These Marysville High School cross-country runners finished in the top three of their races during Saturday’s Wapakoneta Night Meet. They are from left, Preston Herring, Bryn Hothem and Bailey Gross. (Photo submitted)
True cross-country weather greeted members of the Marysville High School teams Saturday in Auglaize County.
“We drove through sheets of rain, but when we stepped off the bus, we knew we had cross-country weather,” said Monarch coach Luke Sundermeier.
The Monarch boys and girls took advantage of the standing water and muddy turns to capture first-place honors in the Wapakoneta Night Meet.
MHS won the boys meet with 38 points, easily out-distancing runner-up Shawnee, which tallied 55.
The Lady Monarchs won their race with 34 points.
Shawnee was also the second-place team in the girls event with 53.
Other boys team scores were Defiance-68, Bellefontaine-114, Marion Harding-168, Parkway-184, Wapakoneta-229, Kenton-241, Delphos St. Johns-249, Allen East-258, Lehman Catholic-268, Elida-300 and Waynesfield-310.
Additional girls team scores were Defiance-102, Delphos St. Johns-115, Parkway-119, Waynesfield-171, River Valley-175, Kenton-191, Bellefontaine-219, Wapakoneta-244 and Marion Harding-340.
There were additional schools in both meets which had only a handful of runners and did not count in team scores.
Preston Herring of Marysville was the third overall runner in the boys’ meet with a finish time of 16:53.
Other Monarch efforts were Brian Boston, eighth, 17:27; Jack Flanagan, ninth, 17:30; James Heap, 10th, 17:33; Blake Murgatroyd, 13th, 17:38; Evan Donahue, 21st, 18:04; and Tyler Heap, 31st, 18:35.
“The boys had made winning this meet a big regular-season goal,” said Sundermeier. “Our approach relied on the power of a strong pack.
“The guys executed the plan and took a big step forward to prepare for the bigger goals ahead.
“Preston made a strong move in the last 1K to go from eighth to third,” said the coach. “The pack moved up through the field efficiently during the second half of the race.”
Bryn Hothem and Bailey Gross of the Lady Monarchs were the first and second-place runners in their race.
They finished with respective times of 19:31 and 19:32.3.
Rounding out the top seven for the Marysville girls were Emerson Bautsch, seventh, 20:47; Molly Gregory, 10th, 21:26; Ava Elliott, 15th, 21:48; Alyssa Rodman, 20th, 22:06; and Maggie Zweizig, 26th, 22:55.
“The girls did a nice job of maintaining their momentum through some slick turns,” said Sundermeier. “Bryn and Bailey took the lead just after the first mile to control the race from the front.
“By the second mile, they opened up quite a gap,” he said. “The pack got a little scattered, but everyone kept racing all the way through and learned the value of battling for every place.
“There’s plenty of room for improvement and we’re ready to get back to work.”
The Monarchs will compete on Saturday at the Tiffin Carnival.
Bunsold teams place first, second
The Bunsold Middle School boys cross-country team won the Wapakoneta Night Meet on Saturday.
The Monarchs tallied 22 points.
They were followed by Bellefontaine-59, Parkway-101, Delphos St. Johns-110, Defiance-127, Shawnee-147, Upper Scioto Valley-173 and Waynesfield-Goshen-178.
Bunsold claimed second-through-fourth places.
Mack Weithman of Marysville was the runner-up with a time of 11:54.6, followed by Andrew Burkholder, third, 12:09.4; and Keaton Sanford, fourth, 12:09.7.
Paxton Herring was sixth in 12:20, followed by Luke Reighard, seventh, 12:38; Samuel Krueger, ninth, 13:06.2; and Aurik Guenthere, 10th, 13:13.4.
Bunsold’s girls were runners-up to Bellefontaine.
The Chieftains finished with 40 points and the Lady Monarchs tallied 51.
Delphos St. Johns was third with 86, followed by Kenton-124, Wapakoneta-143, Shawnee-146, River Valley-148, Waynesfield-181 and Defiance-214.
Bunsold girls in the top 10 were Katherine Heap, third, 13:00.1; and Lyla Channell, third, 13:01.0;
Cameron Cave was 13th in 14:49.9; followed by Caylee McAdow, 15th, 14:57.4; and Alyssa Przeklasa, 18th, 15:07.7 in the top 20.