Sunday, October 15, 2000
High School Cross Country
LaSalle's Bader first, but St. X team faster
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
St. Xavier, ranked No.1 in the Ohio Coaches Association DivisionI boys cross country poll, easily defeated No.2 LaSalle and No.4 Elder to win the Greater Catholic League South Division championship Saturday.
LaSalle junior Allen Bader was the individual winner, completing the 3.1-mile course at Rapid Run Park in 15:24. St. Xavier's Andy Wietmarschen was second (15:25).
“They (St.X) beat us today, but we'll win the next two times,” Bader said. “We were without two of our runners (Doug Fulmer and Jason Beck), but they could be back next week for the District.”
Due to the number of teams, the Division I district meet will be broken into two races and will be run next Saturday at Princeton. The top four teams in each meet will advance to the Troy Regional.
St. X and LaSalle will run in different district races.
The Bombers' dominance Saturday was shown not only in the final team score (26 points) but also in the individual standings: Six of the first nine runners across the finish line were from St. X.
“We finished third at the GCL last year and felt we had some unfinished business,” said Wietmarschen, who broke the school record of 15:27. “Allen Bader is one of the best runners in the country and I hung in there with him very well.”
Bader and Wietmarschen battled throughout most of the race. Bader got off track twice and had to double back.
“I took a wrong turn the first time and probably added 60 to 70 meters,” Bader said. “The second time I was forced off the track and had to come back.”
Pat Rischmann of LaSalle took third in 15:53, followed by St. Xavier's Tim King (15:58) and Ryan Busse (16:08).
Due to injuries and illness, Moeller didn't field a team. Brad Neumann, the only Crusader to compete, finished sixth.
St. Xavier coach Larry Merkel was happy for his team.
“This year's team is made up of a bunch of nice kids who have each other and the sport which means a lot,” Merkel said. “They're fairly shy and unassuming but more consistent than last year.”
• Greater Miami Conference: It was a long time coming, but Middletown's boys cross country team won its first league championship in 20 years.
Middletown was led by five freshmen and two seniors. Scott See, Michael Veatch, Matt Meiser and Malcolm Tipton all finished in the top 10 for the Middies.
Tom Gallagher set a school record for Sycamore (15:27).
In the girls race, Colerain captured its fourth straight Greater Miami Conference title and ninth straight. The Cardinals placed three runners in the top five.
Lindsey Zinn won the race for Lakota East in a time of 17:28, a minute ahead of Teri Littlepage of Colerain. Zinn crushed the course record of 18:08.
• Southern Buckeye League: Western Brown cruised to the boys title with three runners finishing in the top five.
In the girls race, Hillsboro ran to a perfect score of 15. Randi Garrison won the race in 20:29, with Leah Schlater, Kim Kelly, Molly Basford and Jennifer Reinholz finishing Nos. 2-5.
• FAVC-Buckeye Division: Turpin took the girls title by defeating Anderson 27-31. Turpin placed five runners in the top eight. Anderson's Chelsea and Jenny Homan took the top two spots.
In the boys race, Harrison edged Anderson 47-58. Jimmy McNutt of Harrison finished second, behind winner Patrick Hughes of Anderson (16:55). Harrison placed three runners in the top 10.
• FAVC-Cardinal Division: Kings won both the boys and girls titles. The girls defeated Lebanon 17-76, while the boys beat Wilmington 23-87.
Taylor Garvin won the boys race for the Knights in 16:37, with Alessa Velez taking the girls title in 20:57.
• Greater Catholic League North: Ryan Mathews, Josh Kellerman and Drew Rothmeeler of McNicholas all placed in the top five to lead the Rockets to the title. Rick Mick of Badin took the individual title (16:31).
In the Girls Greater Catholic League races, Mercy and Alter both repeated their league titles from last season in the Scarlet and Gray divisions, respectively.
Mercy was led by Sarah Rodenbeck, who won the Scarlet race in a time of 19:10, with Cari Maly and Gwen Welsh also finishing in the top five. Leah Pullman of Purcell Marian won the Gray race in 19:22.
Scott Ridder was coach of the year in the Scarlet Division, and Steve Smith was coach of the year in the Gray Division.
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High School Cross Country
