Sunday, October 29, 2000
Boys cross country roundup
St. Xavier repeats as regional champ
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
TROY — Qualifying for the Division I boys state cross country meet is becoming a habit for St. Xavier.
For the 14th consecutive year, coach Larry Merkel's Bombers earned a spot in the meet by winning its second straight regional championship, Saturday at Troy Memorial Stadium.
LaSalle and Elder also qualified in Division I. Madeira finished fourth Saturday to earn a spot in Division II.
LaSalle junior Allen Bader won the Division I meet, covering the 3.1-mile course in 15:26.3. St. Xavier's Andy Wietmarschen was second in 15:47.
“My strategy is to go for the lead,” said Bader, who led from start to finish.
Lancers coach Frank Russo was impressed not only by Bader's performance but also that of his entire team.
“We ran well and improved the last two weeks,” Russo said. “To win state, you have to earn it. Larry (Merkel) has St. Xavier running well and they will be tough at state.”
Three St. Xavier runners finished among the top seven, Besides Wietmarschen, Tim King was fifth and Ryan Busse was seventh.
“When he (Bader) took off, I decided not to sabotage my race by going with him,” Wietmarschen said. “I know my limits and I wanted to finish at least second.”
St. Xavier beat LaSalle by 13 points.
“I hope we never get to the point where we're not satisfied with a regional championship,” Merkel said. “Ben (Wietmarschen) could have run better, but the good thing is that we didn't fold.”
Centerville took an early lead, but St. Xavier's runners started making their moves at the 1-mile mark with LaSalle close behind. Centerville finished third and Elder edged Clayton Northmont for fourth.
The top four teams in each division, along with runners from non-qualifying teams who finish in the top 15, advance to Saturday's state meet at Scioto Downs in Columbus.
Junior Sean Ernst came to Elder's rescue. Ernst, usually the Panthers seventh runner, finished 53rd in a personal-best 17:06.
“Sean only ran for the varsity one or two times last season,” Elder coach Steve Spencer said. “He scored early in the season when several runners were out and came through big today.”
In the Division II race, five Madeira runners were among the top 55, led by senior Andy Kennedy's 20th-place finish.
Stuart Wulsin was the Cincinnati area's best performer in Division II. The Indian Hill junior ran a personal-best 16:44 to finish eighth.
“I qualified for state as a freshman but didn't make it last year,” Wulsin said. “Today I went out too fast the first mile and then I tried to hold place.”
Four Cincinnati-area teams and eight individuals qualified for the state meets.
Division I
(Top four teams advance to state)
Team standings: 1. St. Xavier 49, 2. LaSalle 62, 3. Centerville 124, 4. Elder 143. Others: Northmont 148, 6. Middletown 158, 7. Milford 196, 8. Sycamore 228, 9. Oak Hills 240, 10. Kings 273, 11. Colerain 294, 12. Dayton Carroll 297, 13. Beavercreek 298, 14. Troy 373, 15. Huber Heights Wayne 382, 16. Vandalia Butler 452.
Top finishers: 1. Bader (La Salle) 15:26, 2. A. Wietmarschen (St. Xavier) 15:47, 3. DesRoches (Northmont) 15:57, 4. Rhodenbaugh (Talawanda) 15:57, 5. T. King (St. Xavier) 15:58.
Area Runners
St. Xavier: 2. A. Wietmarschen 15:47, 5. T. King 15:58, 7. Busse 16:00, 23. Moshen 16:30, 24. B. Wietmarschen 16:31, 27. N. King 16:43, 36. Balmat 16:51.
La Salle: 1. Bader 15:26.3, 6. Rischmann 15:59, 15. Mayhaus 16:16, 16. Grogan 16:19, 41. Wright 16:54, 68. Altenau 17:22, 109. Beck 18:14.
Elder: 10. Westerman 16:10, 28. Cohen 16:45, 37. Kendall 16:52, 53. Ernst 17:06, 57. Smith 7:0, 65. Staudigel 17:16, 67. Lawrence 17:19.
Middletown 17. Veatch 16:22, 25. See 16:38, 33. Tipton 16:49, 49. Meiser 17:02, 78. DeHart 17:31, 96. Mattocks 17:51.
Milford: 21. List 16:27, 45. Malloni 16:58, 55. Grimm 17:08, 61. Curtin 17:14, 71. Manard 17:24, 82. Benoit 17:34, 106. Kottman 18:09.
Sycamore: 11. Gallagher 16:10, 44. Clemens 16:58, 64. Morin 17:16, 84. Tepe 17:35, 87. Schweet 17:44, 99. Sage 17:54, 102. Daniels 17:57.
Oak Hills: 14. Wayner 16:13, 19. Welling 16:24, 66. Crabb 17:17, 95. R. Wooley 17:51, 104. A. Wooley 18:02, 107. Lancaster 18:13, 125 Firki 19:13.
Kings: 8. Garvin 16:03, 43. Valez 16:57, 63. Ackerman 17:15, 108. Catanzaro 18:13, 113 Winebar 18:27, 129. Stephenson 19:36, 130. Brown 19:54.
