MV’s Rush, Centerburg’s Tucker and Dickhof earn state cross-country berths

Mount Vernon cross-country runner Lucy Rush gained a berth in the OHSAA State Championships on Saturday, Nov. 1. Rush’s time of 18:05.71 was strong enough for a third-place finish in the OHSAA DII Region 6 Cross-Country Championships on Saturday, Oct. 25, at Pickerington North High School.

Rush was one of three Knox County runners to qualify for state competition. Centerburg's Payton Tucker and Andrew Dickhof also qualified to run at Obetz.

In the Div. II race, Sophia Szolosi of Athens coasted to a first-place finish with an outstanding time of 16:43.50. Szolosi finished more than a minute and a quarter ahead of Rush and second place finisher Kaitlyn Van Zandt of Bishop Watterson (18:04.00). Rush and VanZandt battled down the home stretch in a struggle for second place. 

“I was hoping for a fast time today, given the weather and everything,” said Rush. “I'm really pleased with how it turned out.”

Szolosi began to open up a large lead early in the race.

“She (Szolosi) did really well,” said Rush. “She broke ahead about the one (kilometer) mark or so. She really had a dominant race so congratulations to her.”

Rush continued to run her own race and broke free of the pack soon after Szolosi.

"I probably (separated from the pack) at a similar spot,” said Rush. “It was during the first time going through the woods.”

Conditions were ideal for posting good times.

“The grass is not dead, which is awesome for this time of year,” said Rush. “It was nice and soft, but not too squishy in any spots, so I was happy with that. Also, I couldn't be more pleased with the weather.”

The Watterson girls (61 points) finished first as a team, while Athens placed second in the team standings with 116 points. 

Saturday’s state championship is one more opportunity for Rush to hang one more superlative on a brilliant career. Finishing her high school cross-country career with a trip to the podium and All-Ohio honors would be a great way to finish things off, but Rush is just going to focus on the task at hand.

“I'm just so happy to have had such a great season,” said Rush. “I'll just go to the state, see how I feel, and try to stick with some girls in front of me. I'll just try my best.”

Rush and her Mount Vernon teammates placed 16th in the team standings. Also finishing for the Jackets were Callie Peugh (22:23.08, 86th place), Nora De La Fuente Morcillo (23:14.20), Amanda Misarti (23:15.75), Cora Stetler (23:47.76), and Madison Seng (28:52.60).

Mount Vernon placed 19th in the boys race with Calvin Heithaus, who placed 33rd (16:41.84) leading the way for the Jackets’ runners. Also for the Jackets, Owen Petrie (17:30.20) placed 74th. He was followed by teammates Gavin Andrews (17:42.46), Brady Mills (18:09.20), Anderson Seng (18:36.67), Nathan Jose (18:49.18), and Joey Butts (18:53.00).

The Fredericktown Freddies boys team placed 12th, in the Division 3, Region 10 meet (also on Oct. 25, at Pickerington North). Although they’re not going to the state meet, the Freddies landed in the regionals after graduating a bunch of seniors this past spring. This fall, Fredericktown started with lots of underclassmen, who filled some big shoes in a hurry.

Freshman Allen Swartzentruber, finished with a time of 17:28.74, making him the top Freddies’ regional finisher.

“I put in my best effort today,” said Swartzentruber. “We had perfect weather. Low humidity and cool. Not hot and not sunny. The woods are just a little bumpy.”

Swartzentruber didn’t get lured into hanging with any other, faster runners. He ran at his own pace. He may be a freshman, but he has shown that he knows how to take charge. 

Lincoln Snyder (17:51.61, 77th place), a junior, who placed second among Fredericktown runners, finished strong.

“It's a fast course,” said Snyder. “I really liked the last half. That's my favorite part, because it's all downhill. At least it feels like that.” 

Snyder took charge too, but in a different way.

“I just tried to stick with my team,” said Snyder. “It's helpful to have a familiar face to work with. That was kind of the goal today, to just have a buddy out there.” 

