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Best of the Week: Presidents sweep top two spots in boys, girls MOAC cross country races

Rob McCurdy, Marion Star
·9 min read

MARION — The Presidents had a pair of runners go 1-2 to finish the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships Saturday on their home course.

In the boys race, Carter Ferguson won with a 16:15, while Kade Sutherland was right behind at 16:19 for runner-up for Harding. In the girls race, it was Leah and Lydia Price in 19:17 and 19:18 that won and finished second for Harding.

Shelby won the boys championship with 44 points, while Harding was runner-up at 75 followed by Pleasant's 79, Ontario's 80, Highland's 100, River Valley's 152, Galion's 189 and Clear Fork's 221.

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Others running for Harding's boys were Sebastian Swihart (22nd, 17:58), Andrew Tackett (24th, 17:59(, Jaidin Ramirez (26th, 18:15), Peyton Ward (28th, 18:28) and Jackson Peters (38th, 19:12).

Will Lichtenberger paced Pleasant's boys with a ninth in 16:58 followed by Caleb Cameron in 12th in 17:18, Nick Swartz in 14th in 17:18, Elijah McGinnis in 19th in 17:41, Liam Curtis in 25th in 18:06, Joey Dietsch in 34th, in 18:58 and Brayden Rinehart in 65th in 27:53.

Marion Harding's Carter Ferguson runs to the finish at the Ridgedale Rocket Cross Country Run earlier this year. He won the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference championship on Saturday.
Marion Harding's Carter Ferguson runs to the finish at the Ridgedale Rocket Cross Country Run earlier this year. He won the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference championship on Saturday.

More MOAC Boys Cross Country

● Highland: Matthew Miller (eighth, 16z:48), Cael Gilmore (15th, 17:26), Brendan Lester (16th, 17:32), Ethan Harmon (29th, 18:30), Daniel Grandstaff (33rd, 18:57), Henry Spence (35th, 19:00), Maddox Weiss (39th, 19:17).

● River Valley: Gabe Douce (sixth, 16:46), Chase Osborne (17th, 17:35), Kael Swartz (45th, 19:57), Iain Linville (48th, 20:11), Harrison Lee (54th, 21:14).

MOAC Girls Cross Country

● Shelby won the girls championship with 36 points. Galion was runner-up at 72 followed by Ontario's 85, Pleasant's 99, Harding's 124, Highland's 139 and River Valley's 141.

● Pleasant: Casey Kimball (seventh, 19:33), Sarah Jordan (13th, 21:02), Lydia Baumgartner (25th, 22:33), Whitley Baumgartner (28th, 22:37), Nicole Robinson (29th, 22:44), Kylie Berry (44th, 24:56).

● Marion Harding: After the Prices, Kamryn McDonald (42nd, 24:42), Laina Camp (46th, 25:28), Iris Deeren (47th, 25:31), Hope Wheeler (54th, 27:21), Kyleigh Young (56th, 27:40).

● Highland: Kindylle Mallow (17th, 21:41), Riley Matthews (20th, 21:50), Morgan Snider (27th, 22:36), Abbie Pruett (38th, 23:47), Audrey Weaver (49th, 26:03), Allison Minkos (52nd, 27:07), Lizzie Beck (58th, 28:04).

Ridgedale's Brogan Weston runs to the finish line at the Marion Harding Cross Country Invitational this season. He won the Northwest Central Conference boys race on Saturday.
Ridgedale's Brogan Weston runs to the finish line at the Marion Harding Cross Country Invitational this season. He won the Northwest Central Conference boys race on Saturday.

NWCC Cross Country

● Ridgedale's Brogan Weston won the Northwest Central Conference Cross Country Championships with a 17:19, beating second place by 36 seconds. Teammate Issac Lust was third in 18:15, while Michael Richmond was 11th in 19:28. For the girls, Hannah Staton was ninth in 27:04.

● Elgin's boys were fifth as a team with 102 points behind the winning total of 54 from Cory-Rawson. For the Comets, Peyton Zempter ran 17th in 20:20, Hunter Johnston 20th in 20:46, David Colby 24th in 21:21, Kaden Thomas 26th in 21:28, Karson Thomas 30th in 22:08 and Bo Daniels 36th in 23:59.

