New Philadelphia boys still atop state cross country poll

New Philadelphia’s boys cross country team still sits atop the Div. II state coaches poll, owning all 12 first-place votes, with the postseason and the run-up to state just around the corner. Ohio Cardinal Conference rival Lexington, whom the Quakers will see this weekend in the OCC meet at Wooster, is ranked No. 2.

The conference rivals won’t see each other again after that until the state meet. The Quakers compete in the East District, which feeds into the Pickerington Regional. Lexington competes in the Findlay District, which feeds into the Tiffin Regional.

The Quakers most recently competed in the Bear Den Dash Invitational, a massively loaded field in Olentangy, and finished 10th overall – Lexington placed third – in a 26-team field packed with Division I powers.

Senior Marcus Adelman was the Quakers’ top performer, placing fifth in 15:39.46, two spots and three seconds behind Lexington senior Latrell Hughes. Next to cross for New Philadelphia was senior Alex Adelman, who came in 40th, followed by senior Kyle Beaber, who placed 46th.

Junior Kevin Smith came in 55th for the Quakers, with junior Austin Pringle checking in 175th Senior Brennan Hostetler and junior Max Malloy were 179th and 180th, respectively.

Westerville North won the team race, followed by Mentor, Lexington and Perrysburg.

Running in the Double Blue Race, the girls team finished 15th among 18 squads. The Quakers were led by junior Kylie Smith, who finished fourth. Senior Kaitlyn Doughty placed 31st, with junior Devlin Herrington (98th), senior Ruby Byers (100th) and freshman Katelyn Beaber packing together. Senior Addy VanArsdalen was New Philadelphia’s other finisher, coming in 112th among 118 finihers.

West Liberty Salem won that race, ahead of Westerville North and Worthington Thomas Worthington.

Girls golf

Ella Ridgeway made a run at a spot in the state golf tournament but with only one berth available at the Oct. 2 district tourney at Lancaster Golf Club, perfection was called for. The New Philadelphia senior shot a 16-over-par 88 to finished a solid eighth place as the Quakers in the 48-player district field. The one state berth went to Ellie Beck-Aden of Athens, who shot 79 to win by two strokes over Isabelle Perini of Circleville. Minerva nabbed the only team state berth, beating Marietta by 16 strokes.

Girls tennis

The Quakers competed last week in tournament action at the Canton-Jackson Park Division I Sectional, where New Philadelphia’s season came to an end after a solid third-place finish in Ohio Cardinal Conference play.

Senior Katelyn Mamula opened sectional play with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Eloise McKrill of Perry, then dropped a second-round match 6-1, 6-1 to fourth-seeded Ava Doane of Lake. Junior Evy Bowers dropped her first match 7-5, 6-1 to Lisa Leunova of Boardman. Junior Anna Wherley fell in her opening match in three sets to Morgan Dela Croix of Louisville.

In doubles play, sophomore Kate Stogsdille and Jordan Chang dropped their first-round match to a team from Perry, while junior Olivia Alexander and Samantha Jackson lost in the opening round to a pair from GlenOak.

Boys golf

New Philadelphia’s team made a game run at a state tournament berth during play at the Lancaster Division I District tournament on Oct. 6, there just weren’t many being handed out. With just one team berth at state, the Quakers finished two places and 12 strokes shy of a trip to Firestone Country Club on Oct. 12 and 13.

The Quakers will be represented at the year-ending tourney, though, as junior Brady Evans shot an 8-over-par 80 at Lancaster Golf Club, sharing medalist honors with Owen Cains of Sheridan, whose school got the only team state berth.

Also playing very well for the Quakers was sophomore Jackson Martini, who shot 83 to tie for sixth place individually. Senior Cam Wright shot a 90 for New Philadelphia, trying for 23rd, while sophomore Cayle McBride finished tied for 28th with a 92 and freshman Griffin Wells shot 96 to tie for 37th in the 48-player field.

Soccer

Back-to-back Ohio Cardinal Conference losses to Wooster and Dover, both by 1-0 scores, ended New Philadelphia’s chances of sneaking into perhaps a share of the conference championship. The Quakers fell to 7-7-1 with the losses, 3-4-1 in the league. They were 3-2-1 and would have needed some help, but were still technically in the race before the two defeats. The girls team was set to wrap up frustrating season. Only a non-league match at Minerva on Oct. 8 remained, along with whatever tournament games awaited the Quakers, who were in the midst of a seven-match winless stretch in which they did not score a goal. The Quakers last found the net on Sept. 9 against Cambridge.

Volleyball

With a match against OCC champion Dover and a non-league trip to Carrollton all that remained on the regular-season schedule, the Tornadoes were 6-14 overall, 6-8 in the conference with the postseason just around the corner. They did bounce back momentarily from a four-match losing streak that stretched through the latter part of September, beating West Holmes and Tuslaw in back-to-back matches.