Zoey Corfman from Edison was trying to pass Nevaeh Metzger at the finish line of the Division III district meet, and the senior from Buckeye Central was not sure why.
“I thought it was 19th and 20th, so I was like — why are you racing?” She said Metzger. “But I still wanted to hit her…” I should have been able to count better.”
This time, the race for 20th place, not 19th and 20th, was the last regional qualifying spot for a person. Mertzger beat her by a tenth of a second.
“It caught me off guard because I remember passing a tiny girl, then all of a sudden a big girl comes out of nowhere,” said Metzger. “I was like — I gotta kick it up in high gear.”
She finished in 21:17.0, which was good enough to get her to Tiffin next weekend. This is her goal because she has already made regionals in basketball and track in the past. There, she will be joined by her junior friend Angela Figueroa (21:08.0), who was three spots ahead.
“Last year, she was trailing behind me in the last two meets and caught up to me,” he said. “But she is become a really good runner this year.” She just knows how to run, because she beats me in almost every meet.
Galion’s Makayla (19:25.45) and Makenzie (20:39.05) Halbisen, who came in third and tenth in a very tough Division II race, will join them.
Colonel Crawford boys crowned district champs; girls gain experience
The Eagles could not even fight for a team title with only four runners a year ago.
“I talked to the ones back from last year when we did not have a full team — we got this next year, just keep your faith and keep looking forward,” Jordan Studer said. “It is been very cool to see what God has done and just the way they have all come together.”
Isaac Stirm and Christian Mott are two students on the Eagles’ team this year. Braeden Grau returned to play with Shawn Auck, Adam Scott, Landon Strausbaugh, and Austin Good. Together, they won their first district title since 2017 with little trouble.
“Late last season, we talked about goals,” Studer said. They set their sights on what they wanted from the start of this summer and have worked hard every day. That and the fact that they enjoy it makes it less stressful.
With a time of 16:41.5, Auck came in fourth, followed by Grau in sixth, Scott in eighth, Stirm in ninth, Strausbaugh in 24th, and Mott and Good in 55th. The team score was 46.
“We emphasize pack running every day, and they really take to that well,” he said. “The chemistry is there, and you can not always create chemistry.”
After three straight trips to the state meet as a team, the girls’ team with four newbies and junior Lexi Dure finished 10th out of 11 teams, ending their season.
The top winner was Alyssa Crank in 35th place. Sydney Link came in 41st, Dure in 52nd, Eva Kozinski in 72nd, and Ella McGrady in 81st.
“A couple had some wipeouts on the tree roots, but they still did great,” he said. “They would have liked to get their PR without the falls, but it is okay; they did great.”
“It was fun to get that experience under their belt, and for Lexi (Dure) to be able to lead them in that.”
Redmen regional-bound in back-to-back seasons, first time since ’09-’12
Bucyrus almost made it to regionals as a team two years ago, but missed by one spot. Karter Boggs and Deven Deskins went as individuals. In 2017, they were the fourth team to make the trip to Tiffin’s Hedges-Boyer Park together. It had been over ten years since they had done so.
And on Saturday, the boys beat the previous two years by coming in third. This was the first back-to-back regional appearance for the team since it made four straight from 2009 to 2012.
Coach Kevin Boggs said, “This has been a goal all year.” “They came through and ran really well.”
A junior named Karter Boggs had the second-best time in the district (16:30.3). A sophomore named AJ Griffin came in 12th, a senior named Charlie Miley 22nd, a junior named Carter Bierce 23rd, and a junior named Kyle Pifer 40th. A student named Khasen Bowser came in 71st.
Boags said, “Kyle did his job as our number five guy.” “Our sixth runner was sick all week, but he fought hard in the race.” Karter has been steady… AJ ran a 40-second PR today.
Charlie and Carter worked so well together to push each other. We knew going in that those three were in the running because they were in the top twenty.
What Boggs told his team before the district meet was to remember that. More times than they can remember, they have run at Amman’s. It did not matter where they finished.
“They know so much about it,” he said. “They know the angles, where to look, when to move, and how fast to go the whole race.”
“Today, times did not matter, it is all about places now.”
