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Boys Best of the Week: Cross country at midseason, while golf is wrapping up

Rob McCurdy, Marion Star
·4 min read

Mount Gilead, the fourth-ranked Division III boys cross country team in the state and the defending state champs, went to northeast Ohio to face the biggest of the big schools in that region in a midseason meet.

The Indians were 12th out of 29 teams that included five D-I state-ranked squads at Saturday's Strongsville Fleet Feet Invitational.

Will Baker was fifth in 15:41 and Parker Barlett 12th in 15:53, which shows the talent and depth of the meet. Owen Hershner was 34th in 16:29, Tommy Emberg 134th in 17:44, Nolan Hershner 149th in 17:56, Nathan Smith 153rd in 17:57 and Joshua Davis 185th in 18:51.

More Cross Country

● Pleasant, which is ranked No. 17 in the D-III coaches poll, took third at the demanding Ontario Bill Brown Invitational, scoring 154 points. Caleb Cameron and Nick Swartz were 11th and 12 in 17:16 and 17:23 for the Spartans, while Will Lichtenberger was 25th in 17:58, Elijah McGinniss 29th in 18:13, Liam Curtis 78th in 19:18, Joey Dietsch 98th in 20:12 and Jacob Meyers 117th in 20:47.

● Right behind Pleasant at Ontario was Marion Harding with 162 points for fourth. Kade Sutherland paced the Presidents with a fourth in 16:58 followed by Carter Ferguson (16th, 17:33), Peyton Ward (33rd, 18:19), Andrew Tackett (51st, 18:42), Sebastian Swihart (58th, 18:53), Jaidin Ramirez (92nd, 19:51) and Jackson Peters (111th, 20:34).

More Cross Country: Marion County's elite HS runners gearing up for looming big cross country meets

● Northmor, which is ranked No. 18 in Division III, was fifth in Ontario with 167 points. Ryan Lehman was the meet winner in 16:31 for the Golden Knights. He was followed by David Blunk (19th, 17:38), Thomas Keen (43rd, 18:30), Levi Hunter (45th, 18:31), Dane Creswell (59th, 18:53), Owen Yunker (69th, 19:06) and Vinton Naylor (71st, 19:10).

● North Union competed at the Ohio Caverns Invitational and took fourth. Tyler Huff ran 17th in 18:11, while Felix Plouck was 29th in 19:01, Zach Meyer 36th in 19:45, Traven Reber 49th in 20:41, Max Leavitt 51st in 20:46, Drew Chadwell 58th in 21:15 and Jack Hoover 59th in 21:32.

Marion Harding's Kade Sutherland, left, and Pleasant's Will Lichtenberger, right, compete at the Ridgedale Rocket Cross Country Run last week.
Marion Harding's Kade Sutherland, left, and Pleasant's Will Lichtenberger, right, compete at the Ridgedale Rocket Cross Country Run last week.

Golf

● North Union wrapped up its regular season with a pair of wins to finish third in the Mad River Division standings of the Central Buckeye Conference, which is the squad's best finish in a league race since 2018. In a 173-183 win over Indian Lake, Miles Hall and Jaxon Jolliff both shot 42, while Ethan Monroe had a 44, Wyatt Davis 45, Max Parish 47 and Tayden Peck 50. In a 168-210 win over Benjamin Logan, Hall shot a personal record 39 to lead, while Monroe added a 41, Jolliff and Davis 44s, Peck 46 and Parish 51.

● The Wildcats also competed at the CBC Tournament at Elks Golf Course in Springfield, shooting a 352 for fifth overall and third in the division. Hall was first-team CBC with an 83, while Jolliff was second-team and the sportsmanship winner with a 92. Other scores were Peck with an 86, Parish with a 91, Monroe with a 96 and Davis with a 101.

Check it out: GALLERY: River Valley at Crestview Boys Soccer

Soccer

● River Valley led 1-0 at halftime, but couldn't hold off Johnstown in a 2-1 outcome. Hudson Pollock scored off a Gabe Douce assist, while J.R. Bates had eight saves against the Johnnies. In a 1-0 win over Crestview, Pollock again connected off a Douce pass, as Noah Williams paced a defense that allowed just five shots. Bates saved all five and ended with his fifth shutout for the Vikings.

Coaches and statisticians are encouraged to send their results to the Marion Star's Rob McCurdy at rmccurdy@gannett.com, 419-610-0998, Twitter @McMotorsport and Instagram @rob_mccurdy_star.

VOTE: Marion Star Boys Best of the Week Performer Poll

  • North Union golfer Miles Hall shot an 83 to lead his team at the Central Buckeye Conference Tournament in Springfield.

  • Pleasant golfer Dylan Moore fired a 74 to help his team to a win of the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament No. 3 at the Country Club of Bucyrus.

  • River Valley golfer Chase Smith recorded a 77 at the MOAC Tournament No. 3 in Bucyrus.

  • Northmor cross country's Ryan Lehman won the Ontario Bill Brown Invitational with a time of 16:31.

  • Voting continues at MarionStar.com and its app through early Sunday morning.

  • In last week's poll, Ridgedale cross country runner Brogan Weston, who ran ninth in 16:46 during the Division III boys race at the Galion Cross Country Festival, earned 135 of 260 votes (52 percent) to win it. Other nominees were North Union cross country's Tyler Huff, River Valley soccer's Hudson Pollock, Mount Gilead cross country's Will Baker and Marion Harding soccer's Trenton Leonard.

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: Boys Best of the Week: Mount Gilead runs with big schools in NE Ohio