Lady Knights come up big, Garaway gets both to district

The West Holmes Lady Knights used a strong team effort to garner a runner-up finish at the Div. II Cambridge cross country meet on Saturday, Oct. 23. Minerva was sensational in totaling just 20 points to win the meet handily while the Lady Knights came in next with 99, edging past Sandy Valley’s 118 and John Glenn’s 130 points in a field of 17 teams.

Minerva runners placed second through seventh in the meet, the only number missing being the top spot, which was occupied by Tusky Valley’s Hannah Wyler, who ran an 18:56 to easily hold off the charging herd from Minerva.

Zora Starner paced a balanced West Holmes’ attack, finishing 11th in 20:53. Right behind her in 12th was Lexy Starner in 21:05 while Noelle Smith ran 15th in 21:23. Brenna Myers was 29th in 22:20 while Carolyn Miller rounded out the scoring by placing 34th in 22:35. Also running for WHHS were Autumn Conner, who ran 56th in 24:08, and Emily Truax, who placed 59th in a field of 127 runners in 24:16.

The West Holmes boys just missed qualifying in the top-six teams, placing seventh in the field of 17 teams.

Minerva squeaked by John Glenn by the smallest of margins to win it, racking up 64 points to John Glenn’s 65.

One Knights runner who will go to regionals as an individual is Zeke Galbraith, who flew to fifth overall in 16:50. While Minerva’s Connor Shingleton ran away from the crowd and won in 15:54, Galbraith was right there competing for runner-up with a group of eight runners and was the top underclassman finisher on the day.

A pack of Knights runners came home together in the end of the top third of the field of 134 competitors, but it wasn’t quite enough to advance. Mac Miller was 45th in 19:14, Jacob Miller ran 48th in 19:22, Braydyn Lemon finished 49th in 19:22.5 and Hunter Uptain placed 51st in 19:23.

The WHHS effort was capped off by Nathan Young, who placed 59th in 19:35, and Blazedyn Mullins, who ran 88th in 20:31. The good news for the Knights is that among their top-seven runners, they boast Galbraith, a junior, two sophomores and four freshmen.

Pirates boys and girls both move on to regionals

The Garaway boys dominated the field, totaling just 46 points to easily win the Div. III district meet at Cambridge. Tusky Valley placed second with 67 while Barnesville and Tuscarawas Central Catholic rounded out the top four with scores of 82 and 110, respectively.

The Pirates placed three runners in the top 10 including overall runner-up Quinten Schwartz, who finished in 16:53, behind only champion Jackson Triplett of TCC, who ran a sizzling time of 16:36.

Also earning top-10 finishes for Garaway were Bobby Palmer, who placed fifth in 17:29, and Parker Graf, who was 10th in 18:00. Brendan Chapman was 17th in 18:29, Heinrich Asbury placed 24th in 18:53, Nathan Money was 35th in 19:18 and Aeden Miller placed 55th in 20:25.

Hiland’s George Malicky performed well, finishing in 19:26, but it was only good for 38th and did not advance him to regionals.

The Lady Pirates didn’t have quite the success the boys saw but did manage to work their way into regionals with a fourth-place finish. Fort Frye won the title with a score of 54, with Caldwell placing second with 71 points. Barnesville followed with 95, and Garaway easily outraced the rest of the field, finishing with 104 points.

Garaway was paced by Jessie Johnson, who ran 11th overall in 21:30. Meghan Schwartz was 14th in 21:56, Mya Wengerd placed 18th in 22:07, Brianna Rider was 28th in 22:58, Emily Rider earned 58th in 25:50 and Natalie Flores rounded out the Lady Knights’ effort by placing 63rd in 26:38.

Hiland freshman Allison Hershberger ran a great race, placing 23rd in a time of 22:44. However, that effort was just outside the number of individuals to advance to regionals.