GALION — On Saturday, September 21, cross country runners from the schools in Crawford County flocked to Amann’s to compete in the annual County Meet.
In total, 94 runners finished the race on Saturday; 51 in the girls field and 43 in the boys field.
When all the points were tallied, the Galion Lady Tigers would take home the hardware for top girls team, holding off the runner-ups from Colonel Crawford; 38-43. Wynford finished in third with 50 points while Buckeye Central claimed fourth, recording 98 points.
Alison Manko of Colonel Crawford won the individual race, crossing the finish line in a time of 20:48.31.
Brooklyn Gates was the top-finisher for the Lady Tigers, earning runner-up honors with a race time of 20:54.09. Zaynah Tate finished right behind Gates in third place with a time of 21:16.84. Emily McDonald rounded out the top-five, completing her race in 21:39.97.
Airyona Nickels, Ava Smith and Kaitlyn Bailey would also finish within the top-25 for Galion on the day at Amann’s.
Nickels clocked in with a time of 22:41.12, good for 13th in the field while Smith finished 15th in a time of 23:14.44. Bailey rounded out the top-25 in a time of 24:41.39.
Also in the field for the girls were: 27. Jasmine Clingman; 29. Danielle Manring; 36. Natalee Perkins; 28. Micah Brown; 42. Amara Ratcliff; 47. Kaylee Ramsey; 48. Hannah Daniels; 50. Celeste Nunez and 51. Camile Nunez.
Joining Manko in the top-10 for the Lady Eagles were Katie Hopkins and Caydence Agee.
Hopkins came in fourth for Crawford with a time of 21:30.78 with Agee snagging ninth in 21:57.02.
Four members of the Eagles girls team also snagged top-25 finishes on the day, led by a 12th place finish by Ally Hocker in 22:31.28. Maria Smith finished 17th in a time of 23:27.27 with Sheba Sulser right behind her in 18th at 23:39.36. Abby Hocker took 24th in the field in a race time of 24:37.12.
Others in action for Crawford were: 28. Olivia Chase; 30. Theresa Dzugan; 35. Mallory Plesac; 40. Alivia Payne and 44. Morgan Sherk.
Over in the boys field, Galion’s Braxton Tate would coast his way to the County Championship, winning the race with a time of 17:34.73.
Wynford claimed the boys title with 45 points while Colonel Crawford’s boys claimed runner-up honors with 47 points. Galion took third with 66 points while Bucyrus (85) and Buckeye Central (121) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
En route to their runner-up finish, the Eagles would see six runners total finish in the top-20 in the field of 43 finishers.
Mason McKibben finished in second place behind Tate, crossing the finish line in 18:12.55 to lead the way for Crawford.
Alex Lawson earned fifth place in a time of 18:27.44 while Jacob Hoffman finished his race in 18:57.87, good for 13th overall. Alex Mutchler (19:09.61), Luke Lawson (19:25.61) and Carson James (19:49.77) rounded out those top-20 finishers, claiming 14th, 16th and 19th, respectively.
Other runners in the field for the Eagles boys team were Brock Nolen (37th) and Keyen Shipman (43rd).
Joining Tate in the top-25 for the Galion Tigers were Braeden Horn, Kellen Kiser and Garrett Murphy.
Horn claimed 10th in the field with a time of 18:47.65 and Kiser took 15th in 19:24.72. Murphy ran to a 21st place finish in a race time of 19:58.31 for the third place Tigers.
Also in competition for the hosts on Saturday were: 23. Holden Gabriel; 27. Simon Shawk; 28. Mathias Breinich; 30. Sean Clark; 31. Zach Slone; 32. Grayson Willacker; 36. Corban Justice and 38. Hunter Parsley.
Danny Kiser, the lone representative for the Crestline Bulldogs, ran his way to ninth in the field, finishing his race in 18:46.47.
