Fast times and personal bests were few and far between on a blustery day at Fortress Obetz. Nonetheless, 12 Southwest Ohio cross-country teams and a host of individual runners made their mark on this year's OHSAA state meet.
The day got off to a slow start as only three schools participated in the Division III races, but the action quickly picked up into the afternoon as the big schools conquered the course. All told, Cincinnati schools won two team titles, one runner-up, and had 12 top-20 individual finishes.
From first-time participants to seasoned veterans, here is how Southwest Ohio fared at the 2022 state cross-country meet.
More:Which Southwest Ohio schools are running in the state cross-country meet?
Mason the undisputed No. 1 in Division I
The Mason Comets came into Obetz looking to defend their boys' team title from 2021, and claim their first girls' title since 2013.
When Isaac Schachleiter dropped out, junior Max Liao had to shoulder the load of being the Comets' lead runner. He did, finishing in 18th place, helping Mason beat St. Xavier by 14 points, 128 to 142. Mason placed two more runners in the top 50 as James Mroczka finished 32nd and Brendan Roe took 48th.
Head coach Tom Rapp likes to think a three-peat is possible but isn't looking too far ahead into the future.
"We're gonna celebrate this one right now before we think about that," Rapp said.
The Comets had to cement their title against a tough runner-up in St. Xavier, a team that Mason has great respect for.
"I have talked numerous times with our coaches about the fact that I don't think we would be in a position we are if St. X wasn't a rivalry," Rapp said.
The girls completed the double on the strength of freshman Efa Paschka and senior Grace McKay. The Comets defeated Hilliard Davidson by 16 points for their first title in nine years. Paschka ran alongside eventual winner Katie Clute for the first mile before fading but still finished in sixth. A school record and the first girls team title in nearly a decade are quite the accomplishments for the 14-year-old Paschka.
"This is an amazing season. We had such an amazing team, I just loved sharing it with an awesome group of girls," Paschka said.
McKay joined Paschka in the top 10, finishing in eighth. Bella Teply, Carlie Condit and Addison Stephens rounded out the scoring, adding 20, 22 and 23 points to the total.
St. Xavier finishes top-2 for 3rd time in 4 years
For St. Xavier, a third top-two finish in four years was enough to make head coach Andy Wietmarschen emotional.
"I'm just so proud of these guys. They went through so much this year. Injuries and a whole manner of other things. And for us to run this well today, I'm just so happy," Wietmarschen said.
Junior Evan Trapp led the Bombers with an eighth-place finish in 15 minutes, 49 seconds. Like Mason, St. Xavier placed two more runners in the top 50. Colin Sams ran 16:27, good for 27th, and Alex Bruns crossed the line in 49th place.
Just as Mason respects St. Xavier, the Bombers know just how much a rivalry with Mason means.
"We knew it was gonna be a tough battle," Trapp said.
Lakota West's 1st girls appearance was a memorable one
The Lakota West girls team made its first appearance at the state level. Before and during the race, head coach Sean Hart felt the team could finish anywhere between fifth and 50th in the standings. Regardless of the outcome, senior Lauren Mang cherished the opportunity to run one more race with her team.
"It feels really good, getting to work with all year and end up at state, it's really nice," Mang said.
Hart's volatility wasn't due to insecurities about the team's ability; the fire alarm in their hotel went off at 1:30 in the morning, leading to a half-hour evacuation.
"The coaches are freaking out, but the kids just said, "Oh, okay.' That's the way they've been all year. They're very resilient," Hart said.
Sophomore Evelyn Prodoehl, who had a top-10 finish last year, led the Firehawks with a fifth-place result. Mang crossed the line in 70th, but West finished at seventh in the team standings thanks to a large number of non-scoring individuals between Prodoehl and Mang.
Other notable results
The Loveland boys team made its third consecutive state appearance, finishing in 18th place with 353 points. Ronan Wolfer was the only runner in the top 100, finishing in 16:55. His time and place only speak to how deep the talent is in Division I. Cayden Dyer, who was in the lead pack after 400 meters, finished in 108th in a time of 17:01.
One year after finishing as runner-up in the team standings, the Loveland girls team returned to the same stage and took fifth place. Caroline Murnan led the Tigers with an 11th-place finish, while seniors Ally Colegate and Madison Conatser finished less than one second apart in 45th and 47th.
Walnut Hills senior Gianni Allwein ended his high school cross-country career with a top-10 finish. Crossing the line in seventh place with a time of 15:40 meant that he was also the third-best non-scoring individual.
Little Miami senior Grace Biddle took 12th place in a time of 18:38. Her time was one second better than last year, and she improved on a 23rd-place result from 2021.