Mount Gilead's Owen Hershner runs against Kade Sutherland of Marion Harding to the finish of a cross country race at Harding earlier this year.
Mount Gilead's Owen Hershner runs against Kade Sutherland of Marion Harding to the finish of a cross country race at Harding earlier this year.

KMAC Boys Cross Country

● Mount Gilead won the boys title with 29 points followed by Fredericktown's 51, Centerburg's 80, Northmor's 85, East Knox's 122 and Cardington's 160. The Indians swept the top three spots with Will Baker going in 15:16, Parker Bartlett in 15:54 and Owen Hershner in 16:06. Others for MG were Tommy Emberg in ninth in 16:51, Nolan Hershner in 14th in 17:07, Nathan Smith in 19th in 17:26 and Collin Gabriel in 24th in 17:42.

● Northmor: Ryan Lehman (fourth, 16:14), David Blunk (fifth, 16:17), Thomas Keen (22nd, 17:41), Bryce Cooper (27th, 17:52), Vinton Naylor (31st, 17:57), Owen Yunker (36th, 18:24), Levi Hunter (38th, 18:26).

● Cardington: Aidan Reitmire (eighth, 16:45), Riley Patterson (56th, 19:34), Brayden Rammelsberg (57th, 19:34), Brandon Elliott-Hughes (65th, 20:13), Luke Visonti (74th, 21:46), Danny Townsend (77th, 22:27), Thor Kovacs (80th, 24:11).

KMAC Girls Cross Country

● Fredericktown won the girls championship with 43 points to edge the 47 by Northmor, while Mount Gilead was third with 68, East Knox fourth with 78 and Danville fifth with 150.

● Northmor: Kate Lehman (second, 19:21), Natalie Hunter (sixth, 20:27), Ryann Brinkman (ninth, 20:38), Haylee Walker (17th, 21:37), Macie Witherall (29th, 22:20), Elizabeth Ruhl (31st, 22:34), Maizy Brinkman (32nd, 22:55).

● Mount Gilead: Kimberly Staley (third, 19:47), Ava Baker (14th, 21:24), Danielle Pohlkotte (19th, 21:42), Haley Pfeifer (26th, 22:07), Sophie Mosher (27th, 22:08), Adriana Hershner (33rd, 22:58), Natalie Jagger (34th, 23:00).

● Cardington: Magi Hallabrin (fifth, 20:21), Gracie Meade (20th, 21:46).

Central Buckeye Conference Cross Country

● North Union's Tyler Huff won the CBC's Mad River Division boys race in 16:52 as the team was third with 80 points. Others for the Wildcats were Felix Plouck (11th, 18:50), Zach Meyer (15th, 19:05), Max Leavitt (22nd, 19:36), Drew Chadwell (31st, 20:41), Jack Hoover (38th, 21:09) and Phillip Ardrey (42nd, 25:29).

● The North Union girls were fourth as a team with 68 points as Kailin McElroy was third in 21:08 and Lauren Hall was fifth in 21:32. Others were Kennedy Ludwig (ninth, 21:55), Savannah Amstutz (26th, 24:44), Corajayne DeBoer (30th, 25:45), Josie Held (33rd, 26:39) and Madelyn Zimmerman (36th, 28:48).

Boys Soccer

● River Valley capped its regular season with a pair of victories to end with a 12-4-1 overall record and a runner-up finish in the MOAC at 5-1.

● The Vikings beat Clear Fork for the first time 2-1. Gabe Douce got the first goal off a penalty kick when Hudson Pollock was fouled in the box. The Colts answered early in the second half with a goal off a corner kick, while RV won it with six minutes left when Christian Knight followed up his corner kick that bounced back to him with a goal from 18 yards. J.R. Bates had seven saves.

● In the finale, the Vikes beat Northside Christian 4-1 with Douce scoring twiec and Knight and Briley Beckley scoring once each. Knight, Beckley, Pollock and Coben Reser all had assists, while Bates saved four shots.

