Area runners headed to Ohio state XC meet
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PICKERINGTON -- For the third straight season, Warren senior Luke Rettenberger is headed to the state cross country meet.
During Saturday's Division II Central Region championships, Rettenberger crossed the finish line in 15 minutes, 47.5 seconds to finish sixth overall and punch his ticket to state, which is scheduled for this Saturday at Fortress Obetz & Memorial Park.
Last year at state, Rettenberger 13th overall with a time of 15:57.33 to place 13th overall and earn All-Ohio honors.
The Warriors finished 13th in the team standings, with Alex Bishop placing 13th (16:42), Nick Bishop finishing in 99th (17:34), Ben Rettenberger coming in 102nd (17:36) and Caleb Yost crossing in 113th (17:46).
Marietta was represented by Emmett Parman in 51st (17:00), Camden Space in 96th (17:33) and Ezekiel Minard in 107th (17:40).
On the girls side, Warren finished ninth as a team, with Ashlee Pate leading the way in 48th (20:21.00). She was followed by teammates Adilynn Greenup in 49th (20:21.70), Camryn Edgell in 58th (20:46), Rania Singh in 63rd (21:01) and Violet Gibson in 90th (21:51).
The Tigers were represented by Kelly Nicholas in 46th (20:17), Hailey Powell in 92nd (21:56), Anna Knaus in 103rd (22:29) and Amelia Loughry in 141st (23:48).
In Division III, Fort Frye senior Brody Griffin is headed back to state for the second straight year. Griffin placed 25th with a time of 16:39 to punch his ticket. Fellow Cadets Declan Schaad (88th; 18:04), Ethan Huffman (131st; 18:37), Jude Kehl (207th; 19:40) and Coen McCurdy (231st; 20:15) helped FFHS finish 22nd in the team standings.
Morgan's top finisher was Carson Steimer, who came in 85th (18:01). Fellow Raiders Rylan Tom (115th; 18;27), Brandon Haines (128th; 18:35.30), Jordan Blackburn (129th; 18:35.70) and Owen Lahmers (167th; 19:05) led Morgan to 18th place as a team.
Morgan was 25th on the girls side, Elana Wilson (77th; 21:34) leading the way, followed by Dakota Johnson (114th; 22:40), Iva Heagen (156th; 24:10), Payton Lahmers (199th; 26:03) and Emma Griesmyer (210th; 27:21).
In Division IV, the Shenandoah Zeps saw Ida Estadt win the girls race and Joel Tewksbary place runner-up in the boys race.
Estadt crossed in 18:16 to beat runner-up Chloe Meholovitch of Shadyside by just shy of 20 seconds. She'll seek her third straight podium finish this weekend.
Also claiming a spot at the state meet was Fort Frye junior Elliott Handley, who placed 12th with a time of 19:51. Following Handley were teammates Lydia Huck in 73rd (22:17), Spencer Thieman in 95th (22:46), Kya Kehl in 111th (23:23) and Heather Phelps in 128th (23:52) as the Cadets came in 13th in the team standings.
Belpre, which was 20th in the team standings, was led by Ellie Whitlatch in 71st (22:14), followed by Gabby Campbell in 115th (23:31), Anna Miller in 135th (24:12), Addy Stewart in 147th (24:52) and Lila Dugan in 175th (28:02).
Caldwell's Emma Hayes placed 40th (21:08).
In the boys race, Tewksbary finished just 2.3 seconds behind regional champion Henry Bartlett of Mount Gilead. Fellow Zeps Noah McElroy (27th; 17:29), Kaden Rossiter (31st; 17:36), Emmitt Slevin (32nd; 17:40) and Cooper Hendershot (39th; 17:49) helped Shenandoah claim the runner-up spot as a team.
Caldwell -- Zane Boyd (14th; 16:49), Aiden Danford (37th; 17:43), Emery Nau (84th; 19:01), Marcus Rohrbaugh (85th; 19:01) and Aiden Burch (161st; 21:32) -- placed eighth as a team while Belpre -- Drew Williams (29th; 17:32), Maddox Crum (76th; 18:47), Paxton Hundall-Bolian (94th; 19:07), Brayden McDaniel (117th; 19:47) and Trenton Reese (186th; 27:54) -- was 12th. Boyd will represent the Redskins at state.
Waterford had two individual regional qualifiers -- Tyson Franchino finished 67th (18:35) while Landon Strahler came in 120th (19:52).