RUSSIA — Cross country season began in Shelby County on Tuesday the same way it ended in 2017: with Fort Loramie on top.
Fort Loramie’s boys and girls cross country teams — which won the Shelby County Athletic League last year — swept the Shelby County Preview in Russia. The preview included all seven SCAL teams as well as Sidney and Lehman Catholic.
The Redskins’ top five girls runners finished among the top eight racers to lead the squad to a first-place finish over second-place Russia. Fort Loramie bested the Raiders by 40 points and over six minutes in total team time. Houston was third, Botkins was fourth, Anna finished fifth, Sidney was sixth and Jackson Center was seventh.
Fort Loramie freshman Olivia Borchers had an impressive debut in her first high school race. She finished first in 20:32, over 30 seconds faster than Houston senior Hollie Voisard, who was a state qualifier last year.
Voisard was second in 21:04.0, narrowly beating Russia sophomore Becca Seger (21:04.4). Houston freshman Ava Knouff was fourth in 21:28.
The next four spots were claimed by Fort Loramie runners. Junior Danielle Berning was fifth (21:30), sophomore Corynn Heitkamp was sixth (21:48), freshman Claire Rethman was seventh (22:05) and sophomore Dani Eilerman was eighth (22:12).
Russia senior Claire Meyer (22:24) and freshman Ella Hoehne (22:25) rounded out the top ten runners.
Russia’s Anna Fiessinger (17th, 23:29) and Emma Delaet (37, 25:14) rounded out Russia’s girls top five racers.
The rest of Houston’s top five finishers were Danielle Stephenson (22, 23:57), Katrina Meiring (33, 24:59) and Addie White (34, 25:04).
Liza Aselage was Botkins’ top runner. She finished 12th in 22:36. Kelsie Burmeister (14, 23:07), Makenna Maurer (25, 24:09), Emma Koenig (28, 24:32) and Jill Greve (32, 24:55) rounded out the Trojans’ top five.
Anna freshman Kaylie Kipp led the squad. She finished 13th in 23:02. Bethany Althauser (23, 24:03), Kayli Brewer (24, 24:08), Kaylie Kneer (35, 25:05) and Hope Bixler (41, 25:36) were the Rockets’ other top racers.
Mariana Kellner (18, 23:25), Camryn Smith (30, 24:44), Montana Stephens (31, 24:51), Sage Steinke (47, 26:22) and McKenna O’Donnell (60, 28:19) were Sidney’s top five runners.
Deanna Lowry (44, 25:53), Ariana Gross (53, 27:27), Jesci Baum (64, 29:46), Jasci Baum (65, 29:47), and Lennon Wise (70, 31:48) were Jackson Center’s top five.
Lehman and Fairlawn had teams compete individually. Lehman’s Maria Schmieising was the squad’s top runner (19, 23:41). Myla Cox (39, 25:32) was Fairlawn’s top racer.
Shelby County Preview boys results
Fort Loramie’s top five boys runners finished in the top 13 racers to lead the squad to a first-place finish over second-place Houston. Anna was third, Botkins was fourth, Sidney was fifth, Russia was sixth, Fairlawn was seventh, Jackson Center was eighth and Lehman Catholic was ninth.
Fort Loramie seniors Jake Rethman and Joe Ballas took the first two spots. Rethman was first in 16:44, while Ballas was second in 17:11.
Houston senior Tristin Freistuhler was third (17:50), Sidney senior Gavin Bockrath was fourth (18:05), Fort Loramie freshman Colten Gasson was fifth (18:07), Houston senior Ethan Knouff was sixth (18:16), Anna freshman Lucas Smith was seventh (18:24), Houston junior Blake Jacobs was eighth (18:30), Botkins freshman Collin Watterson was ninth (18:31) and Fort Loramie freshman Colin Gasson was tenth (18:42).
Jordan Drees (13, 18:53) was Fort Loramie’s fifth best runner, while Jacob Slater (11, 18:49) and Patrick Meiring (20, 19:16) were Houston’s fourth and fifth best runners.
Anna’s other top runners included Jacob Robinson (12, 18:51), Caleb Gaier (16, 19:01) and Colton Nanik (29, 19:47).
Botkins’ other top runners were Alan Fullenkampp (17, 19:06), Donovan Brown (18, 19:09), R.J. Poeppelman (24, 19:34) and Elliot Goubeaux (31, 19:59).
Sidney’s other top runners were Ian Bonifas (19, 19:15), Eli Straman (21, 19:24), Grant Hoying (28, 19:46) and Noah Schwepe (40, 20:51).
Russia’s top five runners were Gavin George (14, 18:56), Nicholas Caldwell (15, 19:01), Andrew DeLoye (22, 19:28), Aiden Shappie (30, 19:57) and Jacob Goubeaux (33, 20:16).
Dominic Davis (37, 20:38), Jonah Brautigam (42, 20:53), Isaac Ambos (44, 20:59), Cade Allison (60, 22:05) and Jordan Henman (75, 23:37) were Fairlawn’s top five runners.
Ethan Pohlschneider (74, 23:25), Alex Glick (80, 24:33), Raymond Lowry (81, 24:42), Reese Tooke (84, 24:51) and Micah Russell (88, 25:14) were Jackson Center’s top five runners.
Elias Bezy (53, 21:30) led Lehman. The rest of the Cavaliers’ top racers were Alex Vanderhorst (61, 22:10), Scott Petersen (72, 23:18), Aaron Topp (89, 26:10) and Casey Topp (97, 31:10).
Auglaize County Preview
New Bremen’s boys cross country runners came in third and New Knoxville came in fourth in the Auglaize County Preview on Tuesday in St. Marys.
Landin Boyle led the Cardinals. He was fourth overall in 18:41. Hunter Waterman was 14th in 20:06, Ben Zimpfer was 17th in 20:35, Micah Condon was 19th in 21:03 and Connor Ransbottom was 23rd in 21:52.3.
Zach Kuck led New Knoxville. He was 24th in 21:52.9. Jamiel Bucher was 26th in 21:56, Jared Osborne was 27th in 21:58, Jakob Rollins was 31st in 24:04 and Dylan Steinke was 38th in 25:26.