Girls Soccer

● Highland's Amarie Morgan recorded a hat trick on her senior night as the Scots beat Northridge 4-1.

Volleyball

● River Valley took care of Clear Fork 3-1 as Kennedy Hummel posted seven aces and 26 digs, Carly Cerny 11 digs, Camryn Rogers 16 digs, Kendall Smith seven kills and three blocks, Haley Wickersham 15 assists and Myla Kenney eight kills.

● Shelby slipped by Pleasant 3-2 with the Spartans getting 25 kills, 15 digs, 16 points and five blocks from Kamryn Cocherl, nine kills from Kylee Lacroix, eight kills and 18 points from Brooklin Davis, eight kills from Kenzley Davis and 49 assists from Emerson Williams.

● North Union topped Northwestern 3-2 as Sienna Ballinger recorded 14 kills, six blocks and 20 serve receptions. Others for the Wildcats were Emma Padavano with 12 kills and eight aces, Zoe Wedding with 30 digs and 25 assists, Lindsay Willis with 20 digs and Kennedy Harrah with 26 assists. In a 3-0 loss to Graham, NU got 14 kills from Ballinger, 24 digs from Wedding, 23 assists from Harrah and 19 serve receptions from Hallie Hall.

VOTE: Marion Star Girls Best of the Week Performer Poll

  • Highland volleyball's Camryn Miller collected 29 digs, three aces and seven assists on her senior night to help the Scots clinch an 11th straight league championship with a win over Ontario.

  • Pleasant volleyball's Kamryn Cocherl recorded 25 kills, 15 digs, 16 points and five blocks in a 3-2 loss to Shelby.

  • Highland soccer's Amarie Morgan scored a hat trick on her senior night in a victory over Northridge.

  • River Valley volleyball's Kennedy Hummel put up 26 digs and seven aces in a win over Clear Fork.

  • Marion Harding's Leah and Lydia Price went 1-2 at the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships in times of 19:17 and 19:18 each.

  • Northmor cross country's Kate Lehman was the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference runner-up with a time of 19:21.

  • North Union's Kailin McElroy was third in 21:08 at the Central Buckeye Conference Cross Country Meet in the Mad River Division.

  • In last week's Marion Star Girls Best of the Week Performer Poll, the River Valley doubles team of Addi Comstock and Kennedy Rensch earned 428 of 945 votes (45 percent) to win it after winning a pair of matches at the Division II sectional tournament. Other nominees were Ridgedale volleyball players Hannah Cook and Lauren Leslie, Marion Harding tennis player Raina Smith, Pleasant tennis player Hannah Miller and Highland golfer Ceci Grassbaugh.

  • Voting for this week's polls can be found at MarionStar.com and its app, and the voting period will run through early Sunday morning.

VOTE: Marion Star Boy Best of the Week Performer Poll

  • Marion Harding's Carter Ferguson and Kade Sutherland went 1-2 in 16:15 and 16:19 respectively at the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships.

  • Ridgedale's Brogan Weston won the Northwest Central Conference Cross Country Championships with a 17:19, which was 36 seconds faster than the runner-up.

  • Mount Gilead cross country runner Will Baker won the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference Meet with a 15:16.

  • North Union's Tyler Huff won the Central Buckeye Conference Cross Country Meet in the Mad River Division with a 16:52.

  • River Valley soccer's Christian Knight scored the game-winning goal with six minutes left to lift his team to a 2-1 win over Clear Fork, the first time the Vikings beat the Colts in boys soccer.In last week's boys poll, River Valley soccer player Briley Beckley, who scored three goals with an assist in a win over Clyde, earned 357 of 542 votes (66 percent) to win it. Other nominees were Pleasant golfer Dylan Moore, Marion Harding soccer's Mikhai Hughes, Mount Gilead cross country's Will Baker and Northmor golfer Grant Bentley.

  • Voting for this week's polls can be found at MarionStar.com and its app, and the voting period will run through early Sunday morning.

Rob McCurdy, Marion Star and USA Today Network-Ohio
Rob McCurdy, Marion Star and USA Today Network-Ohio

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Best of the Week: Cross country wraps regular season with conferences