the first time since 2016.
Members of the Beavercreek boys team are Ewert, Brendan Baker, Tayton Hess, Ryan Massie, Andrew Radford, Keegan Souhan and Andrew Woodward. ‘Creek coach Howard Russ had credited Hess with a solid 20th place finish to ensure that the team would qualify.
After the race, the Beavers team posed for mud-soaked selfies for their parents and fans. The D-I boys event was the final race of the day, and by far the muddiest.
Bellbrook junior Takumi Ford advanced as an individual entrant in the D-I race, finishing 16th overall.
Carroll’s Kevin Agnew won the boys Division II race in a time of 5:20.5, and the Patriots team claimed the regional team crown by just four points over Cincinnati Madeira (99-103). Team members for the Carroll boys team are: Agnew, Grant Arnold, Andrew Connair, Drew Maxwell, Michael Osgood, Seth Tivakaran, and Luke Wittmann.
In the boys Division III race, Cedarville’s Ethan Wallis placed second in a time of 5:25.6, just two tenths of a second behind Anna’s Lucas Smith. Smith had nipped Wallis for the district crown just last week.
With teammate Trent Koning finishing sixth and Caleb Sultan earning the team 20 points with a 24th-place finish, the Indians boys team placed third overall to advance. Team members are: Wallis, Koning, Sultan, Isaiah Estepp, Payton Herron, Drew Mason, and Jeffrey Salisbury.
The annual Ohio High School Cross Country Championships will be held Nov. 2 at National Trail Raceway in Hebron. Coe will start things off with the Girls D-III event at 11 a.m., and Beavercreek’s girls Division I race will take place at 12:30 p.m.
The boys races will begin with Division III (Cedarville) at 1:30 p.m., D-II (Carroll) at 2:15 p.m., and then Division I (Ford and the Beavercreek team) at 3 p.m.
