Gonzales highlights four Richland County All-Ohioans at state cross country meet
OBETZ — As Kayla Gonzales approached the finish line with 100 meters left in the Division II state cross country championship race, she squinted her eyes and gritted her teeth.
Then she gave it everything she had as the final race of her high school career came to a finish at Fortress Obetz just south of Columbus. Every ounce of hard work she put in over the last four years was all coming out in those final strides. Every practice run around the town of Shelby, every offseason run at the YMCA and every piece of strategy was coming down to one single moment.
Gonzales crossed the finish line in fourth place with a time of 18:35.8 in tough, windy conditions to earn her second All-Ohio honor of her illustrious cross country career.
"I just wanted to improve on last year and kind of see what I could do," Gonzales said. "I am a little disappointed I didn't PR, but that wind was a major factor today. I am still happy with the placing so it worked out. The first mile and a half is crazy because everyone is trying to get placement, but I was trying to stay behind some people to get out of the wind. It was a constant battle, but once I got to mile two it calmed down a bit."
Gonzales was at 5:46.3 after the first mile as she tried to make a move around a crowded row of front runners, but couldn't seem to find a seam to move up a spot. So, she stayed back and let the runners ahead of her take the brunt of the stiff wind, allowing her to conserve some energy for the backstretch.
It paid off as she improved from placing 15th last year in 18:46.5, knocking off 11 spots and 11 seconds at the 2022 meet.
"I am super happy, and it proved that all the work I did throughout my career was all worth it," Gonzales said. "I went in seeded third and I would have loved to have finished in the top two or three, but I am pleased."
It was the final race of her career, and Gonzales leaves Shelby as the school record holder, a four-time All-Ohioan and the top individual placer at state in program history. To say she is accomplished is an understatement.
"It is bittersweet honestly because I want to come back next year and see if I can do better," she said. "It is nice to look back at what I have achieved over the last four years and be proud. I will focus on track now and hope to do better there."
Slone, Miller pace Lexington to third-place team finish
For a freshman, Lexington's Brailey Slone had some broad shoulders on Saturday. The youngster took 18th with a time of 19:19.8 to earn All-Ohio honors and lead the Lady Lex to a third-place team finish with 164 points.
"I am very happy with the place," she said. "I was really hoping to get All-Ohio. It is pretty cool because it gives me a chance to earn All-Ohio all four years, and it is nice to see what my hard work helped me achieve."
Lexington came in as the No. 3-ranked team in Division II and finished right there behind state champion Granville (130 points) and Kenston (155). Lex did top No. 2-ranked Minerva, which finished with 188 points. Lady Lex had an average time of 20:07 and an average mile of 6:29 to post a team time of 1:40:33.
Senior Kenley Miller finished her Lexington career with an All-Ohio honor, placing 28th in 19:43.4, with the top 30 runners earning all-state honors. Senior Emma Wise was 31st in 19:49.2, Elyana Weaver 87th in 20:40.5, Maddie Haring 102nd in 21:00.1, Abby Moeglin 120th in 21:20.0 and Mikayla Delamater 122nd in 21:24.3.
"We really hoped to get gold, but the race just didn't go as we planned," Slone said. "We still worked hard and top three is really cool. The wind was tough over the hill and straightaway. Coach (Denise) Benson did a great job of preparing us for what we were going to see and telling us what to do and what times to hit."
Slone performed well in the first state meet of her career. She was at 5:53.6 after the first mile before making a move and jumping 11 spots from where she was seeded coming in.
"The first mile, I just tried to stay relaxed because the second mile was where everyone would make their moves," Slone said. "So I was just trying to stay with the first group so that in the last mile I could really go for it and catch as many as I could, and the last 1K I just gave it everything I had."
Everything she had was good enough for an All-Ohio spot as she headlines a good group of young runners coming back for Lexington next season.
Finnegan leaves it all on the course
Shelby senior Huck Finnegan came into Fortress Obetz ready to exorcise some demons with All-Ohio honors on his mind.
What he turned in was as gritty and gutsy of a performance as anyone at the state meet in any division. Finnegan was looking strong the entire race until the final 100 meters, when he simply had nothing left in the tank. He was in the top five before stumbling down a small dip heading onto the turf and the final straightaway. He got up and kept putting one foot in front of the other before falling again right before the finish line.
Again, he got up and finished the race in 16:38.8 and in 30th place, the final All-Ohio spot. He received extensive medical attention after the race but was able to walk out of Fortress Obetz as an All-Ohioan.
"Huck looked great and we wouldn't change anything," Shelby coach Chris Zuercher said as Finnegan was in the medical tent. "He was strong at the two-mile, but sometimes those things happen when you are right on the edge. We had quick a few guys go down in the last quarter mile. This is a tough sport. There aren't any timeouts on a day like today. You see what happens when you put it all on the line. It's a tough thing that happens to good runners. You don't see many bad runners have this happen because they don't put themselves out there as he did."
The saying of, "Give everything you have and then give a little more" was the perfect way to describe the final state meet of Finnegan's high school career.
"All that effort and doing everything he could to cross the line was all worth it," Zuercher said. "Even when things go wrong, he still got All-Ohio. That says something about how strong he was for nearly the entire race. He was out of it and the first thing he asked was if he was 30th. He wanted this badly, and even if he would have finished outside of the top 30 he is All-Ohio to me no matter what."
He was the lead runner on Shelby's 10th-place team. Luke Dininger was 50th in 10:00.4, Indy Mayer 91st in 17:27.9, Marshall Moore 108th in 17:37.4, Luke Lesseuer 140th in 17:59.8 and Ian Finnegan 155th in 18:18.3.
"I thought the team, overall, didn't get out as strong as we would have liked to," Zuercher said. "We raced OK, but we were 50 points from fourth. We just needed to be a little further up, but I am happy for the guys this season. It has been a great season and we will head to Indiana next weekend and run in the Nike NXR Midwest Meet."
Brockway gains valuable experience
Crestview sophomore Cooper Brockway made his first state cross country meet appearance and walked away feeling grateful for gaining experience.
He placed 81st with a time of 17:26.1 as the only Richland County representative in Division III, boys or girls.
"It was a great experience," Brockway said. "Next year will be better hopefully. It was some tough conditions with the wind and most of it was out in front where there aren't many people cheering you on, so it was a tough mental game to get over that and the wind. It was tough to get through, but that is what you have to do in races like this."
Brockway will head into track season looking to make a second trip to state in the sport. But he will go into the cross country offseason with a fire to make it back to state and do even better.
"It definitely lights a fire because next year I will want to place higher and get in the top 30," Brockway said. "That is what my goal will be next year. Training will have to be a lot harder next year and I will have to put in a lot of miles if I want to achieve my goals for my junior year."
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Kayla Gonzales places fourth at the state cross country championships
