New Philadelphia boys finish second to Lexington at OCC cross country meet

The showdown lived up to the hype. If the rematch does the same thing, New Philadelphia’s boys cross country team will at the very least contend for a state championship.

With the teams combining for the top six finishers and 10 of the top 11, New Philadelphia and Lexington battled it out for the Ohio Cardinal Conference championship last Saturday at Wooster High School. Placing six runners among the first 11 and all seven of its runners in the top 13, Lexington totaled just 22 points to top New Philadelphia’s runner-up total of 56. The Quakers had four top-10 finishers.

The Quakers are ranked No. 1 in the state coaches poll in Division II. The Minutemen are No. 2. The teams will now not see each other for three weeks, with their rematch coming at the state meet on Nov. 1 at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in the southwest suburbs of Columbus.

In the OCC meet, Lexington senior Latrell Hughes finished in 15:30.3 to edge New Philadelphia senior Marcus Adelman by 7.5 seconds. After two more Minutemen crossed, senior Alec Adelman placed fifth for the Quakers in 15:53.3.

Senior Kyle Beaber (ninth place, 16:15.6), junior Kevin Smith (10th, 16:31) and junior Austin Pringle (30th, 18:39.2) were the Quakers’ other scorers. Senior Brennan Hostetler (42nd, 20:07.7) junior Max Malloy (49th, 22:12) also ran in the race for New Philadelphia.

The Quakers’ girls team got a very nice showing from junior Kylie Smith, who placed fourth in 19:22.8. That helped New Philadelphia to a fourth-place finish with 111 points, edging Ashland by a single point.

Senior Katlyn Doughty was next for the Quakers. She placed 18th in 21:24.5. Freshmen Angel Kaufman (28th, 22:11.9) and Katelyn Beaber (29th, 22:12.3) finished back-to-back, followed by junior Devlin Herrington (23:11.8). Also running were sophomore Kamri Patterson (40th, 23:23.7) and senior Faith Swaldo (41st, 23:29.5). 

Soccer

The Quaker boys finished the regular season with back-to-back wins, topping John Glenn 2-0 and Uniontown Lake 5-0 to run their record to 9-7-1 after they started the year winless through four matches. Luis Herrera-Lopez and Jacob MacMath scored for the Quakers against Joun Glenn. That pair also scored against Lake, along with Nathan Seigler, and Elvin Herrera Lopez, who scored a twice, including one via penalty kick. Miles Beitzel had the shutout in each match. The Quakers were set to play Carrollton in a sectional match on Oct. 14.

The girls squad saw its season end with a 6-0 loss to Minerva in the regular-season finale on Oct. 8, then a 3-0 setback at John Glenn in sectional play on Oct. 13. It was a rough year for the Quakers, who had trouble mounting an attack. They were shut out in their final nine outings and 14 times overall.

Volleyball

The Quakers finished their regular season 6-16 overall, 5-9 in the OCC, which left them in fifth place. They had a solid final week, losing to state-ranked Dover, before a tough 3-2 loss to Carrollton and a straight-sets win over Zanesville in New Philadelphia’s postseason opener.

Against Carrollton, freshman Khloe Sours led the way with 11 kills. Junior Eberly Baker added nine and freshman Abby Sweitzer chipped in eight. Junior Kate Burnworth added five aces and 17 digs. Senior Emily Hootman had 17 digs. Senior Marisa Loaded had 19 assists and 16 digs. Junior Lilyana Wells added 10 digs.

Against Dover, which won the outright OCC title, the Quakers got four kills from Baker, six digs and 11 service receptions from senior Aubrie Watson, seven assists from Loader, six assists from Wells, nine service receptions from freshman Ella Range and eight from senior Emily Hootman.

No details available from the win over Zanesville. New Philadelphia was to meet Dover again on Oct. 15 in a district semifinal.