Barons, Patriots snag district titles

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The Buckeye Valley and Olentangy Liberty boys cross country teams made some serious noise over the weekend, winning district titles with solid showings in Saturday’s Division I and II races at Watkins Memorial High School.

The Barons, boosted by Zach Kreft’s first-place performance (15:24.76), finished with 28 points to cruise to the top spot in the Division II, Section 1 race. Kreft was his usual self, finishing more than a minute before the second-place runner crossed the line, but he had plenty of help as three of his teammates joined him in the top seven.

BV’s Nathan Holst finished fourth overall in 16:32.94, Gavin Shearer was fifth in 16:33.93 and Bill Daily closed seventh in 16:55.20.

The Patriots won their D-I race with 49 points. Thomas Worthington finished second with 87 and Dublin Jerome closed third with 91.

Liberty was led by the trio of Joseph Johnson III (sixth in 16:04.24), Logan Boone (eighth in 16:17.10) and Nick Irelan (16:19.01). Nicholas Anderson (12th in 16:24.04) and Jack Humenay (13th in 16:26.96) also finished in the top 15.

Olentangy was in action in the Division I, Section 3 race, too. The Braves finished 7th, with their best effort coming from Carter Schaefer (30th in 16:52.50).

Division I, Section 2

The Olentangy Orange boys cross country team punched a ticket to regionals, finishing third behind Pickerington North and Pickerington Central Saturday at Watkins Memorial High School.

Tommy Wintering and Andrew Schroff led the way, finishing seventh and eighth in respective times of 15:57.20 and 16:01.09. The Pioneers’ Jackson Schiefelbein and Tyler King also finished in the top 20, closing 13th and 15th with times of 16:25.82 and 16:30.93, respectively.

Big Walnut and Delaware Hayes were also in action. The Golden Eagles, led by Jacob Hutchinson (55th in 17:42.72), finished 13th. The Pacers, boosted by Avery Latta (77th in 18:14.05), finished 15th.

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY

Grace Sprankle and Emma Bower took the top two spots to lead Liberty to a district title Saturday at Watkins Memorial.

Sprankle won the individual title with an effort of 17:36.81 while Bower finished the Division I, Section 1 race second in 17:58.06.

The Patriots’ Linnea Kunesh also finished in the top 10, closing ninth in 19:13.42.

Division I, Section 3

Orange, Olentangy and Big Walnut all punched tickets to next weekend’s regional showcase, finishing third, fourth and sixth, respectively, in Saturday’s Division I, Section 3 race at Watkins Memorial.

The Pioneers were powered by junior Allison Guagenti, who won an individual district championship in 17:55.03. Lindsay Ott and Zoe Bond, who finished seventh and 12th in respective times of 19:03.01 and 19:26.24, smoothed out the team’s top three.

Lex Brookshire, who finished 14th in 19:38.80, led the Braves. Katie Balthaser was also steady, crossing the line 19th in 19:50.23.

The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, got a standout showing from Colbi Borland. The sophomore finished ninth overall in 19:04.68.

Hayes, led by Lauren English (25th in 20:06.79), finished 13th as a team.

Division II

Buckeye Valley had three runners finish in the top 20 on the way to a third-place showing in Saturday’s Division II race at Watkins Memorial.

Ashley Beatty boosted the Barons, finishing 13th in 20:12.89 while fellow freshmen Bailey Kreft and Chayse Arnhold finished 16th and 18th in respective times of 20:14.63 and 20:21.06.

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By Ben Stroup

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