Sunday, November 04, 2001
Turpin girls win state cross country
Louis, Rauen lead Spartans; McNick second in Division II
By Dave Schutte
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COLUMBUS — The smallest Division I school proved to be the best Saturday in girls state cross country meet at Scioto Downs.
Turpin's Jaclyn Louis runs with Colerain's Andrea Mass.
(AP photos)
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Led by senior Jaclyn Louis and sophomore Carolyn Rauen, Turpin won the Division I state championship with 77 points to second-place Hilliard Davidson's 148. East-side rival McNicholas finished second in the Division II meet.
“The cutoff for Division II is 360 girls, and we have 361,” Turpin coach Steve Nester said. “We were ninth last year and came back to win it, which is incredible.”
Louis, a senior and first-year varsity runner, was outstanding. She was 25th at the 2-mile marker and finished strong in eighth place, while Rauen, who suffered leg cramps at the 2-mile mark, dropped back to 15th.
Nester wasn't sure how Louis would perform, because this was the 17-year-old's first appearance in a state meet.
“Jaclyn must have gone to the bathroom 10 times 30 minutes before the warmups,” Nester said. “I could see she was nervous, but during warmups she seemed to settle down.”
“I tried staying with the Colerain runner (Andrea Maas),” Louis said. “At the 2-mile mark, I started moving up.”
A disappointed Rauen was bent over in pain 20 minutes after the race and couldn't join the celebration when the official announcement was made.
“My legs cramped and I couldn't feel anything late in the race,” said Rauen, who was eighth at the 2-mile mark. “I may have been caught up in the excitement and gone out too fast.”
Nester didn't visualize the Spartans winning state during preseason workouts.
“I thought top five,” Nester said. “The girls continued to improve, and coming here today, I thought we had a chance. We're the only team besides girls and boys soccer that has won state championships at Turpin.”
Lakota East senior Corrie Whisner was Greater Cincinnati's top finisher, taking more than 40 seconds off her personal best to finish fifth, good enough for first-team all-state honors.
“I was sixth at regional,” Whisner said. “The difference today is that I knew this is my senior year and last chance. This is only my fifth race of the season because of an injury.”
Lakota East coach Jason Lindsey was overwhelmed, hugging Whisner at the conclusion of the race.
“Corrie worked out with (2000 individual champion) Lindsay Zinn during the summer, which helped,” Lindsey said. “She kicked (sprinted) too late at the regional, and today she passed seven or eight runners during the final 100.”
Division II
The biggest surprise was turned in by McNicholas. The Rockets finished third in the regional behind Wyoming and Indian Lake.
Wyoming freshman Erika Schmitt was seventh in the Division II race.
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A pair of sophomores, Jamie Roflow and Sammy Lammert, led McNick. Ro flow ran a personal-best 19:06 to take eighth, and Lammert finished in 20 minutes for 40th place.
“My strategy was to stay in contention and then push during the second half of the race,” Roflow said. “I kept moving up at the end and finished strong.”
Coach Dan Rosenbaum wasn't surprised by the Rockets' performance.
“I thought we had a chance coming in,” Rosenbaum said. “We had five runners under 21 minutes. This is by far our best race.”
Wyoming finished sixth with freshman Erika Schmitt taking seventh place in 19:04.
“I tried to get out fast so I didn't get pinched on the turn,” Schmitt said. “Sure there was pressure because we were undefeated, but it was positive pressure and made us work harder.”
Indian Hill junior Lisa Uible was Cincinnati's best Division II performer, finishing sixth in 19:04.
“I wanted to improve my time and eighth-place finish from last year,” Uible said. “I moved up two places, but my time today was a little slower.”
Reading's Courtney Engel was in striking distance during the first half of the Division III race but suffered stomach cramps and dropped to 70th.
Ohio girls cross country results
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Ohio second-round pairings
Ohio first-round scores
Colerain 30, Hamilton 7
Elder 38, Lebanon 13
Princeton 56, Anderson 20
St. Xavier 41, Northmont 6
Dayton Carroll 18, Roger Bacon 13
McNicholas 56, Mount Healthy 13
New Richmond 42, Ross 38
Piqua 21, Edgewood 0
Washington C.H. 39, Indian Hill 31
Wyoming 49, Jonathan Alder 21
Badin 23, Valley View 16
Coldwater 54, Madeira 14
North College Hill 41, Chillicothe Zane Trace 10
Reading 39, Wheelersburg 31
Covington 47, Williamsburg 14
Kentucky second-round pairings
Kentucky first-round scores
Ballard 43, Dixie Heights 32
Beechwood 56, Berea 6
Bellevue 27, Nicholas Co. 13
Covington Catholic 44, Harrison Co. 22
Highlands 49, Bourbon County 30
Holmes 24, Montgomery County 0
Lexington Catholic 54, Grant County 14
Lloyd 46, East Carter 0
Newport Central Catholic 56, Raceland 7
Paris 37, Holy Cross 6
Shelby County 19, Boone County 17
Indiana playoff pairings
Indiana playoff scores
Turpin girls win state cross country
