It was a great start to the season for the West Liberty-Salem boys cross country team Saturday as the Big Orange won the Division I/II race at the Bob Schul Invitational.
WL-S had 58 points to win comfortably over second-place Vandalia-Butler (117). Piqua was third (125), Bellbrook and Oakwood tied for fourth (167), Granville was fifth (168) and Bellefontaine was sixth (178).
“It was a phenomenal start to the 2024 competitive season,” said WL-S boys coach Mike Louden. “Any time you can win an invitational is amazing, but to do it this year racing up a division against D1 schools is pretty special. All 20 of these guys have been training consistently the entire summer and the results today are a testament of that.”
Caleb Larson led the Big Orange by finishing fifth in a PR of 16.28.7. Asher Knox was right behind in sixth (16:31.6), Dylan King was eighth (PR of 16:37.9) and Asher Cole was 13th (PR of 16:48.5).
Brayan Gullett was 26th for the Big Orange in 17:12.1, Troy Bradley was 34th (17:33.3), Brevin Louden placed 40th (17:43.3), Taryn Bradley was 48th (17.52.8), Quentin Rudolph was 53rd (17:55.6) and Adly Knox was 54th (17:55.8).
Also for WL-S, Zeke Longshore was 68th (18:19.7), Garrett Wallen finished 75th (18:29.7), Owen Hardwick was 81st (18:36.4), Zac Carter finished 100th (18:57.5), Gauge Lee was 148th (20:12.8), Zeke Sidders was 156th (20:20.8), Levi Miller was 208th (21:41.5), Jackson Henry was 240th (23:13) and Daniel Erne was 281st (24:49).
“I thought Caleb Larson, Asher Knox, Dylan King, and Asher Cole did an awesome job getting out and settling into position up front for us today,” said Louden. “I also thought Brayan Gullett had an amazing first race as a high schooler rounding out our scoring five.”
For Bellefontaine, Hayden Maus led the way in third with a PR of 16:20.
Jake Moreland was 10th for the Chiefs (PR of 16:40), Oliver Grandstaff finished 39th (17:43), Elias Abrego was 67th (18:19) and Will Myers was 69th (PR of 18:23).
“It was good start to the 5K season,” said BHS head coach Ben Davis. “Hayden is inching closer to our top-10 board.”
Also running for the Chieftain boys were Landon Gerwels in 106th (PR of 19:11), Brenden Murray in 161st (20:27), Ryan Alexander in 182nd (20:42), Zerek Longbrake in 198th (21:24), Fredy Hernandez in 237th (23:08), Tristyn Wilson in 241st (23:14) and Zeke Finch in 257th (23:57).
Big Orange girls take 4th
West Liberty-Salem’s girls cross country team was fourth in the Division III race at the Bob Schul Invitational on Saturday.
Summit Country Day won with 62 points. Minster was second with 68, Madeira was third with 74 and the Big Orange had 116 points.
“I was very impressed with how the girls battled today with hot temperatures and a competitive field,” said WL-S head coach Aaron Lauck. “Minster is the defending state champion. Summit and Madeira will be two of the top teams at our regional meet.”
Gwen McCullough led the Big Orange with a fourth-place finish in 20:15. Malia Miller was next in fifth (20:19) in a field of 190 finishers.
“Gwen and Malia did a great job running up front and taking care of business,” said Lauck. “Half of our finishers ran their very first high school 5k which has many teachable moments. I am excited to see their improvements as we progress through the season.”
Isla Leichty was 25th for WL-S (21:54), Addi Wallen finished 36th (22:24), Ivy Matthews finished 51st (23:09), Emma Smith was 113th (25:40), Bella Hughes was 143rd (27:30) and Ella Albers was 163rd (30:27).
Brown leads Lady Chiefs at Bob Schul
Sophomore Grace Brown finished fourth to lead the Bellefontaine girls to an 11th-place finish out of 30 teams in the Division I/II race at the Bob Schul Invitational on Saturday.
There were 260 runners in the field. Brown ran a time of 19:53.
Also running for the Lady Chiefs (places weren’t reported) were Kailyn Newman (21:51), Brianne Sechrest (23:30), Cece Reier (25:23), Hannah Wilson (27:34) and Claire Grandstaff (34:46).
Lakers runs at Bob Schul
Indian Lake’s girls and boys cross country teams ran in the Milton-Union Bob Schul Invitational on Saturday.
The girls team was 14th.
Reagan Rash placed 10th (20:30) to lead the Lakers. Evie Wagner placed 60th (23:13), Alicia Brielmaier was 91st (24:28), Haley Metzger was 120th (25:31) and Kayleigh Taylor was 137th (26:08).
The boys did not have runners to post a team score. Competing was Will Faler in 160th (20:30), Bryan Mohler in 183rd (21:03), Caleb Altstaetter in 241st (22:16) and Daniel Wahl in 273rd (23:21).
Lady Raiders take 4th at Northwestern meet
Benjamin Logan’s girls cross country team was fourth out of seven full teams in the Northwestern Invitational on Saturday.
Hillard Darby won with 45 points. Dublin Scioto was second with 56 points, Northwestern was third with 98 and the Raiders had 101.
Scarlett Elliott led the Raiders in 16th (23:44). Estella Wenger was 19th (24:00), Lottie Boden was 22nd (24:06), Gwendolyn Smith was 25th (24:39), Bonnie Brunson finished 29th (24:57), Hadley Boysel was 31st (24:59) and Elliott Butler was 36th (25:17).
Also running for the Raiders were Mollie Siefring in 37th (25:25), Peyton Smith in 38th (25:32), Nora Elliott in 39th (25:34), Lucy Wenger in 41st (25:52), Lauren Kennedy in 46th (26:45), Cielo Wilcox in 47th (26:49), Maille Ricketts in 60th (29:07), Mallory Chapman in 71st (31:11), Montana Coleman in 81st (32:59), Natalie Chapman in 82nd (36:33) and Shelby Watkins in 83rd (37:31).