Botkins’ boys and Fort Loramie’s girls cross country teams each won Division III district titles in the district meet on Saturday at Cedarville University.
The top two teams in each division earn a district title. Botkins’ boys finished second behind West Liberty-Salem to earn a title, while Fort Loramie’s girls finished first.
The Trojans’ boys finished second with 73 points, 12 behind the Tigers. Botkins’ Carson Brown finished sixth individually in 16:56, Keaton Schnippel finished eighth 17:02, Parker Schnippel finished 12th in 17:13, Carter Pleiman finished 22nd in 17:39 and Collin Doseck finished 26th in 17:46.
The top eight teams in each race earn regional berths. Russia (fifth), Anna (sixth) and Versailles (eighth) will race in the regional meet on Saturday in Troy.
Russia’s Caleb Unverferth was 18th in 17:35 while Brayden Monnin was 33rd in 18:06, Jayden Gaerke was 35th in 18:13, Landon Pleiman was 57th in 18:44 and Zeb Schulze was 59th in 18:45.
Anna’s John Young was 16th in 17:30 while Noah Deeren was 27th in 17:49, Ethan Blindauer was 36th in 18:14, Kyle Edelmann was 55th in 18:42 and Christian Mahan was 70th in 18:53.
Marcus Briscoe led Versailles by finishing 13th in 17:25. Drew Meyer was 31st in 18:00, Dylan Dunn was 47th in 18:32, Landry Knore was 64th in 18:47 and Dylan Riffell was 74th in 19:08.
Fort Loramie finished ninth, Houston finished 13th, Jackson Center finished 15th and Lehman Catholic finished 18th. Fairlawn had runners compete individually.
Fort Loramie’s Adam Ballas earned an individual district berth by finishing 14th in 17:27, as did Jackson Center’s Kellen Reichert, who finished 15th in 17:29. Fort Loramie’s Frank Rethman (17th, 17:32) and Houston’s Wes Vondenhuevel (28th, 17:51) also earned regional berths.
Fort Loramie’s girls squad finished first with 54 points, 14 ahead of West Liberty-Salem.
Fort Loramie’s Camille Borchers finished third in 19:33, Lauren Moore finished fifth in 19:46, Colleen Borchers finished 13th in 20:45, Harley Eilerman finished 14th in 20:53 and Ava Turner finished 23rd in 21:16.
Also finishing among the top eight teams and earning a regional berth were Botkins (third), Versailles (fourth), Russia (sixth) and Anna (seventh).
The top five individual finishers were all Shelby County athletes. Aside from Fort Loramie’s Camille Borchers and Lauren Moore, Anna’s Paige Steinke finished first in 18:01, Botkins’ Alaina Mann finished second in 19:28 and Botkins’ Brittany Arnold finished fourth in 19:45.
Aside from Mann and Arnold, Grace Gutman finished 30th in 21:39, Ava Egbert finished 46th in 22:55 and Bella Bucio finished 51st in 23:12.
Versailles’ Meredith Barga finished eighth in 20:26 while Chloe Steinbrunner finished 28th in 21:29, Erin Frederick finished 36th in 22:09, Gabrielle Spitzer finished 40th in 22:22 and Carly Graves finished 43rd in 22:39.
Russia’s Annabelle Armstrong finished 35th in 22:08 while Mackenzie Rose finished 39th in 22:21, Faith York finished 41st in 22:28, Anna Meyer finished 53rd in 23:18 and Callie Goubeaux finished 57th in 23:36.
Aside from Steinke, Anna’s Serenity Williamson was 19th in 21:03, Rachel Harshbarger was 61st in 23:56, Grace Bensman was 69th in 24:14 and Maggie Bensman was 122nd in 28:50.
Sidney’s Fleming earns D-I regional berth
Sidney’s Emily Fleming earned an individual regional berth in the Div. I district girls race on Saturday in Cedarville.
Fleming finished 25th in 20:20. The performance cam a week after she set a program record in the Miami Valley League meet by finishing in 19:41.
The Yellow Jackets’ girls squad finished 18th while the boys finished 15th.
