CAMDEN — Eaton cross country took home a second place finish for the girls and a third place finish for the boys as Preble Shawnee’s girls earned a third place finish at the SWBL Cross County Championships on Saturday, Oct. 10.
Boys and girls varsity races were separated into each of the SWBL’s two divisions – Southwestern and Buckeye – with Bellbrook, Brookville, Eaton, Franklin, Monroe, Oakwood and Valley View competing in one set of races while Carlisle, Dixie, Middletown Madison, Milton-Union, Northridge, Preble Shawnee and Waynesville competed in the other.
High School Boys – Southwestern
Bellbrook took home the league title with a team score of 48, barely edging out Oakwood (52) and finishing ahead of Eaton (74), Monroe (86) and Franklin (137) in the top five.
Bellbrook’s top runner, Takumi Ford, finished first with a 15:33, 1:20 ahead of Jack Bortel, who finished second for the Eagles with a 16:53.
Eaton coach Randy McKinney said they knew Bellbrook would be favored to repeat as league champions, but Eaton’s boys ran a solid race to lower their team 1-5 gap to just 1:18, their lowest of the season, to finish ahead of Monroe.
“Jack Bortel and Kolby Hamilton ran outstanding races placing second and fifth overall to earn First Team SWBL Honors, running 16:52 and 17:20, respectively. Our ‘rookie’ James Baker placed 16th overall in 17:51, earning Second Team SWBL Honors followed by Austin Kopf, 25th in 18:07 and Cole Hauser, 26th in 18:10, each earning honorable mentions.”
Full county results:
2nd — Jack Bortel (Eaton), 16:53; 5th — Kolby Hamilton (Eaton), 17:02; 16th — James Baker (Eaton), 17:51; 27th — Austin Kopf (Eaton), 18:07; 28th — Cole Hauser (Eaton), 18:10; 32nd — Bradley Gifford (Eaton), 18:25; 42nd — Logan Cottle (Eaton), 19:10; 44th — Jaxon Roth (Eaton), 19:13; 47th — Nick Laycox (Eaton), 19:32.
High School Girls – Southwestern
The Eagles fell just short of Oakwood in the high school girls Southwestern Division race, finishing with a team score of 45, just behind Oakwood with a 43. Bellbrook (64), Brookville (102) and Franklin (141) rounded out the top five.
McKinney said the Lady Eagles had an outstanding day.
“We had a solid race, but just couldn’t counter a very strong Oakwood team,” he said. “The girls also lowered their team 1-5 gap to 1:32, their lowest time gap of the season.”
Kiera Elliott (fourth), Lauren Guiley (seventh) and Kailie Hewitt (eighth) all earned First Team SWBL Honors. Rylie Haynes (11th), Cami McCloud (15th), Stephanie Gibson (16th), Ally Schmidt (19th) and Cari Metz (20th) all earned Second Team Honorable Mention. Rachel Buckler (39th) and Allison Mowen (51st) earned honorable mentions as well.
Full county results:
4th — Kiera Elliot (Eaton), 19:38; 7th — Lauren Guiley (Eaton), 19:53; 8th — Kaili Hewitt (Eaton), 20:01; 11th — Rylie Haynes (Eaton), 20:34; 15th — Cami McCloud (Eaton), 21:10; 16th — Stephanie Gibson (Eaton), 21:15; 19th — Alli Schmidt (Eaton), 21:45; 20th — Cari Metz (Eaton), 21:49; 39th — Rachel Buckler (Eaton), 23:20; 51st — Allison Mowen (Eaton), 25:30; 63rd — Grace Risner (Eaton), 26:44; 66th — Katy Rich (Eaton), 27:12.
High Schools Boys – Buckeye
Waynesville dominated the Buckeye Division race, finishing with five runners in the top six for a team score of 16. Milton-Union finished second with a 64 and Dixie finished third with a 77. Carlisle (86) and Northridge (138) rounded out the top five. Preble Shawnee did not have enough runners to qualify for a team score.
Full county results:
21st — Case Roell (PS), 19:45; 29th — Taylor Bradley (PS), 21:02; 30th — Austin Tackett (PS), 21:13; 38th — Kaleb Mabry (PS), 25:49.
High School Girls – Buckeye
No teams in the Buckeye Division were a match for Waynesville in the high school girls race as they finished with a perfect team score of 15, meaning the first five finishers were all Spartans. Milton-Union finished a distant second with a 52, followed by Preble Shawnee with a 100, barely edging out Carlisle (101) and Dixie (111) for third place.
Full county results:
24th — Hannah Myers (PS), 24:51; 27th — Caiden Duskey (PS), 25:23; 29th — Tara Halpin (PS), 26:01; 36th — Page House (PS), 30:50; 38th — Debbie Tombragel (PS), 32:54
