Division III
Where: Fortress Obetz, 4175 Alum Creek Drive, Obetz
When: Nov. 5, 11 a.m. (boys varsity), 11:45 a.m. (girls varsity)
Area team qualifiers: none
Area individual qualifiers: Boys, Michael Couture, Open Door; Joe Fox, Wellington. Girls, none
Favorites: Boys, Mount Gilead; Girls, Minster
What to watch for: Couture finished 20th in the state last year to earn All-Ohio honors, but he has higher aspirations this time around. The senior struggled to keep up with Brylan Holland of East Canton and eventual winner Luke Snyder of Rittman at the regional meet, but he came up big at last year’s state meet and if he performs well once again, a finish in the top 10 is within reach. … Fox is a fascinating story, as he missed much of the season with a broken bone in his foot. The sophomore certainly isn’t in peak shape, but whatever happens in Columbus is icing on the cake. Just getting to the state meet is quite impressive. … Holland and Snyder are among the individual favorites once again among the boys. Riley Nixon of Toledo Ottawa Hills and Will Baker of Mount Gilead could also be in the hunt. Snyder edged Holland on a lean at the Boardman regional but look for the veteran Holland to make sure that doesn’t happen again, taking the state title. … Mount Gilead and Ottawa Hills are the favorites to take the boys team title, with Mount Gilead getting the nod because of its fourth and fifth runners being better. But Mount Gilead only goes five deep, so an off day by anyone could spell doom. … To the surprise of no one, Minster is the pick among the girls. The Wildcats already own a state record 13 titles and are strong favorites to win their 14th. Neighboring Fort Loramie is probably the next best team, but Minster returns all seven from last year’s championship squad and already has beaten Fort Loramie multiple times. … It should be an exceptional individual race among the Division III girls, with favored Megan Hipple of McDonald being chased by Paige Steinke of Anna, Jaylee Wingate of Creston Norwayne and Pyper Gibson of Rittman. But none of them will catch Hipple, who was fifth last year and also won the state track title at 3,200 meters.
Division II
Where: Fortress Obetz,
When: Nov. 5, 1 p.m. (boys varsity), 1:45 (girls varsity)
Area team qualifiers: Girls, Bay
Area individual qualifiers: Boys, Ben Myers, Fairview; Girls, Madison Palmer, Brookside
Favorites: Boys, Alliance Marlington; Girls, Minerva
What to watch for: The Bay girls are the lone area team in this race, and the Rockets could be in line for a top 10 finish or perhaps even better. Led by senior Maeve Ransom, Bay is solid from 1 through 5, while many of the other contenders have large gaps in their pack. They Rockets used that consistent pack to placed second in the regional meet and it could come in handy once again. … Minerva won the title last year in something of a surprise, but the Lions finished second in the Pickerington regional meet, three points behind top-ranked Granville. With a margin that close, the teams are basically even, which means the state title comes down to who has the better day. Look for an inspired Minerva team to get revenge from last week and win its second in a row. … The girls individual race will probably be a tale of two Bellas, as Bella Butler of Dayton Oakwood and Bella Graham of Marlington are the favorites. Butler has spent her high school career finishing second in the state in both cross country and track multiple times behind teammate Grace Hartman. But Hartman has moved on to North Carolina State, the top-ranked collegiate women’s program in the country, so it’s Butler’s turn to finish first. … Myers didn’t have a great race at the Boardman regional, placing 12th, but he still accomplished the most important thing, which is moving on. His stated goal is to place in the top 10 in the state and he’s fully capable of doing that if he returns to his confident, aggressive style of racing. … Palmer is an unusual runner in that she struggles when she is surrounded by other runners. That works OK during the season, as the most talented runners are often way out front by themselves. But on the state level it is unlikely that she will find herself alone for any extended period of time. How she handles the crowded conditions will determine her outcome, but she certainly is capable of earning All-Ohio honors by finishing in the top 30. Last year, she placed 49th with what was then a PR time of 19:35.2. … A special word needs to be stated about the Minerva program. After the Cambridge district meet ended, some members of the boys team were cooling down. They have a tradition of throwing a log off a bridge into a stream each year, but when no suitable log could be found, they tried to knock over what appeared to be a rotted tree. However, the tree fell on one of the athletes and killed him. An unbelievable tragedy that had to be very difficult to overcome, but both teams qualified to the state meet and the girls are among the favorites to take the team championship. … The Marlington boys are prohibitive favorites to repeat as champions despite graduating two of their top four runners from last year. Led by junior Colin Cernansky, the Dukes should win it once again. Dayton Carroll is probably the next best team, but the Patriots have a large gap toward the back of their pack, and Marlington is likely to take advantage. … Those two schools should be involved in the chase for the individual title as well. Cernansky and defending champion Jack Agnew of Carroll are expected to be the top two finishers, and it could go either way.