He really likes the direction that the team is going and the way it’s getting there.

“It's really good having those younger kids as our backbone,” said Snyder. “This team is a family. I feel like that's what sets us apart from a lot of other teams is that they run for the sport, and we do that too, but we also focus on the family aspect. The camaraderie is really helpful.” 

Sophomore Gideon Rashley (18:06.17) liked the weather and the course, but it was challenging. 

“It's kind of hard,” said Rashley. “There's a hill in the back part and that's a tough stretch, but you have to power through it. My strategy was just to start out fast but an easy pace, but then, to move up through the second mile, pick people off, and move up. The first corner around the start was a bit crowded but you have to deal with it. You can't let it affect your race.”

Junior Anson Wenger (18:97.25) gave it his all. 

“Even that's not quite where we want to be as a team, but it's a great opportunity to be out here,” said Wenger. “There are so many amazing runners out here, it's a privilege, there's no other way to put it.” 

He, like his teammates, knew that 2025 was going to be a tough year.

“Sure, we had a lot of seniors last year and we went into the season knowing that,” said Wenger. “Our young guys really stepped up, this year. That makes it so easy to plan for next year and it makes it so exciting. These young guys, stepping into these leadership roles. It'll be amazing to see what they do. We started training hard last summer with the intention that we would get to the regional meet. We really wanted to make it to the state meet, but we just missed out. 

Also for Fredericktown, Darren Hartley finished with a time of, 17:59.62. Trace Armstrong posted a time of 18:10.46. Nolan Bender had a time of 18:34.55.

Fredericktown coach Bob Geiger knows his boys team, as well as the girls, could be at the state next year, if they put in the work. 

“This is the 24th year that the boys have been in the regional meet as a team,” said Geiger. “For the girls it's probably the 15th or 16th year that we've made it to the next level. This is where we should be. Where we want to be is at the state, but we fell a little short of it, but we are also pretty young. It's been great for these guys to experience what they have. We graduated so much. The boys team graduated five guys that were at the state meet last year. On the girls side, we brought back some talent, but we also graduated three or four, who had run in the state meet. 

"Also, the state changed divisions so we moved up a division this year. That means we're running against bigger schools. That's very evident. That makes a difference when you're running against bigger schools. They've got more kids. So, we accepted a challenge but fell a little bit short. We will be back next year, looking for another chance at the state meet.” 

The Fredericktown girls placed 16th, in last Saturday’s Division 3, Region 10 race.

Peyton Blakesley (20:56.37) was the top Fredericktown girl, placing 52nd. She was followed by Gwen Lavin (81st at 21:45.03) along with Freddies teammates Sophia Overholt (22:08.90), Elizabeth Schwartzentruber (22:14.19), Ella Flynn (22:25.46), Madi Shade (22:45.87), and Micah Phillips (22:58.72.)

Also competing in the Div. III boys' race were East Knox's Kaiden Clutter (17:53.21) and Lucas Holland (18:27.29)

In the Div. IV race, both Tucker and Dickhof from Centerburg qualified for state competition. Tucker finished 11th (19:58.20) to help the Lady Trojans finish 15th as a team. Other runners for CHS were Audrey Garner (23:54.80), Molly Henry (24:04.50), Ella Jackson (24:24.94) and Merrideth Nash (27:28.45).

Dickhof placed 19th in 17:07.49 to lead the Trojans to a ninth-place showing. Other Centerburg runners included Carter Netting (27th, 17:25.19), Lane Kloss (18:40.37), Sam Dickhof (19:14.24), Corbin Netting (19:16.37), Mason Dawes (19:44.83) and Noah Matthews (20:09.25).

East Knox's Macie Fawcett (23:28.60) and Cloe Tucker (23:29.58), as well as Danville's Brooklyn Ashman (24:07.90), also competed.

Ethan Swendal from Danville competed in the Div. IV boys' race, finishing in 20:12.39.