Tiffin, OH (September 9, 2018)
The Lakota West Cross Country teams did a split on Saturday sending 20 varsity runners on a three hour bus ride to Tiffin, OH while the rest of the team rode 6 miles south of Lakota West to the Princeton Invitational (Landmark Baptist Church). While the runners ran at two different parts of the state, all runners saw wet, sloppy and muddy conditions due to the remnants of Tropical Storm Gordon.
Tiffin was hosting its 50th annual Cross Country Carnival billed as one of the largest cross country meets in the United States. The tiny northern Ohio town doubles its 18,000 person population with runners, coaches and fans to Hedges Boyer Park every September drawing many of the top teams in Ohio. This year’s meet marked the first time the Firebirds have run in the Carnival since 2015. When you include all of the days races, 5777 total runners saw the Tiffin Carnival course on Saturday.
The girls team ran in the Division I-B Varsity race finishing 18th of 26 teams. Senior Hannah Riesenberg led the way finishing 14th with a season best time of 20:53.30 followed by Freshman Gwyn Barnholtz at 90th place with a season best 22:42.7. Freshman Katelyn Benoit (22:49.1, 94th) , Senior Audrey Rust (22:54.4, 100th) and Freshman Kassie Martin (22:57.3, 106th) rounded out the scoring for the Firebirds with season best times. Sophomore Sofia Rosales and Sophomore Annika Kinley recorded career best times in the DI Open Race (23:02.6, 33rd).
The boys team ran in the Division I-A Varsity race competing against 9 of the 20 2017 OHSAA DI state qualifying teams. The team finished 11th out of 32 teams beating out #15th OATCCC state ranked Mentor by four points. The Firebirds were paced by Sophomore Coleman Cronk who finished 30th overall with a season best 16:47.9 while Senior Alex Kelker came in right behind him at 36th and 16:53.2. The scoring was rounded out with Sophomore Zach Beneteau (17:17.0, 67th), Junior Tyler Kovac with a career best 17:29.4 (95th) and Sophomore Carter Rust with a season best 17:47.8 (129th). Junior John Doyle also recorded a career best in the race (18:02.1, 151st) and Junior Prabh Singh recorded a season best in the DI Open Race (18:29.3, 16th).
At Princeton, the girls team finished 6th of seven teams and Freshman Grace Wheeler led the way finishing 51st at 26:06.4. The boys team finished 5th of seven teams while Junior Luke Wilson led the way with a season best 18:31.1 at 13th place.
Link to FULL Princeton Results
The Varsity Firebird team will return to action on Tuesday, September 11th in the Fort Loramie 50th Annual XC Invitational at the White Oak Campgrounds beginning at 4:30pm. MEET CANCELLED DUE TO COURSE CONDITIONS
The entire squad will compete again as a team on Saturday, September 15th in the 48th Annual Eaton Cross Country Invitational at Fort St. Clair Park. The open races start at 11am while the varsity races start at 12:05pm. There is a very limited amount of handicap parking available in Fort St. Clair park. All other spectators must park at Eaton High School and enjoy
the short walk between Fort St. Clair and Eaton High School. Link to meet information
