McGowan Invitational

PATASKALA — On Saturday morning, the cross country teams representing both Galion and Northmor High Schools headed down to Watkins Memorial to compete in the annual McGowan Invitational.

It would prove to be a big day for both schools as Galion’s Braxton Tate and the Northmor Lady Golden Knights claimed titles for their respective schools.

Tate won the Division II portion of the boys race and, in doing so, also inked his name into the Galion High School history books by setting a new school record with a completion time of 15:32.4.

In that DII race, the team from Unioto would claim the team title, tallying 71 points and far surpassing the runner-ups from Hebron Lakewood (118). The Tigers would finish in 19th place out of 26 teams in action, notching 507 points on the day.

Tate would be the only Galion boy to finish in the top-100 in the field of 302 runners as the next placer for the Tigers was Braeden Horn. Horn finished 102nd with a time of 19:05.8.

Also running for the orange and blue in the boys race were: 150. Kellen Kiser; 163. Holden Gabriel; 176. Garrett Murphy; 191. Zach Slone; 192. Sean Clark; 196. Grayson Willacker and 236. Simon Shawk.

The Galion Lady Tigers saw themselves finishing in 11th place in the field of 25 teams. Granville took home the team title, scoring 56 points, 24 points ahead of the runner-ups from Bexley (79).

Madison Eynan of Fairfield Union won the individual championship, pacing the 274-runner field with a time of 18:25.4.

Galion’s girls had four runners finish within the top-100 on the day with the highest placement going to Zaynah Tate. Tate crossed the finish line in 21:44.3, good for 44th overall. Brooklyn Gates claimed 51st in 22:07.6 while Emily McDonald earned 76th in a time of 22:58.6. Rounding out the top-100 placers for the Lady Tigers was Ava Smith, claiming 84th with a race time of 23:20.7.

Other runners and their placements for Galion Saturday were: 108. Airyona Nickels; 121. Kaitlyn Bailey; 146. Jasmine Clingman; 154. Danielle Manring; 176. Natalee Perkins; 233. Micah Brown; 242. Amara Ratcliff; 249. Kaylee Ramsey; 269. Hannah Daniels; 270. Celeste Nunez and 273. Camille Nunez.

Over in the Division III portion of things, the Northmor Lady Golden Knights left their mark on the field, claiming the team championship with 58 points, edging the runner-ups from Centerburg (65).

Emma DiYani of Millersport earned the individual crown, leading the field of 124 runners with a time of 19:36.3.

Northmor’s girls team would have two girls finish within the top-10 in the field and a total of six within the top-25.

Julianna DiTullio led the way with her seventh-place finish in a time of 20:49.8. Two spots behind DiTullio was Lauren Johnson, finishing ninth in 21:06.0. Julia Kanagy ran to 11th overall in 21:11.8 with Riley Johnson claiming 15th in 21:48.7. Olivia Goodson (22:27.1) and Sabrina Kelley (22:36.0) picked up 24th and 25th for Northmor, respectively.

Also in the field for the Lady Knights were: 45. Felicia Galleher; 48. Syndey Kelley; 58. Maddison Yaussy; 66. Carolyn McGaulley; 77. Kahlene Brinkman and 85. Bailey Snyder.

In the boys DIII race, Fisher Catholic would edge Newark Catholic for the team championship; 61-69. The Northmor boys squad would finish in third place in the 12-team field, scoring 91 points.

Zion Carpenter of Northridge earned the top-spot in the field of 134 runners, completing his race in 16:51.3.

Gavvin Keen, Kooper Keen and Austin Amens all finished within the top-15 for the Knights on the day. G. Keen ran his way to sixth overall with a race time of 17:25.5 while K. Keen earned 12th at 18:06.0. Amens collected 14th place points for Northmor with his time of 18:09.7.

Lucas Weaver (19:21.2) and TJ Diehl (19:24.5) would take 33rd and 34th, respectively to round out the top-50 finishers for the Knights on the day.

Others in the field for Northmor at the McGowan were: 60. PJ Lower; 71. Jedd Adams; 75. Dylan Amens; 76. Jack Sears; 85. Kolten Hart; 90. Jayden McClain; 100. Nyk Cook and 107. Tyler Parsons.

Tiffin Cross Country Carnival

TIFFIN — Also on Saturday was the annual Tiffin Cross Country Carnival, held at Hedges Boyer Park. In total throughout the three divisions, over 4,200 runners took to the course in high school action alone throughout the varsity and open races.

In the field at the large invitational were the teams from Colonel Crawford High School and Danny Kiser of Crestline.

For the Lady Eagles from Crawford, they had participants in both the Division III open race, as well as the varsity 5K.

The open race combined Division II and III runners on the girls side with Beaumont earning the team title over Lexington; 26-37. Individual champion in that race was Emma Lichtenberger of Pleasant with a tie of 20:23.6.

Runners for Crawford in the field of 303 finishers were: 99. Olivia Chase; 110. Mallory Plesac; 122. Abby Hocker and 218. Alivia Payne.

Over in the varsity race, Minster would earn the team championship, finishing with 75 points and distancing themselves greatly over the runner-ups from Fort Loramie (137). Miranda Stanhope of Badger paced the field of 343 finishers with a time of 18:32.4. Colonel Crawford would tally 610 points for a 24th place finish.

Alison Manko was the only Lady Eagles runner to finish in the top-100, clocking in at a time of 21:19.2, good for 59th.

Other Crawford girls placements on Saturday in Tiffin were: 110. Caydence Agee; 111. Katie Hopkins; 161. Ally Hocker; 192. Maria Smith; 208. Theresa Dzugan and 220. Sheba Sulser.

In the boys DIII varsity race, Colonel Crawford would run to a fourth-place finish with 228 points. Sandusky St. Mary Central Catholic won the boys title, collecting 45 points on the day while the runner-ups from Tinora tallied 103.

SMCC runner Brett Reed claimed the boys championship as he led the field of 216 runners with a time of 17:11.0.

Alex Mutchler and Alex Lawson would lead the way for the Eagles on Saturday. Mutchler finished in 18th place with a time of 18:12.5 while Lawson claimed 22nd in 18:18.6. Mason McKibben also earned a top-50 finish, claiming 31st in the field with a finishing time of 18:40.0.

Also running for the Eagles in Tiffin were: 67. Jacob Hoffman; 95. Luke Lawson; 96. Carson James and 194. Brock Nolen.

Danny Kiser represented the entire Crestline Bulldogs team at the carnival, claiming 27th in the Division III open race. Kiser crossed the finish line with a time of 19:53.6 and was joined in the race by Crawford’s Keyen Shipman who took 179th in the field of 197 finishers.