Staff report
RUSSIA — Fort Loramie and Anna dueled it out in the boys race and when it was over, the Loramie boys came out on top in the annual County Cross Country Meet, held Saturday at Russia.
The Redskins, who were led by a freshman, finished with 38 points, just two better than Anna’s 40 in the final team standings.
First-year high-school runner Jake Rethman of Loramie was the first across the line in 16:10.7, five-and-a-half seconds ahead of runner-up Caleb Ball of Russia.
Loramie put four in the top 10, with Tom Ballas fifth, another freshman Joe Ballas seventh and Noah Siegel, just a sophomore, 10th. Loramie’s fifth man was Alan Holdheide in 16th place.
Anna also put four in the top 10, led by Lucas Huber in third place. Tyler McKee crossed sixth, Bradley Axe was eighth and Korash Assani finished 10th. Anna’s fifth man was Joel Gaier in 13th.
Also placing in the top 10 was Aaron Fullenkamp of Botkins in fourth.
• In the girls race, Botkins senior standout Chloe Flora was clearly the class of the field again, winning the race by over a minute Saturday with a time of 18:21.1.
The team championship went to Russia in dominating fashion. The Lady Raiders had five of the top nine finishers and seven of the top 13.
Molly Kearns, Lauren Heaton and Anna Fiessinger occupied places 2-thru-5 for Russia, Claire Meyer was eighth and Shae Goubeaux ninth.
Also in the top 10 were Claire Kazmaier and Rachel Schmitmeyer of Fort Loramie in fifth and sixth, respectively, Morgan Ely of Houston seventh and Jennifer Robinson of Anna 10th.
Country Cross Country Meet
Saturday at Russia
BOYS
Final team standings — 1. Fort Loramie 38, 2. Anna 40, 3. Botkins 74, 4. Russia 96, 5. Houston 122, 6. Jackson Center 158.
Individuals
Fort Loramie — 1. Jake Rethman 116:10.7, 5. Tom Ballas 16:29.4, 7. Joe Ballas 16:38.7, 9. Noah Siegel 16:51.8, 16. Alan Holdheide 17:22.5.
Anna — 3. Lucas Huber 16:23.8, 6. Tyler McKee 16:37.2, 8. Bradley Axe 16:48.2, 10. Korash Assani 16:56.7, 13. Joel Gaier 17:02.8.
Botkins — 4. Aaron Fullenkamp 16:29.4, 11. Austin Fullenkamp 16:57, 12. Cameron Flora 16:57.3, 23. Mathew Prout 17:49.8, 24. Ryan Egbert 17:52.6.
Russia — 2. Caleb Ball 16:16.22, 14. Andrew Ball 17:18.4, 18. Alex Seger 17:25, 29. Jordan Busse 18:17.7, 42. Zachary Bell 18:47.0.
Houston — 17. Troy Riley 17:24.5, 20. Tristin Freistuhler 17:42.8, 22. Ethan Knouff 17:45.5, 35. Dakota Francis 18:26.6, 37. Azen Reier 18:32.7.
Jackson Center — 21. Parker Morris 17:44.3, 26. TJ Esser 18:02.3, 44. Drew Sosby 19:02, 45. Sean March 19:06.3, 59. Allen Nash 20:18.3.
Fairlawn — 30. Nick Brautigam 18:21.4, 34. Stephen Blanford 18:26.6, 38. Troy Fletcher 18:34.1.
GIRLS
Final team standings — 1. Russia 26, 2. Fort Loramie 61, 3. Botkins 67, 4. Houston 112, 5. Anna 114.
Individuals
Russia — 2. Molly Kearns 19:30.2, 3. Lauren Heaton 19:50.2, 4. Anna Fiessinger 20:04.1, 8. Claire Meyer 20:37.8, 9. Shae Goubeaux 20:43.5.
Fort Loramie — 5. Claire Kazmaier 20:13.6, 6. Rachel Schmitmeyer 20:15.6, 15. Kaitlyn Luebke 21:20.5, 17. Erin Chaney 21:30.2, 21. Taylor Gasson 21:53.3.
Botkins — 1. Chloe Flora 18:21.1, 12. Kayla Heuker 20:53, 14. Payton Amstutz 21:18.3, 19. Brooklyn Flora 21:36.22, 25. Adriana Jutte 22:11.2.
Houston — 7. Morgan Ely 20:23.5, 18. Hollie Voisard 21:32.8, 29. Emma Mertz 22:21, 41. Addie White 24:56.9, 43. Kaitlyn Ellison 25:06.3.
Anna — 10. Jennifer Robinson 20:47.9, 26. Jenna Harshbarger 22:16, 28. Gracen Rogers 22:17.5, 36. Rachel Gehret 24:30.4, 40. Nicole Smith 24:41.2.
Jackson Center — 37. Kennady Tooke 23:50.6, 45. Gwen Giesemann 25:39.1, 48. Abby Nash 26:36.3, 52. Jaclyyn Schmiesing 29:12.
Fairlawn — 38. Kathi Viethen 24:23.2.
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The Greater Western Ohio Conference meet was held at Centerville Saturday, with runners from all 18 schools running together, and the results being broken down by division.
The Sidney boys were fifth in the North and led by Ian Bowman, who finished ninth among North runners in 17:47.4.
The Sidney girls do not have enough runners to be included in the team standings. Of the girls that ran, Malia Kellner was the top finisher, placing 15th.
Junior high
The Sidney junior high boys were second in the North behind Northmont, and paced by Patrick McClain, who was the first North runner across the line in 11:11.8.
Teammate Ian Bonifas was third in 11:18.5, Ben Spangler was 15th, Caleb Schroer 23rd and Braden Guinther 26th.
The junior high girls race also featured a Sidney runner being the first from the North to cross the line in Ana Adams in 12:39.2.
Sidney was fifth and also had Savannah Garber in 21st, Mariana Kellner in 25th, Taylor Carpenter in 40th and Olivia Harger in 52nd.
Greater Western Ohio
Conference
Saturday at Centerville
BOYS
North Division — 1. Vandalia 36, 2. Troy 45, 3. Greenville 70, 4. Piqua 99, 5. Sidney 111.
Sidney — 9. Ian Bowman 17:47.4, 21. Gavin Bockrath 18:35.1, 22. Chris Musser 18:50.4, 27. Eli Straman 19:21.8, 32. Matt Musser 20:29.
Girls
North Division — 1. Troy 19, 2. Vandalia 57, 3. Greenville 63, 4. Piqua 106.
Sidney — 15. Malia Kellner 21:16.2, 20. Grace Martin 22:45.5, 31. Hannah Deal 28:30.2.
