TIFFIN — On Saturday, September 8, the weather conditions were not the most favorably but the teams from Colonel Crawford and Crestline headed up to Tiffin to compete in the 50th annual Tiffin Cross Country Carnival.
The runners representing the Eagles and the Bulldogs were actually spread throughout four different races on the day.
In the girls Division II and III open race, Caitlin Harley of Crestline finished in 21st overall in a time of 23:21.0.
Four of the members of the Lady Eagles were also in action alongside Harley. Abby Hocker finished 95th overall in a time of 25:38.9 and was Crawford’s only top-100 placer in the open event.
Also in action for the black and yellow were Cassidy Vogt (133rd), Emma Swisher (162nd) and Alivia Payne (210th). In this particular race, there were a total of 295 finishers and the winner was Carolina Trumpower of Mansfield Christian, crossing the finish line with a time of 20:14.9.
A member of the Mansfield Christian Flames also won the boys Division III open race. Clay Reynolds took the top spot on the boys side of things with a winning time of 17:26.9 to outlast 206 other runners.
Luke Lawson was the only member from both the Eagles or the Bulldogs to finish within the top-100, snagging 50th overall in a time of 20:34.9. Joining Lawson in the open race were teammates Brock Nolen (135th) and Caleb Christman (194th). Running for the Crestline Bulldogs in the open race portion of the day were Ben Sharp (166th) and Lucas Cochrun (196th).
In the Division III varsity race, the Eagles from Colonel Crawford would take ninth place out of 32 teams with 283 points and see four of their seven runners finish within the top-100 in the field of 215 runners. St. Mary Central Catholic would earn the team victory with just 41 points and see a member of their team, George Kaftan, win the boys race in a time of 17:42.2.
Leading the way for Crawford on the day was Braxton James, finishing in sixth overall in a time of 17:59.4. Joining him in the top-50 was Alex Lawson, taking 45th overall in 18:59.4. Earning top-100 finishes on the day were Alex Mutchler (52nd) and Jacob Hoffman (69th). Carson James (119th), Zach Leonhart (131st) and Brandon Bauer (152nd) were also in action for the Eagles.
As for the Crawford girls, they would finish in 25th out of 54 teams on Saturday in Tiffin. Allison Johnson of Mount Gilead won the individual title with the top time of 18:19.5 but the team from Minster would claim the team crown with just 53 total points. In total, there were 358 girls that finished in the Division III varsity portion of the carnival.
Ally Hocker was the only Lady Eagles runner to crack the top-100, finishing in 67th overall at a time of 21:48.8. Alison Manko (117th) and Katie Hopkins (179th) would both crack the top-200 for the black and yellow. Also in action for Crawford was Katie Hanft (202nd), Sheba Sulser (203rd), Theresa Dzugan (242nd) and Courtney Lyons (24:46.6).
