Monday, November 9th, 2020
2020 State Cross Country Championships
Wildcats finish as runner-up
By Tom Haines
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Minster's Ella Boate (796) stays ahead of West Liberty-Salem's Megan Adams as they run during the Division III girls race at the 2020 State Cross Country Championships in Obetz.
OBETZ - The Minster girls team came up just short of a fifth straight state championship, as West Liberty-Salem came away with the Division III crown by 28 points at Fortress Obetz on Saturday.
Led by Ella Boate, Minster's first five runners came in with sixth, 11th, 23rd, and 30th-place finishes, but fell victim to a crowded field as WL-S prevailed 55-83.
"All I want in the end is for the girls to perform," Minster coach Jessie Magoto said. "Not to be afraid, get out there and run fast. Of our top five girls, four of the five were either lifetime PRs or right at their lifetime PR. So we're looking at that like, how can we go wrong. You let the chips lie where they do."
Boate ran with the leaders for most of the race. At the beginning, the field was chasing Taylor Spencer of Waynesfield-Goshen, running as an individual, who had at least eight seconds on the second-place runner after the first 1,600 meters. But Spencer fell off and the rest of the leaders remained, with Boate fifth after 3,200 meters and coming in sixth at the finish line with a time of 18:47.5.
"I knew she'd run well," Magoto said. "She loves competition, thrives on competition. I could tell watching her run. At one moment she even looked over at me and I could tell she was loving every step of it."
It was the 22nd consecutive time that Minster qualified for the state meet. In that span the Wildcats have earned 11 championships and two second-place finishes.
After Boate, Maggie Hemmelgarn came in 11th, followed by Taylor Roth in 23rd, Chaney Cedarleaf in 30th, Mason Pohl in 47th, Cameo Cedarleaf in 104th and Emma Meyer in 107th.
Fort Recovery and St. Henry also qualified in 2020, with St. Henry finishing 16th and Fort Recovery coming in 13th.
Freshman Ellie Will paced Fort Recovery with a 40th place finish to lead the Indians to the highest finish for the girls' team in school history.
"Her second mile was a little bit harder, but this was the biggest race she's ever run in," Fort Recovery coach Christy Diller said of Will. "Some of that, as a freshman, the way she puts herself out there, you can't be upset about that. She had a really good race."
Jenna Hart finished 91st for the Indians, Megan Diller finished 108th, Brynn Stammen came in 121st and Hanna Metzger finished 135th. Anna Wendel came in 143rd, immediately followed by her sister Alexis at 144th.
For St. Henry, Leah Heitkamp led the way at 77th, Katie Kunkler was next at 85th and Megan Broering came in 124th. Joscie Evers came in at 126 with Mara Muhlenkamp at 169 and Lauren Hartings at 174.
DIVISION III BOYS
The Minster boys finished 11th, with East Canton winning the title. Running as an individual, Coldwater's Isaac Schoen placed 47th.
Senior Alex Albers was the highest finisher for the Wildcats, coming in 13th after a strong start to the race. Albers was in third as the runners passed 3,200 meters, but fell back a little and tired down the stretch. Blake Rodgers of Belpre overtook him in the final 100 meters to take 12th place by half a second, but Albers capped a good race with All-Ohio recognition for his top-20 finish.
"Alex went out and was with the number one and two guys for the whole first two miles," Minster coach Larry Topp said. "They made a big surge at the hill and he didn't counter it, so when they went down the other side, their burst up and burst down kind of put him out of the race."
Freshman Jack Grieshop came in 71st in his first state title race, with sophomore Jim Trzaska finishing 116th. Joseph Slonkosky came in at 132nd, with freshman Ryan Halpin finishing at 155th.
But the big surprise for Minster was senior Josh Niekamp, who started the season as the seventh runner and was third for the Wildcats on Saturday. Niekamp finished 93rd, gaining 18 spots in the final split -several in the final 400 meters - and cutting 20 seconds off his personal record.
"I kept looking forward to passing Columbus Grove, they're good runners," Niekamp said. "And there was one other team, Mount Gilead, phenomenal runners. So I was just trying to focus on keeping up with them, catching them."
For Topp, it was a long time coming. He spent six years trying to get Niekamp to join the cross country team, but until his senior year, Niekamp would choose golf.
This year, as conditioning for basketball, Niekamp went out for cross country and immediately found his niche on the team.
"As the year went on, I kind of got a new family here," Niekamp said. "I should've been doing this earlier, this is my sport, which is disappointing, but I'm happy I did it this year."
Coldwater's Isaac Schoen had a great improvement on his 74th-place showing last year. Schoen placed 47th ovearll with a time of 16:47.1.
DIVISION II GIRLS
Celina's Kaylie and Joscelyn Dameron ran as individuals, with Kaylie earning an honorable mention for a 23rd place finish and her older sister falling just outside the top 30.
Kaylie trailed by 13 seconds after the first 1,600 meters and 20 seconds after 3,200. The leaders pulled away from the pack with a phenomenal stretch run - particularly Grace Hartman and Ella Gilson, who were neck and neck at the finish - but Kaylie finished at 19:20.9. Joscelyn, who came in 13 seconds later at 19:33.2, ranked 31st.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
St. Henry's Leah Heitkamp runs at the Division III girls state cross country meet.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Fort Recovery's Ellie Will (809) tries to catch Peebles' Katy Seas (930).
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Celina's Joscelyn Dameron (1127) supports sister Kaylie Dameron after the Division II girls state cross country race.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Minster's Alex Albers earned All-Ohio honors in Division III with a 13th-place finish.
Photo by Nick Wenning/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Isaac Schoen finished 47th in the Division III boys race.
