PICKERINGTON - Mitchell Grose is headed to the state cross country meet at Hebron this Saturday.
The Marietta High senior running standout qualified for the main event by virtue of his boys' Division 1, 11th-place finish at the Pickerington Regional this past Saturday. He covered the 5K distance in a clocking of 16 minutes, 11.07 seconds.
This will be Grose's first appearance at the OHSAA State Cross Country Championships.
Article Photos
Courtesy photo
Fort Frye’s boys’ cross country team poses after finishing runner-up in the regional. The Cadet squad will be advancing to the state meet at Hebron on Saturday. From left to right are Ford McElroy, Matt Cheeseman, Jon Anderson, Jordan Anderson, Quentin Webb, Matt Roush, and Head coach Alana Cunningham.
Competing at state in boys' Division 3 as a team will be Fort Frye, which was runner-up in the regional. The Alana Cunningham-coached Cadets were paced by Jordan Anderson and Jon Anderson, who ran 17:03.37 and 17:09.16, respectively, good for 10th and 11th place overall.
"This is the first time a boys' cross country team has ever qualified for state," said Fort Frye coach Alana Cunningham. "And the nice thing about that is that I have all of them back next year."
Following the Andersons were teammates' Matt Cheeseman (19th place, 17:30.19), Ford McElroy (18:02.72), Matthew Roush (19:14.25) and Quintin Webb (19:53.09).
Fact Box
From Saturday
Pickerington Regional
(Top four teams and those individuals that finish in the top 16 advance to the state - OHSAA State Cross Country Championships, November 3,
National Trail Raceway, Hebron)
Region 3 Boys 5k Run CC Division I
Place Name School Time
11 Mitchell Grose Marietta 16:11.07
Region 11 Boys 5k Run CC Division III
Team scores: 2. Fort Frye 130; 5. Caldwell 150; 9. Belpre 185
Place Name School Time
3 Tanner Harding Caldwell 16:38.11
10 Jordan Anderson Fort Frye 17:03.37
11 Jon Anderson Fort Frye 17:09.16
13 Cray Sistrunk Belpre 17:11.80
15 Jonathan Niswonger Caldwell 17:19.78
19 Matthew Cheeseman Fort Frye 17:30.19
22 Eli Strahler Waterford 17:35.22
36 Ford McElroy Fort Frye 18:02.72
40 Kennley Wolfe Belpre 18:08.59
44 Kyle Windland Belpre 18:14.12
48 Brandon Savage Caldwell 18:18.39
53 Calvin Parmiter Caldwell 18:22.94
56 Matt Davis Belpre 18:29.77
66 Matt Zwick Caldwell 18:43.29
76 Lee Parker Belpre 19:04.54
83 Matthew Roush Fort Frye 19:14.25
96 Quintin Webb Fort Frye 19:53.09
100 Daniel Leasure Caldwell 20:05.55
101 Lee Wittekind Waterford 20:06.51
102 Matt Lopreste Belpre 20:06.64
118 Joel Starner Belpre 22:45.67
119 Luke Thomas Caldwell 22:56.97
Region 7 Girls 5k Run CC Division 2
Team scores: 15. Morgan 351; 16. Warren 366
Place Name School Time
58 Hannah Dugan Warren 21:14.10
61 Cheyenne Hanson Morgan 21:25.01
83 Baylee Garrett Morgan 22:10.15
87 Tayler Smith Morgan 22:19.43
91 Allyssa Kern Warren 22:27.18
97 Sydney Brague Warren 22:49.39
100 Lana Sydenstricker Warren 22:52.02
102 Virgina Ferrell Morgan 23:03.24
112 Sarah Beam Morgan 23:48.53
114 Christin Howell Warren 23:53.02
121 Maggie McCutcheon Warren 24:35.99
122 Jade Foster Morgan 24:42.07
124 Miranda Cain Morgan 24:51.86
126 Annie Kubala Warren 25:21.04
Region 11 Girls 5k Run CC Division III
Team scores: 7. Caldwell 168
Place Name School Time
16 Jenna Furr Caldwell 20:03.73
21 Natalie Hart Fort Frye 20:32.43
26 Katie Saling Caldwell 20:41.37
34 Kayla Honesty Fed Hock 21:11.29
52 Lexis Waller Caldwell 21:58.90
55 Alex Medina Fort Frye 22:02.54
63 Emma Williams Belpre 22:20.00
68 Phoebe Thompson Fort Frye 22:28.64
73 Haylee Saling Caldwell 22:36.41
78 Hanna Muellner Caldwell 22:46.38
80 Tina Ward Fort Frye 22:53.47
116 Molly Saling Caldwell 26:42.37
Caldwell's boys missed qualifying for state as a team by one place or five points as it was fifth in the regional. But two Redskin harriers - Tanner Harding (3rd, 16:38.11) and Jonathan Niswonger (15th, 17:19.78) - advanced to Hebron as individuals.
"I'm very disappointed that we're not going to state as a team," said Caldwell coach Duggan Hill. "I consider cross country to be the ultimate of team sports."
Also qualifying for state was Belpre's Cray Sistrunk (13th, 17:11.80).
Representing Waterford but not qualifying for state were Eli Strahler (17:35.22) and Lee Wittekind (20:06.51).
On the girls' side, Caldwell's Jenna Furr qualified for state by finishing 16th in a regional time of 20:03.73.
Both Warren and Morgan competed at regional but neither school will be advancing to state as a team, or on an individual basis. Hannah Dugan was the first Lady Warrior to finish in 21:14.10.
