Freshman Varner twins dominate Waynedale's Gideon's Run Invite

APPLE CREEK — Another year, another Varner leading the Gideon’s Run Invitational at Waynedale.

Saturday, it was freshman Jackson Varner leading the way for the host Golden Bears as he broke the 17-minute mark and outlasted the field by over a full minute for his first career victory.

“I didn't really think about (the lead), I just kept going,” Varner said, after crossing the finish line in 16:55.39. “I just had to try hard and hammered it on the back half of the course.”

Varner picked up the torched left by his older brother, Jonathan, who was a multiple-time All-Ohioan and school-record holder at the school and is currently running for Cedarville University.

And, like his brother, was dominant in his first high school 5K as he created more separation from the 68-runner field on the toughest parts of the newly constructed Waynedale course.

Combine that performance with the fact that his twin brother, Jayden Varner, was holding off the rest of the pack in taking runner-up honors in 18:13.40 on a fresh-look layout that that just recently was completed as the ongoing construction of a new high school building goes right across the previous course.

“It definitely has a lot more turns (than last year),” Jackson Varner said. “On the back, with the hills, you just got to hit them hard and that's what gives you the separation that you need.”

That 1-2 combo of the Varner brothers, along with a ninth-place run by sophomore Nick St. John in 19:48.53, helped the Golden Bears to the team title with 50 points. In fact, each of the five scoring runners for Waynedale were underclassman with 10th graders Dylan Adams (17th, 20:22.49) and Caden Schmeltzer (21st, 20:29.10).

“It's nice having (Jackson) as my partner. It helped a lot,” Jayden Varner said. “It was kind of nice with the course, kind of new … I'm looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Tuslaw was runner-up as a team with 94 points, followed by Chippewa (104), Orrville (107), Triway (119), Central Christian (123) and Northwestern (128).

One of the most impressive closing miles of the day was by Joshua Hennis of Chippewa. The junior, who was sitting in fourth with less than a mile left, made his move at the two-mile marker to pass Triway’s Cayden Speicher.

The move paid off as it Hennis placing third in 18:36.62 and Speicher taking fourth (18:45.69), rounding out the locals to run sub-18-minute times in the early-season 5K. Northwestern’s Jacob Wakefield wasn’t too far back in fifth (19:02.71).

“We usually try and pass at the two-mile mark, and I could see ahead and see he was kind of falling off,” said Hennis, who passed Speicher with about 800 meters left. “That gives you a little extra something when you can see that. He was a little out of sorts, just a little bit, so my goal was to get back up to him and I was able to pass him.”

For Hennis, who registered his personal-record time at Waynedale last season (18:07), the finish gives him some motivation for the season ahead.

“The course was different and on the one part I lost track of where the course was for a second,” Hennis said. “I took a step, and I was like, 'Oh,' and jumped back on. But it was all good and I had someone to chase the whole time.”

Logan Rankl posted Tuslaw’s fastest time of the day, placing sixth in 19:22.32, while the freshman tandem of Charlie Lorson (19:36.10) and Owen Lacy (19:40.06) took seventh and eighth, respectively.

A pair of Huskies followed St. John across the line — Logan Garman (20:00.15) and Payton White (20;07.45).

Hillsdale was paced by Seth Crytzer (13th, 20:09.45), with Central Christian’s Ryan Oaks (18th, 20:24.37) leading the Comets.

In the middle school race, later in the day, Romagn Wingate of Norwayne nearly broke the 11-minute mark en route to a run of 11:02. Chippewa's Grady McNab placed second in 11:18, one second ahead of Ashland's Coffee Jonah (11:19). Chippewa captured the team championship with 41 points.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Jackson and Jayden Varner finish 1-2 at Gideon's Run Invitational