BOTKINS — Botkins’ boys and Fort Loramie’s girls cross country squads each finished in first place in the Shelby County Athletic League meet on Saturday at Botkins Community Park, while Anna runners finished first individually in each race.

Anna junior Paige Steinke finished first in the girls race in 17:53, about a minute ahead of the second-place finisher. Anna junior John Young finished first in the boys race in 16:39.2, just ahead of Botkins‘ Keaton Schnippel, who was second in 16:39.4.

The top seven runners in each race earned first team all-SCAL honors, while those who finished eighth through 14th earned second-team honors.

Botkins boys have 4 runners in top 7

Schnippel’s second-place performance helped the Trojans finish first in the boys race. The Trojans finished first with 26 points, 39 ahead of second-place Anna.

Russia finished third, Fort Loramie finished fourth, Houston finished fifth and Jackson Center finished sixth. Fairlawn had runners compete individually.

Aside from Schnippel, Botkins’ Parker Schnippel finished fourth in 16:58, Collin Doseck finished fifth in 16:59, Carson Brown finished seventh in 17:15 and Carter Pleiman finished eighth in 17:20. All but Pleiman earned first team all-SCAL honors by finishing in the top seven, while Pleiman earned second team all-SCAL honors.

Fort Loramie’s Frank Rethman finished third in 16:51 and Russia Brayden Monnin finished sixth in 17:06 to earn first team all-SCAL spots.

Fort Loramie’s Adam Ballas finished ninth in 17:23, Houston’s Wes Vondenhuevel finished 10th in 17:25, Russia’s Caleb Unverferth finished 11th in 17:33, Anna’s Noah Deeren finished 12th in 17:46, Fort Loramie’s Landen Drees finished 13th in 17:55.2 and Anna’s Kyle Edelmann finished 14th in 17:55.6; all earned second team all-SCAL spots.

Aside from Young, Deeren and Edelmann, Anna’s Ethan Blindauer finished 18th in 18:15 and Austin Davis finished 20th in 18:21.8.

Aside from Monnin and Unverferth, Russia’s Matthew Caldwell finished 15th in 17:56, Jayden Gaerke finished 16th in 18:04 and Jacob Schmitmeyer finished 19th in 18:21.

Aside from Rethman, Ballas and Drees, Isaac Holtahus finished 31st for Fort Loramie in 18:34 while Carson Arnold finished 37th in 19:23.

Aside from Vondenhuevel, Houston’s Dylan Shaffer finished 23rd in 18:27, Lucas Lagenkamp finished 27th in 18:33, Rusty Vondenhuevel finished 33rd in 18:51 and Dakari Crawford finished 45th in 19:42.

Jackson Center was without senior Kellen Reichert, who won the Shelby County Preview in 16:32 on Aug. 23. Reichert hasn’t raced since finishing first in Versailles Tour de Sewer on Sept. 24.

Sean Wren led Jackson Center by finishing 26th in 18:32. Ian Stengel was 36th in 19:22, Carter Klopfenstein was 42nd in 19:34, Owen Willoby was 46th in 19:47 and Noah Rains was 63rd in 21:58.

Fairlawn’s CJ Lessing was 22nd in 18:26 while Dalton Davis was 57th in 21:11.

Fort Loramie girls have 4 runners in top 7

Fort Loramie’s girls squad finished first with 31 points, 19 ahead of second-place Botkins.

Four of the squad’s top five runners finished in the top seven in Saturday’s race. Camille Borchers finished fourth in 18:59, Colleen Borchers finished fifth in 19:53, Lauren Moore finished sixth in 20:00, Ariel Heitkamp finished seventh in 20:18 and Ava Turner finished ninth in 20:46. All but Turner earned first team all-SCAL honors by finishing in the top seven, while Turner earned second team all-SCAL honors.

In addition to Steinke and Fort Loramie’s top four runners, Botkins’ Alaina Mann and Brittany Arnold earned first team all-SCAL honors by finishing second and third, respectively. Mann finished second in 18:48 while Arnold finished fourth in 18:58.

Mann and Arnold helped the squad earn a second-place finish. Grace Gutman finished 13th in 21:14 and Bella Bucio finished 14th in 21:25; both earned second team all-SCAL honors. Ava Egbert finished 18th in 22:02.

Aside from Turner, Gutman and Egbert, Anna’s Serenity Williamson (8th, 20:27), Fort Loramie’s Harley Eilerman (10th, 20:48), Russia’s Annabelle Armstrong (11th, 21:06) and Russia’s Jaela Shappie (12th, 21:09) earned second team all-SCAL honors.

Russia and Anna tied for third while Fairlawn finished fifth. Houston and Jackson Center had runners compete individually.

