Woodridge cross country runs with state powers in Pataskala
There were some familiar cross country powers in southwestern Licking County Saturday as Woodridge ran well against some clubs that have traditionally been a part of the state championship meet.
Woodridge held its own with runner-up efforts in the Division II fields for the girls and the boys at the annual McGowan Invitational in Pataskala, a meet hosted by Watkins Memorial High.
Highlighting the running on a warm day was Jeff Howard’s girls’ squad, which placed second overall as the Bulldogs had the top two finishers in the entire race.
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Junior Reese Reaman and sophomore Marissa Boone ran 1-2 at the meet in impressive fashion.
“The girls ran in the prestigious McGowan Invitational, which featured a handful of state-ranked teams and the team raced well,” said Howard.
“Reese and Marissa finished first and second among nearly 200 runners,” said Howard.
Reaman won the individual title with a fast time of 18-munutes and 46.7 seconds.
Boone ran second, beating Granville senior Ella Johnson (19:24.7) with a time of 19:13.3. Johnson didn’t run on last year’s Blue Aces’ Ohio runner-up club, but did run on the state runner-up unit in 2019 and on the 2020 sixth-place unit.
Granville is the second-ranked team in Ohio this fall after edging Woodridge for state runner-up honors last year. Woodridge is ranked ninth in Ohio thus far in 2022.
At the McGowan meet, Granville edged Woodridge 25-70 for the crown along with Lancaster Fairfield Union (95), Plain City Jonathan Alder (109), and Columbus Bishop Hartley (119).
In boys’ action, Woodridge was nipped by Fairfield Union 73-75 for first-place. Woodridge bested powers like Thornville Sheridan (124), Granville (130), and Columbus Bexley (135).
“Fellow seniors Seth Singer and Robbie Champa led the Bulldogs to a runner up finish as the squad dropped a close, two-point, decision to state-ranked Fairfield Union (9th in Ohio),” said Howard. “The boys competed against some of central Ohio’s best teams and raced well. The meet included over 200 runners and five of the state’s top-ranked teams
“Seth grabbed a runner up finish in the race,” praised Howard as Singer was clocked at 16:12.2.
The only runner to beat Singer was champion Marcus Runkle, of Fairfield Union, with a time of 16:09.01. Runkle has run under 16 minutes this season.
“Robbie (Champa) had a sixth-place finish that was followed up by a solid 12th-place finish from Sam Su,” said Howard. “Steven Duffy and Atticus Sloan rounded out the scoring five with top-30 finishes.”
Champa has had a hot start this season as his time was 16:40.5 while Su crossed in 16:55.2, Duffy was 27th in 17:31.4, and Sloan was 30th overall in 17:42.7 for Woodridge, which was ranked fourth in Ohio.
“Harvey Kever and Caiden Jansen rounded out the varsity,” Howard said. “A number of strong performances highlighted an exciting weekend of racing. Ben LeBay, Josh Stetler, Jay Whitely, Kendall McAllister, and Gavin Boykin each stood out with their performances.”
Besides the big 1-2 finish in the girls’ race, Howard was excited about the rest of his lineup.
“Eloise Willett finished in sixth-place while Joy McFarland raced well to finish 12th,” said the mentor.
Crossing in 20:17.5 Willett was among the top runners while McFarland’s time was 20:44.8.
“Riley Yajko (53rd with a time of 23:05.8) completed the scoring five and was chased across the line by Kathryn Kiley and Ruby Wuscher,” said Howard. “Many of our Bulldogs ran well. Anna Schluep, Rylie McMonigle, Katie Presley, Hailey Jansen, and Sara Ellison each had good days.”
The race was a great tune up for the Spartan Invitational in Boardman on Sept. 17 and the Cloverleaf Invitational at Cy Hewit Park in Seville Sept. 24.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Woodridge cross country runs with state powers in Licking County