Colerain: 40. Kinne 16:53, 70. Toelke 17:23, 83. Bierken 17:34, 85. Alvin 17:35, 93. Eckstein 17:50, 97. Schlemmer 17:53, 98. Simcoe 17:53.
Division II
(Top four teams advance to state)
Team standings: 1. Napoleon 67, 2. Eaton 129, 3. Oakwood 140, 4. Madeira 165. Others: 5. Bellefontaine 168, 6. Springfield Northwestern 181, 7. Van Wert 186, 8. Springfield Greenon 193, 9. Lima Shawnee 213, 10. Ottowa Glandorf 214, 11. Kettering Alter 250, 12. Western Brown 256, 13. Dayton Christian 282, 14. Ross 346, 15. Wyoming 380, 16. New Richmond 398.
Top Finishers
1. McAuley (Greenon) 15:54, 2. Kruse (Napoleon) 15:57, 3. Balch (Northwestern) 16:29.
Area Runners
Madeira: 20. Kennedy 17:07, 45. Sawyer 17:39, 46. Barrett 17:39, 53. Davis 17:45, 55. Johnston 17:47, 98. Stevens 18:39, 100. Roach 18:42.
Western Brown: 22. Jones 17:08, 5. Barnes 17:43, 70. Jones 17:59, 88. Amiott 18:24, 93. Hiler 18:33, 106. Vogel 18:48, 119. Jablonski 19:34.
Ross: 17. Richards 17:04, 94. McBreen 18:33, 96. Foster 18:36, 105. Hitt 18:47, 110. Dria 19:01, 129. Stebbins 23:07.
Wyoming: 44. St. Clair 17:38, 95. Nebert 18:36, 97. Smith 18:37, 112. Koscianski 19:10, 116. Schaengold 19:15, 121. Reckman 19:37, 123. Barczewski 19:45.
New Richmond: 74. Von 18:02, 99. Gemma 18:40, 102. Williams 18:44, 103. ells18:45, 109. Tremper 18:59, 118. Carr 19:31, 125. Goocey 19:57.
Individuals: 11. Wulsin (Indian Hill) 16:44, 14. Mick (Badin) 16:56, 23. Halleen (Clinton Massie) 17:09, 37. Lane (Bethel-Tate) 17:35, 56. Boll (Taylor) 17:49, 62. Mathers (Purcell Marian) 17:51.
Division III
(Top four teams advance to state)
Team standings: 1. Fort Loramie 70, 2. Covington 100, 3. Convoy Crestview 122, Minster 146. Others: 5. Franklin Monroe 153, 6. Versailles 160, 7. Sidney Lehman 181, 8. Jackson Center 185, 9. Marion Local 192, 10. Coldwater 208, 11. Anna 264, 12. Twin Valley South 291, 13. Tri-Village 293, 14. Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy 416, 15. Batavia 423.
Top finishers: 1. Neer (Jackson Center) 16:24.5, 2. Savidge (Spencerville) 16:3, 3. Berning (Sidney Lehman) 16:40.
Area Runners
CHCA: 91. West 19:01, 106. Schuler 19:17, 107. Johnson 19:18, 11. Edmonson 19:40, 116. Voss 20:02, 120. Bremer 20:25, 125. Ray 21:05.
Batavia: 76. Wilhelm 18:38, 102. Gallimore 19:12, 115. Sheehan 20:00, 119. Burkhart 20:13, 124. Bryant 20:54, 127. Davis 21:15.
Individuals: 18. Arnold (Midd. Fenwick) 17:08, 21. Hall (Midd. Madison) 17:17, 44. Seesholtz (Georgetown) 17:55, 62. Waits (Georgetown) 18:10, 79. Hooker (St. Bernard) 18:43, 83. Sittenfeld (Seven Hills) 18:52, 89. Cahall (Ripley 18:59, 96. Bailey (Blanchester) 19:06, 104. Franklin (Ripley) 19:14, 105. Kazior (Summit Country Day) 19:15, 110. Knoepfler (Summit Country Day) 19:35, 113. Kurtz (Reading) 19:49, 122. Bromley (Summit Country Day) 20:48, 128. Regensburger (Summit Country Day) 22:01.
Division IV
(3.1 miles at Lancaster)
(Top four team advance to state)
Team standings: 1. Sparta Highland 134, 2. Circleville 137, 3. Canal Winchjester 156, 4. Washington Courthouse 163. Locals: 13. Hillsboro 237.
(Top 15 runners advance to state)
Top Finishers: 1. Millisor (Lan. Fairfield) 16:34; 2. Bolock (Buckeye Local) 16:42; 3. Recks (John Glenn) 16:46; 4. Foreman (Granville) 16:54; 5. Gardner (Carrollton) 16:54.
Hillsboro finishers: 17: Oglesby 17:13; 46. Weber 18:15; 71. Inman 18:58; 76. Ross 19:06; 85. Egbert 19:22; 110. Hallstrom 20:16; 115. Worley 20:30.
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Boys cross country roundup
