Young runners lead VW to state meet

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

TIFFIN — It’s not something you see often – a young group of runners headed to the OHSAA cross country state championships, but Van Wert is bucking that trend.

Just how young are the Cougars? Symphony Schuerman, who led Van Wert to a fifth place finish at Saturday’s Division III Tiffin regional is a sophomore who qualified for state as a freshman. She ran the course in 19:01 on Saturday, the fourth fastest girls’ time in school history and received a medal for finishing eighth overall. She was followed by junior Noelle Byrum (26th, 20:14), and then three freshmen – Ruby Dicke (31st, 20:25), Jasleen Sharma (39th, 20:44), and Faith Stoller (65th, 21:39). Their efforts led the Cougars, ranked No. 15 in the final OATCC Coaches Poll, as a team to the state championship meet for the first time in 12 years.

Head coach Bob Spath and assistant coach Natoshia Wilhelm said they’re proud of all team members this season.

“The grit and determination we’ve seen from each athlete has been the reason behind such a successful season, the duo stated.

Huron won the team title with 46 points and Ottawa-Glandorf was the runner-up (126). Napoleon finished third (136), Archbold fourth (139) and Van Wert fifth (146) out of 20 teams. Port Clinton’s Morgan Wiechman was the individual winner (18:07).

The girls’ team will run at 11:50 a.m. Saturday at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park near Columbus.

After a successful season with several personal records, Van Wert’s boys’ team saw the season come to an end with a sixth place finish at regionals.

The Cougars were led by junior Harrison Sloan who ran a 17:01 and finished 21st overall. Johan Gemmer, a senior this year, ran an all-time personal record of 17:06 and finished 24th in his final race. Freshman Calvin Byrum finished 40th (17:31), followed by sophomore Alex Bauer (45th, 17:46) and junior Isaak Castillo (48th, 17:45) 

Liberty-Benton won the Division III boys’ team title (58), easily by outdistancing runner-up Bryan (90). Ottawa Hills finished third (148) out of 19 teams, Ontario fourth (159), Upper Sandusky fifth (169), followed by Van Wert (174).

The Cougars were ranked No. 17 in the final Division III OATCC Coaches Poll of the season.