STATE BOUND!

By Mark Carpenter

People’s Defender

For the first time in school history, the West Union Lady Dragons will be making the trek to Fortress Obetz and be part of the competitive field at the OHSAA State Cross-Country Meet. By virtue of their fifth place team finish last Saturday in the Division IV Regional Meet at Pickerington North High School, Coach Donnie McCarty and his talented squad earned their spot amongst the state’s top teams with the state berth.

The Division IV Regional Meet consisted of 184 runners and West Union’s Stella Rhonemus was named to the All-Regional Team, an honor given to the races’a top 24 runners. Rhonemus placed 22nd overall in a time of 20:27.57 to make All-Regional while teammate Ella Shupert narrowly missed by finishing 26th at 29:47.54). Not far behind that pair was Lydia Armstrong in 28th at a time of 20:56.35. All three of those runners are underclassmen and will return to the team next fall.

Also part of the regional race for the Lady Dragons were Tabitha Armstrong (91st, 23:28.06), Emma Crawford (118th,24:08.25), Aubree Hoop (154th, 26:23.16) and Nina McCann (162nd, 27:13.71).

“This team of girls has broken and set almost every individual and team cross country record in our school,” said Coach McCarty. “It was fitting that they were the first ones in school history to punch their ticket to the state meet. With first place finishes at county, league, and districts, they have had an incredible season and making it to the state meet is just the icing on the cake.”

The West Union girls won’t be the only ones representing the county in the state meet. Manchester senior Ryan Butcher-Raines finished 21st in the Boys Division IV race (189 runners) with his time of 17:11.33, earning him All-Regional honors plus a coveted individual berth in the state meet.

“Going into the regional meet, we knew Ryan had a strong chance to qualify for state, but it was going to take an exceptional race to make it happen,” said Manchester cross-country coach Sean Inman. “Through the first two miles, he was right on the edge of the qualifying pack, and we knew it would come down to his finish. Ryan dug deep and showed tremendous grit over the final stretch, finishing 21st and claiming the final qualifying spot for the state championship.”

“Ryan has had a truly historic season for Manchester, breaking the school record with a 16:51 at the district meet and now earning a trip to the state championship. His relentless work ethic and dedication to cross country, both during the summer and throughout the season, have helped him achieve both of his goals. We’re excited for one more week of training and the opportunity for him to compete against the best runners in the state this Saturday.”

There were numerous other runners from the county who were part of the regional field and they are listed as follows:

North Adams Girls (Full Team-Division IV)

• Trinity Bosko- 70th, 22:38.47

• Emma Thatcher- 132nd, 24:48.35

• Ellie Bosko- 159th, 26:51.05

• Alyssa McAdams- 164th, 27:25.31)

• Chloe Armstrong- 169th, 28:14.91

Manchester (Two individuals-Division IV)

• Leotie Carman- 35th, 21:10.51

• Ariel Boldman- 134th, 24:52.92

Manchester Boys (Full Team-Division IV, 189 runners)

• Kaden Hazelwood- 108th, 19:10.73

• Elijah Crabtree- 114th, 19:19.68)

• Landen Doyle- 127th, 19:39.65

• Ryan Parker- 142nd, 19:54.13

• Ryan Mack- 143rd, 19:55.89)

• Allen Will- 181st, 22:17.67)

North Adams Boys (One individual- Division IV)

• Jacob Thatcher- 119th, 19:29.29

Peebles Boys (Two individuals- Division IV)

• Grady Myers- 68th, 18:21.48

• Calen Vogler- 81st, 18:37.86

West Union Boys (Three individuals-Division III, 279 runners)

• Andrew Daley- 211th, 19:22.65

• Fletcher Watkins- 224th, 19:34.48

• Ethan Caldwell- 261st, 20:34.81

The West Union girls and Butcher-Raines will now work all week to prepare for the state meet, which will be held at Fortress Obetz in Obetz, Ohio on Saturday, November 1.