More 2022 OHSAA DI state cross-country results from Cincinnati runners
Individuals- boys
48. Charlie Vause (Milford)
101. Jacob Fleig (Lebanon)
119. Noah Yamaguchi (Turpin)
Individuals- girls
27. Alyssa Hammond (Oak Hills)
36. Jocelyn Willis (Lakota East)
42. Eva Hensley (Oak Hills)
46. Mackenzie Evans (Little Miami)
Division II sees strong results from boys and girls
The second batch of races on Saturday saw two girls teams place in the top 10 and two individuals finish inside the top 20.
Waynesville took eighth place with a total of 238 points. They were led by Samantha Erbach, whose runner-up finish is an improvement on last year's 11th-place result. Her sister Kendal, only a freshman, ran a personal best time of 20:32. The elder Erbach knows this depth makes the Spartans a contender next year, especially with their top seven runners returning.
"We have our whole team coming back, plus two eighth graders coming in. I think next year's going to be better than this year," Erbach said
Right behind Waynesville in the team standings was Mercy McAuley. Lead runner Julia Verhoff was in the top 10 at the two-mile mark but faded to 134th due to exhaustion. This meant that Ashley Williams took over as the Wolves' figurehead. Williams was able to finish in 37th place, with fellow junior May Humpert not far behind in 39th. While the Wolves would have liked a better outcome, assistant coach Tom Witte emphasized the health of the runners.
"At the turn, Julia was in 10th place, which is right where we thought she could be. I think she was going after some people with much better qualifying times, and she just wore herself out," Witte said.
Badin sophomore Abby Mathews who came into the race seeded 46th, ended up with a top-10 finish, claiming a medal with a time of 19:04. She already owns the school record, but knew that on a windy day, anything could happen.
"It really just comes down to how you want to go into the race. Seedings don't matter, just who shows up and does what needs to get done," Mathews said.
Other DII notable results
Mariemont senior Bennett Turan equaled his time of 16:16 at last year's state meet while improving from 21st to a 13th-place finish.
Liam Morris finished in the top 20 for Indian Hill, whose 287 points was good for 12th place in the team standings. R.J. Poffenberger and James McGrath finished in 92nd and 96th, respectively, but with a returning core of runners, the Braves should improve on this year's result in 2023.
A young Madeira Mustang team led by Ben Wetzel, J.T. Hamstra and Ryan Ashton finished in 15th in the team standings. This was the Mustang's first appearance in several years, and head coach Josh Dooley is excited about how the young team performed.
"It was great to have a fresh new team with a lot of freshman in that group there and have experience for next year," Dooley said.
Additional Cincinnati DII finishers
Individuals- boys
37. Jonas King (Waynesville)
38. Nico Arraje (Wyoming)
Individuals- girls
46. Meredith Guest (Wyoming)
63. Joyeuse Mohurakeye (Aiken)
70. Lauren Hudepohl (Wyoming)
74. Brady Sterbling(Bethel-Tate)
144. Taylor Noszka (Wilmington)
Summit Country Day, Madeira excel in Division III
After missing the state meet by one point in 2021, the Summit Country Day Silver Knights returned with a vengeance. Senior Larkin Woodward and brother Liam, only a freshman, led SCD to a third-place finish, scoring 157 points. The finish was the fourth top-three for Summit in the past five years. They narrowly missed second place, trailing Ottowa Hills by only six points. The brothers finished less than one second apart as they crossed the line in 23rd and 25th place.
"It was really cool. I was looking to beat him but I think he wanted to beat me for his last senior meet," Liam said.
Alex Rojas was the third Silver Knight to finish with a time of 17:23. His 75th-place result was distant from the Woodward brothers, but a litany of individuals between Summit's top three meant that Rojas scored a favorable 41 points.
"Our theme was just focusing on us. Ultimately, we knew we had certain guys in certain places. We knew that it would kind of round out that way," head coach Kurtis Smith said.
Led by senior Izzy Arredondo, the Madeira Amazons matched last year's finish of sixth place in the team standings. Arredondo and Cate LeRoy ran together for the first mile of the race before separating, but both Arredondo and coach Dooley were confident in the rest of the pack's ability to score points.
"We say 'push with your teammates.' When I passed (LeRoy), I said, 'Come on kid, come on kid'," Arredondo said.
Arredondo took 53rd place, while LeRoy (76th) led a stream of 'Zons that included Ella Garza (79th), Ava Henry (82nd) and Annie Meyer (88th). In addition to matching last year's standing, a sixth-place finish is Madeira's highest ever.
Micah Katz, the lone individual in Division III, took 102nd place in 17:40.
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