By MIKE FRANK
Examiner Sports Writer
OBETZ — Bellefontaine’s cross country teams were represented by their respective star runners here at the state meet Saturday, and both again rose to the occasion with sterling performances.
Sophomore Grace Brown was sensational with a sixth-place effort in the Division II girls race, while junior Hayden Maus ran a blistering time of 15:42 to to place 15th in the Division II boys race. Both earned all-Ohio honors.
Brown dramatically improved in her second trip to the state meet. She finished 36th a year ago, and on Saturday, charged her way to a sixth-place finish.
Her time of 18:24 broke the school record she had previously set.
“I got boxed in pretty early, so I should have went out harder, but coming back from last year is a huge accomplishment,” said Brown. “We went to a lot of competitive meets so I think that really helped us in the postseason. I feel like we were well prepared.”
BHS girls head coach Stacey Wilson was elated with the showing from her star sophomore.
“Every few years you get a race that has it all,” said Wilson. “Elite competition, great course conditions and almost perfect weather. Grace was ready and ran with something to prove. It’s been a comeback season of sorts for her. Her freshman cross country season ended with some serious injuries that lingered into track. She has been unbelievably patient with her training and racing. I could not be more proud of how she raced not just today, but this entire season.”
Sophia Szolosi won the Division II girls race in 17:39, nearly 30 seconds ahead of the runner up. In the team competition, Minerva was first with 110 points, followed by Hathaway Brown (110) and Athens (142).
Maus capped a phenomenal season in which he etched his name atop the program’s history books.
His time of 15:42.15 on Saturday bested BHS career leader Aaron Augustus’ third-place time of 15:44 at state in 1993.
“Hayden’s improvement from last season’s 16:36 PR to this year’s 15:42 state time is tremendous,” said BHS head boys coach Ben Davis. “His work ethic and dedication to detail with out-of-season training is phenomenal. It paid large dividends in what was the fastest D2 boys race in state meet history.”
Maus credited his training to the incredible improvement he enjoyed this season.
“Hundreds of miles and plenty of hills led to a great state meet race experience,” he said.
Maus, who has a 3.98 GPA, also received academic all-Ohio honors.
