Connor Ackley’s title caps epic state cross country meet for Hilliard Davidson
As Hilliard Davidson senior runner Connor Ackley approached the finish line at the Division I state meet Nov. 5 at Fortress Obetz, he glanced over his left shoulder to check on his nearest competitor.
With no one in sight, Ackley capped what was a dominating season to wrap up his first state title in four appearances. Ackley pulled away at approximately the 1.5-mile mark, finishing first in 15 minutes, 10.1 seconds to easily outdistance runner-up Sam Ricchiuti (15:25.6) of Dublin Jerome.
“This is nice,” Ackley said. “It feels like a big weight off my shoulders. I finally got it done. I hoped it would have happened earlier, but you can’t complain. I’m excited and without all this pressure, it will be nice running in the offseason.”
In the team standings, the Wildcats finished fifth (197) behind champion Mason (128).
“I thought we could be anywhere between first and fifth,” coach Pat Schlecht said. “With the wind conditions, we didn’t get out, so we paid the price.”
In the girls Division I race, Davidson earned its second runner-up finish in three years, totaling 91 points to trail only Mason (75).
Ackley finished second (14:58.1) at state last season, 11th (15:48.5) as a sophomore and 22nd (15:53) as a freshman.
A Syracuse commit, he also won regional (14:58.02), district (15:04.3) and OCC-Central Division (14:56.9) titles this fall.
One of nine seniors, Ackley shattered his own program record while winning the Saturday Night Fever Invitational (14:45.6) in Hendersonville, Tennessee, on Oct. 1.
“Connor is one you don’t replace,” Schlecht said. “He was amazing. He’s had a great career.”
Also running at state for the boys were senior Alexander Kafka (36th, 16:16.3), junior Brody Boyd (47th, 16:27.8), senior Aaron Egolf (105th, 17:00.7), senior Ryan Clark (120th, 17:10), sophomore Justin Rona (133rd, 17:16.9) and senior Toby Banks (166th, 18:08.8).
“At the beginning of the season we had a camp and we solidified our goals,” Ackley said. “And our two goals as a team were to win the conference meet, which we did, and to place top-five in the state.
“At the time, I thought it was unlikely that we’d do that, but we really worked our butts off this year and we got those two goals done.”
Girls coach Nate King said his team ran a solid race to earn its second-place finish at state.
“Our seniors had the race of their lives,” said King, who also led Davidson to regional, district and league titles. “That’s how you want to go out. The seniors set a great example and it’s been great getting some youngsters involved. We have a good crew back.”
Seniors Caitlyn Jones (fourth, 18:19) and Dillon Sweetman (ninth, 18:33) earned all-state honors.
“The goal was to (reach the) podium,” said Jones, a Virginia Tech recruit who transferred from Bradley during her freshman year. “I’m really proud with how the team did. We gave it our all. I’m really happy with second. I feel like I really stepped into a leadership role as a senior.
“Halfway through my freshman year, coach King really welcomed me in and made me feel I was good enough for this team and he really built me up to the person I am today.”
Behind Jones and Sweetman, who has committed to Ohio State, the Wildcats’ lineup at state included junior Sophie Lane (32nd, 19:05.9), freshmen Erica Kaulen (48th, 19:21.8) and Celia Schulte (51st, 19:25.1) and sophomores Emi Schroyer (66th, 19:42.8) and Anna Gagliano (96th, 20:11.1).
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HILLIARD DAVIDSON CROSS COUNTRY
•OCC-Central standings: Boys — Davidson (39), Dublin Coffman (46), Olentangy Orange (49), Olentangy Liberty (116), Upper Arlington (130), Bradley (153); Girls — Davidson (38), Liberty (61), Coffman (79), Orange (80), UA (100), Bradley (165)
•Seniors lost: Boys — Connor Ackley, Toby Banks, Ryan Clark, Carter Davis, Aaron Egolf, Siddharth Figurov, Alexander Kafka, Owen Schnipke and Archith Yogish; Girls — Caitlyn Jones, Fiorella Lalama, Sophia Matthews, Allison Michael, Rachel Michael, Hailey Shields, Dillon Sweetman and Sophia Walker
•Key returnees: Boys — Brody Boyd and Justin Rona; Girls — Anna Gagliano, Erica Kaulen, Sophia Lane, Emi Schroyer and Celia Schulte
•Postseason: Boys — Second (92) at district behind Pickerington North (55), second (99) at regional behind Lancaster (68), fifth (197) at state behind champion Mason (128); Girls — First (23) at district, first (42) at regional, second (91) at state behind Mason (75)
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