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Minster's Ava Stammen (1641) and Riley Hagens (1637) run during Saturday's Division III girls state cross country meet at Fortress Obetz. The Wildcats won their fourth straight state championship, eighth in nine years and extended the program's record 17th state title.
OBETZ - Prior to the start of the current girls' cross-country season, it appeared the Minster Wildcats had a little sprinkle of the word "rebuild" in their roster.
With a relatively young lineup and just two runners that had run in the 2023 state cross country meet, their biggest competitors perhaps held hope that the Wildcats' string of three straight state championships would finally be in jeopardy.
What the competition failed to factor in though was that oftentimes culture and tradition trumps experience.
On Saturday, the Wildcats proved just that as they claimed their fourth straight Division III state title, and eighth gold trophy in the past nine years.
"It absolutely never gets old," said Minster coach Jessie Magoto with a smile. "Every team we bring here has a different story no matter what. Of our seven runners today, only two had raced here last year so the others knew they had to step it up. All of a sudden a few weeks ago I looked at this group and believed we truly have a team that is like family. We didn't know what that would mean in the end, but in that moment we already won the season and the rest was icing on the cake."
Minster's Maria Niekamp (1639) leads Hartfield Lake Center Christian's Gianna Ritchie (1436) during the Division III girls race at the state cross country meet in Obetz.
The Wildcats were led by Midwest Athletic Conference champion Maria Niekamp, who finished seventh on the day (18:31.99), and sophomore Claire Bohman, who also earned All-Ohio honors by finishing in 20th place with a time of 18:51.46. Rounding out the Wildcats finishers were freshman Joanna Topp (58th, 19:43.16), senior Adriana Kremer (88th, 20:16.55), senior Ava Stammen (91st, 20:18.94), junior Ellie Grieshop (123rd, 20:58.79), and freshman Madison Eilerman (136th, 21:26.16).
"I tried to stay joyful and thankful for the opportunity today with my teammates. We really grew closer through this whole weekend," said Niekamp. "With that mindset, I think it helped me to stay less nervous and just have fun."
Bohman, who finished in 46th place overall in 2023 added, "It feels really good today. After finishing where I did last season and moving into the top 20 this year, I just can't explain how good that feels. Having Maria in front of me really helped today as well. When we were coming down the last hill everything felt really smooth and at that point I felt things were going very well."
In addition to the Wildcats in Division III, New Bremen senior Mia Hirschfeld finished her career in 61st place overall with a time of 19:47.25.
Misnter's Nick Prenger (1640) runs in the pack at the Division III boys state cross race.
In the boys' Division III race, the Minster Wildcats ended their season in 15th place out of 20 teams overall, with senior Nick Prenger closing his high school career with All-Ohio honors by placing 30th overall with a time of 16:14.04. Closing out the Wildcat runners were sophomore Collin Cedarleaf (113th, 17:09.65), sophomore Jackson Corona (133rd, 17:25.88), senior Carter Dirksen (136th, 17:29.90), freshman Jack Strausbaugh (152nd, 17:47.08), senior Connor Collins (169th 18:06.14), and sophomore Parker Kerrigan (176th, 18:58.58).
Coldwater's Mason Ayers earned All-Ohio honors with his 20th place finish in the Division III race.
Competing as individuals were Coldwater senior Mason Ayers, who finished in 20th place with a time of 15:56.63, as well as Marion Local juniors Dalton Pohlman (40th, 16:21.10) and Ryan Stucke (50th, 16:28.68).
"The course was really good today and it felt great to race in this weather," commented Ayers, who earned All-Ohio honors and a trip to the podium on the final day of his high school career. "It means everything to me to get on the podium today. I've worked for this my whole career and I'm grateful that I was finally able to pull it off."
Celina's Jennalee Dameron runs in the Division II girls state cross country race.
Celina's Colin Buening (1131) runs during the Division II state boys cross country race.
The Celina Bulldogs competed in the Division II race in the early afternoon with their boys' team finishing in 19th place overall, while their lone competitor on the girls side was junior Jennalee Dameron, who finished in 41st place with a time of 19:08.47.
The Bulldog finishers on the boys side included junior Colin Buening (44th, 16;02.89), senior Kaden Steed (116th, 16:47.96), sophomore Caleb Lehman (118th, 16:48.49), sophomore Kaleb Dameron (119th, 16:49.52), junior Eli Spring (137th, 17:09.09), junior Aaron Krogman (157th, 17:44.14), and freshman Cole Buening (169th, 18:10.96).
"I feel we ran really well today. I am very happy that we will have some PRs today, which is great for the last race of the season on the biggest stage of the year," said Celina coach Jason Andrew, whose Bulldogs made their second straight trip to the state tournament. "We wanted the kids to perform at their peak level today and I feel we did that. It was beautiful weather, and I am super proud of the kids and couldn't be happier."
