County teams do well at own invite

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

Lincolnview and Van Wert finished second and third behind Columbus Grove at Saturday’s OhioHealth Van Wert High School Invitational on Saturday, while Crestview finished eighth among 17 teams on the boys’ side of the race.

On the girls’ side, Lincolnview finished second, Parkway third and Van Wert fourth out of 14 teams, while Crestview placed 12th.

Boys

Van Wert’s Owen Scott paced the Cougars by placing fourth overall with a time of 15:55.35, behind individual champion Noah Williams of Shawnee (15:53.53), who edged Columbus Grove’s Luke Ellerbrock (15:53.88) and Ottawa-Glandorf’s Ty Rosengarten (15:54.48). Lincolnview’s Conner Baldauf finished fifth overall (16:23.75) and teammate Evan Johns gave the Lancers a pair of top 10 finishers (eighth, 16:37.49).

After Scott, Andrew Laudick finished 12th overall for the Cougars (16:47.60), followed by John Kramer (15th, 17:06.90), Rylan Miller (17th, 17:15.18), Johan Gemmer (39th, `8:07.35), Harrison Sloan (43rd, 18:11.81) and Noah Spath (18:27.43).

“The boys had one of their most collective all around performances this weekend,” Van Wert head coach Kimberly Laudick said. “Owen Scott dipped into the 15’s which was huge and puts him No. 2 on the overall top 10 list. (There were) many personal records on the boys’ side with times continuing to drop.”

“We are just where we need to be this time of the season and expect to see more solid performances in the next few weeks as well into tournament season,” she added. “Our focus now is to bring home a WBL championship.”

After Baldauf and Johns, Kreston Tow finished 14th for the Lancers (16:51.01) and Maddox Norton was 21st with a time of 17:37.39, Trace Klausing was 32nd, 17:54.16), Myles Moody (33rd, 17:56.45) and Zander Coil (53rd, 18:31.06).

“The boys had a solid day, especially our middle pack,” Lincolnview head coach Matt Langdon said. “We had some kids PR by over a minute and our 8-12 average was 18:47, which is just two seconds from a school record. The boys have been able to be very consistent this season and have learned to run with great confidence.”

“Today sets us up well to run fast over the next several races,” Langdon continued. “Many of our young kids are really starting to figure out how to race at the high school level and that is exciting for the future of the program.”

Crestview had a pair of top 25 finishers. First for the Knights was Andy Heth (22nd, 17:37.82). He was followed by Lincoln Smith (25th, 17:49.81), Drayden Hoffman (38th, 18:08.50), Jake Heth (52nd, 18:35.14), Payton Scott (57th, 18:55.54), Logan Foudy (67th, 19:12.88) and Kale Vining (72nd, 19:21.39).

Columbus Grove finished with 70 points, Lincolnview had 78, Van Wert 85 and Crestview 194.

Girls

The Lancer girls had two top eight finishers on the way to a runner-up finish. Brynleigh Moody placed third overall (19:11.40) while Ava Milligan logged an eighth place finish (20:22.65). Keira Breese finished 18th (21:22.91), followed by Kendall Hoffman (21:41.73), Lillian Mount (29th, 22:10.23), Elyssa Renner (35th, 22:27.70) and Kassidy Hammons (36th, 22:29.54).

“This was a big step forward for the girls today,” Langdon said. “It was their season best team average and more importantly, we had a pack of five girls fighting to be our fourth and fifth scorers. This gives us depth and the opportunity to do some great things as a team.”

“With what we have out front, our second pack is key to the team success,” Langdon added. The girls showed a lot of toughness and grit today and that is exciting moving forward. I was thrilled with how the entire girls team raced today.”

Van Wert’s Alyssa Knittle finished 20th overall (21:24.77), followed by Harmony Schuerman (28th, 22:04.02) and Lexi Deitemeyer (32nd, 22:23.06).
Lizzie Spath and Noelle Bryum were 40th and 59th (22:33.72, 23:43.85), followed by Sarah Verville (70th, 25:04.02) and Brenna Kimmet (84th, 26:25.91).

“We are still dealing with some injuries and working through that but overall, I’m happy with their fourth place performance in a competitive field,” Laudick said.

Leading the way for the lady Knights was Anna Gardner (26th, 21:41.83), followed by Kenzie Harting (41st, 22:35.12), Kate Sawmiller (62nd, 24:52.11), Alexis Flagg (70th, 25:31.39), Ava Motycka (71st 25:56.72) and, Chloe Miller (79th, 27:29.11).

Ottawa-Glandorf finished with 41 team points while Lincolnview had 83. Parkway finished with 127 points, Van Wert 176, and Crestview 273.