By Marc Tobias
mtobias@dailystandard.com Coldwater's David Wilker proved for the second straight year that he's the fastest distance runner in Mercer County as he defended his county cross country title at Eastview Park in Celina.
Wilker's win helped pave the way for the Cavaliers claiming the county meet title, while Marion Local took home the girls championship, although it was another Cavalier taking the individual title, as Tasha Stucke was the fastest runner in the girls race.
"It's always nice to take home the county championship, it's bragging rights for one year and you take a little pride in that," said Coldwater coach Dan Pohlman of his boys victory. "It's a nice meet to begin the season, and a nice victory. I'm very proud of them."
Wilker had a winning time of 17:11, bettering second place Ryan Winner of Marion Local by 35 seconds.
"I wanted to come in here and attempt to defend the title, but I also wanted to see our team do well," Wilker said. As for his time, Wilker said he was pleased.
"It was pretty good, because I ran 17:01 last week, and that was against two guys that were really good," he said. "Then running with Ryan (Winner) this race, he really pushed me because I think he got under 18 as well."
Celina's Grant Riesen was able to chase down Coldwater's Jamie Kuess in roughly the final 400 meters to claim third.
"My first mile was around 5:40 something, compared to 6:02 in Saturday's race, and I just felt a lot better today," Riesen said. "I knew what to expect and didn't panic as much. Then when I got to that last turn I felt good and I knew I could get third if I picked it up, as long as the Coldwater kid didn't have much left."
Ben Heyne took fifth, which also meant the Cavaliers had three of the top five finishers.
Celina's Chris Johnson and Shawn Caruso were sixth and seventh, while Fort Recovery's Derrick Huelskamp, Coldwater's Kenny Platfoot and St. Henry's Troy Rindler rounded out the top 10.
Celina finished second in the team event, 24 points behind Coldwater. The Bulldogs were followed by St. Henry, Fort Recovery, Marion Local and Parkway.
Marion Local had Trisha Bruns and Emily Wuebker finish second and third to help the Flyers claim the girls title by 19 points over second-place Coldwater.
"This is my 21st season and this is probably the best team I've had in my years at Marion, and they're working real hard," said Marion Local coach Randy Jutte. "They're doing all the right things right now."
Bruns ran a 21:19, just four seconds off the winning pace set by Stucke.
"It's one of my better times this year, but I'm hoping to bring it down a little bit throughout the season," Stucke said. "I'm just hoping for our team to pull together, hopefully do well in the MAC and make it to state."
Celina finished third in the girls meet while St. Henry and Fort Recovery rounded out the field.
Coldwater's Jill Vonderhaar finished fourth, while the Flyers' Stacy Evers took fifth.
Celina's Heather Petrie and Katelin Smith went sixth and seventh, while St. Henry's Beth Hemmelgarn, Marion Local's Deanna Kremer and St. Henry's Janelle Brunswick rounded out the top 10.
Coldwater won the boys junior high title, although, St. Henry's Doug Ranly took home the individual first with a time of 12:06. St. Henry won the girls junior high title, but it was Marion Local's Kristina Bruns taking home first place with a time of 13:24. |
