CEDARVILLE — Reaching the regional level is something Madison and Megan Wright are accustomed to.
The twin sisters from Twin Valley South are heading to another regional as they qualified to the Division III regional cross country meet by placing seventh and 23rd respectively on, Saturday, Oct. 22, at the Cedarville District tournament.
The Wrights have reached the regional level in both track and cross country multilple times during their careers.
The South girls’ team finished 10th, with 284 points in a field of 23 teams. Zoe Utsinger was the third finisher for the Lady Panthers, taking 65th in 22:49. Sydney Vorhis also participated in the event, placing 107th in 24:45.
Other South runners who took part included Maddyn McQueen (141st, 27:00) and Maggie Johnson (165th, 30:43.)
The boys team finished 2oth with 536 points on the day. Senior Matt Hemmelgarn was the first South runner to finish the race for the Panthers in 59th in a time of 18:22. Freshman runner Chris Keener came in 93rd at the 19:09 mark. Kyle Saul was the third South runner to reach the finish line in 112th with a time of 19:38. The rest of the team included of Brandan Wright (122nd, 19:59,) Seth Craft (162nd, 21:15) and Curtis Hittle (203rd, 25:24.)
“I think the boys performed reasonably well, but it just wasn’t enough to reach the regional tournament,” said South coach Richie Faber. “The conditions were not good, but everyone suffered. We placed a little bit better than I had expected.”
“The boys are a young group so hopefully they have learned a lot from this season for next year,” Faber said. “Our senior, Matt, was the top finisher for the boys. He didn’t make it well enough to advance.”
“The girls did very well,” Faber said. “I knew it was going to be a long shot to finish high but they still did well. I’m really happy with the effort. Megan and Madison finished high enough to go on next week. I think they have a decent shot to make it to state.”
