Minerva boys and girls dominate new Division III field with commanding district titles

10-24 Minerva Cross Country

If you live in this area of Ohio, there are two things you can count on come fall. First is having to set your clock back thanks to Daylight Savings Time. And the second? Using that extra hour of your time to watch Minerva put on a show at cross country meets, particularly in the postseason.

The Lions were at it again Oct. 18, but this year, there is a slight wrinkle. As a result of new divisions being added to the sport, Minerva competed in Div. III at the Cambridge District meet. The head-turning performance, however, is intact.

The girls, who departed Div. II as the two-time defending state champion, won the district title with a score of 64, 16 points ahead of runner-up Tusky Valley, while the boys cruised to victory with a low score of 44, 14 points in front of Fairless. In both the boys’ and girls’ categories, no other team was within 42 points of these four squads.

Makenzie Beavers paced Minerva’s attempt to win a third consecutive crown as she came in third with a time of 19:06.00 to lead the Lions. The junior was one of four Minerva runners to place in the top 15 as sophomore Tateum Richard (19:43.00) came in seventh, freshman Charlie Galley (20:34.00) finished 11th, and sophomore Addison Keyser (20:52.00) was 14th. Yet another freshman, Chloe Carson, capped the scoring for the Lions, coming in 29th place.

Unlike the girls, the Minerva boys are older on average and that experience came into play as senior Rowen Hoffee finished in second, clocking in with a time of 16:16.00, while fellow senior Owen Yoder was sixth with a time of 16:45.00. Freshman Anderson Scott (17:22.00) and sophomore Tyson Fetty (17:23.00), running side by side, placed 10th and 11th. Junior Brady First rounded out Minerva’s top five runners by placing 15th in 17:46.00, and for good measure, the Lions’ sixth runner in event of a tiebreaker, Fox Johnson, finished in 18 place.

Both teams now move on to the Div. III Region 10 meet, hosted by North Pickerington High School Oct. 25.