Smithville's Carr sets area cross country record; Waynedale boys golf advances to state

On Sept. 27 at the Berlin Bear Den Dash, Smithville senior Kaitlyn Carr posted a milestone she won’t soon forget. As a freshman runner, she watched as former Norwayne standout Jaylee Wingate, who is now running at the University of Nebraska, shattered former West Holmes standout Michelle Hostetler’s area-best cross country time of 18:12.

Wingate finished her prep career with a sparkling time of 17:15, and in some eyes, it looked pretty unbreakable, for a minute at least. Carr didn’t get the memo as she hunted down that time over the course of her prep career before this past Saturday. Finally, with one big run, Carr passed Wingate atop the area leaderboard with a time of 17:10.97. The scary part is where she will leave it when it’s all said and done.

“To say ‘I’m proud’ would be an understatement,” Smithies coach Greg DeRodes said. “I’m so happy Kaitlyn was able to break the record. It’s an amazing record, and it’s great seeing all of her hard work pay off.”

As to how Carr snapped the record, DeRodes readily admitted the fast competition and her sheer will to win are what finally broke the record.

“The competition really pushed her,” he said. “She was racing a girl from Athens, and I knew she wanted to win, so by racing her, they were both pushing each other to super-fast times. That was such a fast race, and five others went sub-18 (minutes).”

Program first

Waynedale, Orrville and Tuslaw all took their cracks at the Division II Northeast District boys golf tournament at Windmill Lakes on Sept. 30. When the dust cleared, the Golden Bears secured their first-ever state qualification as a team with a second-place score of 313, just a stroke back of district champion Poland Seminary. The Red Riders finished ninth with a score of 339, and the Mustangs were one spot back at 10th with 342.

“This team has been amazing all year long,” Waynedale golf coach Melinda Budd said. “Someone is always stepping up. They pick each other up. It’s fun to watch, and this is just a fun group to work with.”

As for securing their first-ever team to state, Budd, who has coached many Golden Bear greats over the years, couldn’t help but smile and then point to baseball.

“It’s always great to get someone to state, but it’s a heck of an accomplishment to get a team in,” she said. “We’re looking forward to it, and it should be exciting. I really think being in these situations and winning state in baseball, that’s huge for these guys, and it helped them handle moments today.”

Leading the way for Waynedale was junior Cameron Miller, who fired a team-best 75, and senior Jordan Miller carded a 78. Logan Troyer and Cooper Miller both finished with matching 80s, and Hank Miller capped his day with an 81.

Budd was extremely happy as she recapped her golfers’ performances.

“Logan hit that eagle on one of the longest par-4s on the back nine from 140 yards out,” she said. “Hank really showed some great composure coming down the stretch. Cameron was solid all day. Cooper is a freshman and had a solid score, and Jordan, he really came on strong on the back nine.”

Chippewa girls soccer on top of WCAL

Make it back-to-back wins for the Lady Chipps as they knocked off their most pesky rival in the Wayne County Athletic League, Norwayne. There have been few, if any, teams in the league that have actually gone toe to toe with Chippewa, let alone gotten under its skin by getting some results.

That’s the nature of the love-hate relationship these two programs share as they have reigned supreme atop the league for the majority of the time since its inception. That’s why a 3-1 win on Sept. 25 couldn’t have been sweeter for the Lady Chipps as they swept the regular-season series from their rivals.