Division I
Where: Fortress Obetz
When: Nov. 5, 3 p.m. (boys varsity), 3:45 p.m. (girls varsity)
Area team qualifiers: Avon girls, Rocky River girls, Westlake girls
Area individual qualifiers: Boys, Luke Bowlsby, Amherst; Girls, Katie Clute, Olmsted Falls; Aurora Wilson, Amherst
Favorites: Boys, Mason; Girls, Hilliard Davidson
What to watch for: It’s been hinted at throughout the fall, but if all goes well in this race, the results will bear out that the two best female distance runners in the state are from the western edge of Cuyahoga County — Clute of Olmsted Falls and Sarah Peer of Westlake. Clute runs very aggressively, daring people to keep up with her. Peer used to just follow her friend and rival around the course, battling to hang on in the third mile. But recently she and coach Dennis Sullivan came to the conclusion that she is better off running even splits and not going out so hard. The results are intriguing. At the district meet, Clute won by 34 seconds. At the regional meet that margin was cut down to 17 seconds. Could Peer pull off what could only be referred to as a monumental upset against the undefeated Clute? Probably not, but it’s fun to think about. Clute is headed to Oregon next year, and Peer is just a junior, so her turn will come. … Wilson was among the most excited qualifiers at Boardman, as her 15th-place finish was a surprise to everyone, including her. But there’s something to be said for peaking at the right time, which she certainly has done. … The girls race will have a definite area presence, as Westlake, Avon and Rocky River all made the field. The Demons are ranked third in the state behind Mason and Hilliard Davidson, but it will take a near-perfect race for Westlake to overcome the top two. Perrysburg pulled a major surprise in winning last year, so it can be done. Peer will be up front, so runners 2-5 need to finish within about 40 seconds of each other in order to have a chance. Davidson had all five of its scorers break 19 minutes on a very fast regional course at Pickerington, which makes the Wildcats the favorite. Mason is a little stronger up front, but there is a substantial gap between the fourth and fifth runners, which could be the downfall for the Comets. … Avon has been ranked as high as sixth in the state and the Eagles seem to be on the comeback after struggling with illness late in the regular season, earning the first state berth for the program since 1988 when they finished third in the Class A (small school) race. Freshman Kaitlyn Reese is a bona fide star up front, and Avon used to have a very tight pack but the issues with illness caused a bit of a spread. In order for the Eagles to maximize their potential, the pack needs to be much tighter than it was in the regional race. … Rocky River is led by rising star Brianna Chaves, who was a very strong fourth in the regional meet. Numbers 2-5 finished within 16 seconds of each other, which is exceptionally good. If that pack could stay together and move up in the field, things would be even better. … Bowlsby qualified for the state meet as a freshman, placing 74th. He missed out last year and despite some injury issues during this season he is back in Columbus once again. … The favorites in the boys race are defending champion Mason and Connor Ackley of Hilliard Davidson. The Comets only had six finishers in last year’s victory and the top two graduated, but they have been the state’s top-ranked team since the season’s midpoint and that should hold true. Ackley could have a battle on his hands from Tommy Rice of Canton GlenOak, last year’s state track champion at 3,200 meters. But Ackley has shown throughout the season that he’s the one to beat.