Aside from Armstrong and Shappie, Russia’s Faith York finished 17th in 22:02, Mackenzie Rose finished 19th in 22:23 and Callie Goubeaux finished 20th in 22:26.

Aside from Steinke and Williamson, Anna’s Grace Bensman finished 16th in 21:58, Rachel Harshbarger finished 25th in 22:48 and Lydia Vasko finished 49th in 26:12.

Fairlawn’s Jocelyn McDonald finished 26th in 22:50. Julianna Clayton finished 35th in 24:17, Riley Longmire finished 39th in 24:53, Alli Orsborne finished 47th in 25:55 and Martha Chrisman finished 51st in 26:23.

Houston’s Mekayla Pleiman finished 29th in 22:59 while Emilee Earl finished 38th in 24:42, Katelynn Rockwood finished 53rd in 26:42 and Kamdyn Schaffnter finished 57th in 31:34.

Jackson Center’s Allee Wentz finished 40th in 24:54.

Sidney boys, girls win MVL Valley Division titles

Sidney’s boys and girls cross country squads each earned Miami Valley League Valley Division titles on Saturday in the league’s cross country meet at Sidney High School.

The boys squad finished fifth overall among the league’s nine schools which competed, but the team was ahead of the other three Valley Division schools.

Freshman Nick Dietz finished 15th in 17:27. Andrew Bonifas was 20th in 17:44, Simon Blackford was 23rd in 17:54.3, Tiar Davis was 28th in 18:00 and Gavin Musser was 33rd in 18:17.

Sidney’s girls squad finished fifth overall among the league’s nine schools which competed, but the team was ahead of the other three Valley Division schools.

Sidney junior Emily Fleming finished third in 19:41. Kara Kellner was 21st in 22:03, Hailey Dietz was 48th in 24:07, Olivia Murphy was 50th in 24:13 and Sophia Thompson was 61st in 25:31.

Lehman Catholic 5th in TRC meet

Lehman Catholic’s boys and girls cross country squads each finished fifth in the conference’s meet on Saturday in West Milton.

The boys squad finished fifth out of six schools.

Brennan Potts finished 14th in 18:19 while Hezekiah Bezy was 25th in 19:21, Thomas Schmiesing was 27th in 19:37, Logan Linson was 28th in 19:29 and Adam Flood was 36th in 21:01.

The girls squad finished fifth out of six schools.

Anna Minneci finished 10th in 22:31 while Noelle Reineke finished 20th in 24:21, Zippy Bezy finished 28th in 26:01, Mara O’Leary finished 29th in 26:14 and Amy Briggs finished 35th in 30:16.

Minster girls, New Bremen boys 1st in Midwest Athletic Conference race

Minster’s girls squad and New Bremen’s boys squad each earned first-place finishes in the Midwest Athletic Conference meet on Saturday in Coldwater.

The Wildcats’ girls squad finished first with 22 points, 50 ahead of second-place Fort Recovery. All five of its top runners finished in the top seven.

Margaret Hemmelgarn finished first in 19:20 while Taylor Roth was third in 19:30, Maria Niekamp was fifth in 19:41, Annie Hemmelgarn was sixth in 19:50 and Chaney Cedarleaf was seventh in 19:52.

Versailles finished third and New Bremen finished fourth.

Versailles’ Meredith Barga finished fourth in 19:30 while Carly Graves finished 19th in 21:06, Gabby Spitzer finished 23rd in 21:25, Erin Frederick finished 28th in 21:40 and Madalyn DeMange finished 36th in 21:59.

New Bremen’s Caroline Whitlatch finished 10th in 20:16 while Riley Suchland finished 21st in 21:16, Molly Dues finished 26th in 21:35, Allyson Pape finished 33rd in 21:53 and Lily Rindler finished 40th in 22:03.

New Bremen’s boys squad finished first with 50 points, 17 ahead of second-place Marion Local.

Zach Wiedeman finished second in 16:47 while Patrick Bernhold finished seventh in 17:10, Dominic Shroyer finished 10th in 17:31, Cole Powers finished 15th in 17:45 and Gavin Spragg finished 16th in 17:46.

Minster finished third and Versailles finished fourth.

Minster’s Ryan Halpin was third in 16:58.2 while Jack Grieshop was fourth in 16:58.5. Nick Prenger was 11th in 17:33, Jim Trzaska was 18th in 17:58 and Noah Walter was 45th in 19:00.

Versailles’ Marcus Briscoe finished 12th in 17:35 while Jace Waltren was 17th in 17:47, Drew Meyer was 19th in 17:52, Dylan Dynn was 23rd in 17:58 and Landry Knore 31st in 18:24.