Triple Play

OTTAWA - Celina's Kaylie Dameron was just ahead of Alexa Fortman at the two-mile mark of the Western Buckeye League high school girls cross country race.

Dameron had no interest in letting it get closer, as she pulled away down the final mile and became a three-time Western Buckeye League champion on Saturday at Ottawa's Memorial Park.

Dameron, who finished second as a freshman before taking the title as a sophomore and junior, started out in the pack as the runners came up to the first mile and onto a loop through the park. After passing the two mile mark, Dameron was just a few steps ahead of Fortman, the Division II state champion last spring in the 400- and 800-meter runs.

But as the fans gathered along the finish line, it was Dameron out in front by over five seconds, crossing the line in 18:54.53 with Fortman taking second for the second straight season at 18:59.97.

"I tried to keep even pacing and get faster as I go," said Kaylie Dameron after a break to watch teammates finish up. "I knew I had to get a good gap (between herself and Fortman). I knew the last 800 I had to kick it hard.

"It feels good," she said on winning a third league title. "I like the cooler weather (it was in the mid-40s and brisk at race time) and the competition. A lot of times this year I didn't have a lot of competition. Having that helped a lot. Plus it's the league meet."

Shawnee's Molly Stump and Alaina Williams took third and fourth with O-G's Madelyn Hovest finishing fifth. Sixth through 12th, which earn first team All-WBL honors, went to Kenton's Addi Manns, Celina's Jennalee Dameron, Shawnee's Jenna Stump, Van Wert's Kyra Welch, Kenton's Leah Harder, Elida's Emily Durham and Defiance's Mira Horvath.

St. Marys' Lauren Schloemer just missed the first team in finishing 13th to take honorable mention accolades. Teammates Maria Jutte and Peyton Gabel were 15th and 19th, respectively to also earn honorable mention honors. Zoey Aukerman just missed honorable mention to finish 25th.

The girls' team title race was a battle between host Ottawa-Glandorf and Shawnee, with the Titans winning on their home course by a 63-66 margin. Celina was third at 96 with Kenton fourth with 108 and St. Marys fifth at 128. Van Wert (134), Van Wert (134), Defiance (153), Wapakoneta (176) and Elida (216) rounded out the leaderboard with Bath not fielding a full team.

The Titans boys made it a sweep of the high school team titles in pulling away for the win with 72 points. Bath was a distant second with 91 with Van Wert third with 96. Shawnee (100), Defiance (121), Wapakoneta (124), Celina (131), St. Marys (147), Kenton (233) and Elida (315) rounded out the standings.

Shawnee's Noah Williams, the race runner-up a season ago as a sophomore, won with a time of 16:13.77, nearly 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Ty Rosengarten of O-G. Shawnee's Carter Cleaves was third with Wapakoneta's Axton Fosnaugh taking fourth and Van Wert's Owen Scott crossing in fifth.

Sixth through 12th-place finishers earning All-WBL honors were Defiance's Josiah Gonzalez, Van Wert's Drew Laudick, St. Marys' Tyler Birt, Bath's Jacob Wireman, Celina's Colin Buening, O-G's Ty Buckland and St. Marys' Calvin Morris. Celina's Conor Krogman finished third to earn honorable mention honors with Ty Drexler just missing the top 22 in 24th place.

Celina won the Middle School boys title with 25 points with St. Marys finishing fifth. St. Marys' Gavin Luebke won the two-mile race in 11:19.10, just under two seconds ahead of Celina's Kaleb Dameron. Celina's Caleb Lehman was third with teammate Harrison Dabbelt taking fifth. Celina's Cole Buening finished 10th.

Van Wert won the junior high girls team title with 54 points. Celina was eighth with St. Marys finishing ninth. Lorelei Clifford and Alika Bridge were the top Celina finishers in 28th and 29th place, respectively. St. Marys was led by Kasey Regedanz's 34th-place finish.

The cross country postseason gets underway next Saturday. Celina and St. Marys travel to Columbus Grove for the Division II district meet.