Sweeter by the dozen

HEBRON - Jessie Magoto didn't mind when her last name was pronounced wrong by the OHSAA announcer Saturday.

The Minster girls cross country coach was too happy to care.

The Wildcats completed a three-peat as Division III state champions with another dominating run - finishing with 46 points as they added to their OHSAA record total with title No. 12.

"It's so funny," Magoto said after her named was pronounced Muh-ga-toe Saturday at National Trail Raceway. "The guy that does the announcements came over to me, gave me a big hug and said 'I am so sorry I got your name wrong again.' I said 'You know what? As long as you're saying my name, I don't care how you pronounce it.' "

The PA announcer called it a "rare three-peat." The feat isn't that rare for Minster, though.

This was Minster's third three-peat in cross country. The Wildcats also won in 1982, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2010 before going back-to-back-to-back. Coach Magoto now has 11 cross country titles in a 20-year stretch.

"It says a lot about the girls," said coach Magoto, who also has two titles in track. "Honestly, the biggest thing is their consistency. They put in the miles. They do what they need to do, and they just keep doing that."

The Wildcats had five All-Ohioans in Emma Watcke (runner-up), Ella Boate (10th), Gwen Meiring (11th), Kailynn Albers (15th) and Mackenzie Bohman (17th). Madeline Magoto (38th) and Mason Pohl (45th) also had strong performances. All seven runners were across the finish line in under 20:45.

"I knew that we could do it," Albers said. "I knew that we had the strength and the potential to do it, so I didn't see why we couldn't do it today."

Watcke, who completed the course in 18:53.3, was denied a second straight individual crown. Badger's Miranda Stanhope made a push past Watcke in the final straightaway for the win, finishing with a mark of 18:51.6. Former Coldwater Cavalier Jenny Seas, now at Peebles, placed third in a time of 18:57.9.

"I didn't really have a strategy," Watcke said. "I was just going to see how the race played out. She got a couple meters back here on me, then I caught her and then we kind of went back and forth."

But winning another team title was the best consolation prize, Watcke said.

"It's great to see all of the hard workouts and all of the summer miles pay off," she said.

Coldwater made its first trip to state in four years and finished 19th with 467 points.

Beth Honigford was the top runner in 100th, Sara Honigford took 119th, Brittany Walterbusch 138th, Colby Homan 147th, Leanne Klenke 164th, Paige Ayers 168th and Maddie Steinke 175th. Top runner Haley Alig, who had a strong chance at a top-10 finish, did not run due to appendicitis.

"The good that came out of it is that we were able to have four seniors (Homan, Klenke, Walterbusch, Steinke) on the state course," said Coldwater coach Pete Lisi, who also gave a shout out to senior state alternate Connor Muhlenkamp. "When I took over three years ago, that was definitely a goal of theirs to see themselves running on that course. That's really hard to do now as seniors when younger runners come up and take spots away from the seniors. It was good to have them do that. It was also good to have some of our younger runners get on the course, because we definitely want to get back there again next year."

Fort Recovery's Chloe Will, making her second appearance in the race, took 37th in a time of 20:30.1. Will moved up 80 spots from last year's performance.

The runner-up team in Division III was Minster's neighbor, Fort Loramie. The Redskins totaled 134 points. Archbold edged West Libery-Salem for third on a fifth-runner tiebreak. Both teams totaled 139 points. Liberty Center rounded out the top five with 171 points.

DIVISION III Boys

Parkway duo Kyle Roth and Matt Gaerke and Minster's Luke Barga all made a return trip to state.

Roth had the best finish of all, placing 53rd in a time of 17:36.6. Gaerke was 99th (18:04.9) and Barga 107th (18:10.0).

Fort Loramie claimed the title for the second time in three years, having also won in 2016. The Redskins placed two runners in the top five (Joseph Ballas, third, and Jake Rethman, fifth) and totaled a winning score of 117 points. Summit Country Day was runner-up (145 points), East Canton third (155), McDonald fourth (161) and Mount Gilead fifth (165).

Ayersville junior Noah Fisher was individual champion, crossing the finish line in a mark of 16:14.4.