Scott leads Cougar boys to regionals

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

COLUMBUS GROVE — Gas up the bus – Van Wert’s boys’ cross country team is headed to regional competition in Tiffin.

The Cougars finished as the runner-up to Bryan and had the individual runner-up during Saturday’s Division II district meet at Columbus Grove. The Golden Bears won the team title with 61 points, while Van Wert finished with 69 points. Defiance was a distant third with 119 points, followed by Celina (123) and Ottawa-Glandorf (129). The remaining finishes, 6-11, were Wauseon (140), St. Marys Memorial (190), Bath (192), Coldwater (198), Napoleon (254) and Kenton (254). Napoelon won the 10th place tiebreaker.

“Heading into districts this week we felt if our boys ran solid we could advance as a team,” Van Wert head coach Kimberly Laudick said. “I feel like our boys collectively put together one of their best races of the season despite some illness within our team.”

Ottawa-Glandorf junior Ty Rosengarten won the individual title with a time of 15:47.29. Van Wert junior Owen Scott was the runner-up with a personal record time of 15:49.99.

Teammate John Kramer finished 11th overall (16:57.26) and Drew Laudick finished 13th (17:06.45). Harrison Sloan (21st, 17:32.06) and Rylan Miller (22nd, 17:34.77) rounded out the scoring for the Cougars. Johan Gemmer finished 27th (17:50.36) and Noah Spath recorded a 34th place finish (18:11.42).

“We had four of our seven runners run season-best times,” Laudick stated. “Owen ran a lifetime best of 15.49.99, John finally broke into the 16’s by running a lifetime best 16:57.26. He has been so close to doing this and I’m so happy he crossed that threshold. Harrison Sloan really stepped up for our team today and ran a 25 second personal record and even though he didn’t score for us, I thought Noah Spath had a great race and a lifetime best time.”

The Division II regionals will be held at Hedges-Boyer Park in Tiffin, with the boys slated to run at 12:45 p.m.

“We’ll run in a very tough Tiffin regional but with a very solid week of practice we feel confident if we do our job we will put ourselves into the mix to qualify some individuals for state, but more importantly, the whole team,” Laudick said.

The season came to an end for the Lady Cougars on Saturday. The girls finished seventh overall with 153 team points. Ottawa-Glandorf easily won the team title (32 points), followed by Kenton (82), Bryan (84), Napoleon (109), Celina (152), Defiance (152, tiebreaker won by Celina), Van Wert, Wauseon (197) and St. Marys Memorial (199).

Alyssa Knittle led Van Wert with a 19th place finish (21:15.24), and Noelle Byrum placed 28th (22:00.00). Lizzie Spath (35th, 22:30.10), Harmony Schuerman (41st, 23:12.02), and Brenna Kimmet (55th, 24:38.05) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Cougars.

“We knew going into it we could be anywhere from fifth to seventh as a team but also knew anything can happen in tournament,” Laudick said. “Overall we saw more personal records and solid competitive performances from all the girls. They showed grit the entire race and continued to fight until the end.”

Although it wasn’t in the cards to advance, I couldn’t be more proud of the girls’ determination and grace this entire season to do the best they could.”

Bryan’s Kate Thormeier won the individual title with a time of 18:20.54.