We take a look at WZBD at a very, very busy weekend of cross country meets around the state, with every team in Z-Land in action across two different states.
Marion Invitational: Adams Central, Southern Wells, Heritage (Boys and Girls competing in Gold Race)
Tiffin Carnival: Bellmont (Boys in Division II Race)
Spencerville Invitational: South Adams and Bellmont Girls (Black Division Race)
At Marion
Ethan Crockett continued to build on his outstanding season by taking the first-place ribbon in the Gold Varsity race at Saturday’s Marion Invite, running a 16:39.3.
The boys varsity race ended in dramatic fashion with Ethan Crockett taking the lead in the final step of the race.
“I led the race for 0.02 seconds but it was the 0.02 seconds that mattered,” he said after the win.
With approximately 300 meters to go Ethan trailed the leader by about 15 meters and he stepped on the gas to the finish. He won the race by 0.3 seconds on the official time.
Crockett’s time was actually six seconds slower than what he ran at Taylor last Saturday for the Jets.
Meanwhile, in the girls’ race, Heritage’s Rosalinda Medina set a new school record with her Top-20 finish, crossing the line in 21:36.7. Her time broke the previous school mark, set by Lilly Biggins of 21:47.
Boys’ Race at Marion (Gold Race)
Team Scores: 1st-Northwestern 42; 2nd-Monroe Central 120; 3rd-New Haven 133; 4th-Clinton Central 153; 5th-New Castle 199; 11th-Southern Wells 255; 12th-Heritage 260; 13th-Adams Central 281
Top Five Individuals: 1st-Ethan Crockett-AC 16:39.3; 2nd-Mason Broeker-Northwestern 16:39.6; 3rd-Spencer Dunn-Clinton Central 16:54.0; 4th-John Burger-Wisdom Builders 17:01.1; 5th-Bryan Burkhalter-Northwestern 17:07.2
Adams Central Places & Times: 1st-Ethan Crockett 16:39.3; 30th-Tyler Schwartz 18:21.4; 88th-Preston Hoffman 20:36.4; 99th-Trevor Chamberlain 20:55.2; 129th-Phillip Bayer 22:57.0;
Heritage Places & Times: 12th-Corban Roth 17:39.3; 62nd-Jaxon Kerr 19:28.9; 63rd-Alex Smith 19:29.0; 83rd-Nick Flores 20:31.6; 91st-Gavin Juricak 20:41.9; 98th-William Voglewede 20:54.8; 148th-Mohamed Esarhaek 25:06.7;
Notes on Boys’ Race:
-Corban Roth’s time for Heritage was good enough to make the top twelve and it was also a new season best. He was consistent with last year’s time in the same event, finishing within a second of his mark in 2024.
-Jaxon Kerr continues to make a big impact for Heritage, cutting 75 seconds from his time two weeks ago to finish second-best on the team to Roth.
-Alex Smith went below the 20-minute mark and did it for the first time in style for Heritage, finishing in 19:29.
-Gavin Juricak (Heritage) cut eight seconds from his previous personal best, set two weeks ago at South Side.
-It was a career-best run for William Voglewede, who went 23 seconds better than the last 5K two weeks ago for the Patriots.
-Tyler Schwartz ran a career-best time with his 18:21 for Adams Central.
Girls’ Race at Marion (Gold Race)
Team Scores: 1st-Wisdom Builders 95; 2nd-Northwestern 116; 3rd-Churubusco 126; 4th-Monroe Central 133; 5th-Wabash 156; 9th-Adams Central 218; 11th-Heritage 235; 12th-Southern Wells 257
Top Five Individuals: 1st-Sarah Combs-Lapel 19:48.0; 2nd-Annabelle Brewster-Northwestern 20:04.1; 3rd-Avery Thomas-Monroe Central 20:10.1; 4th-Jillian Chew-Tri 20:19.3; 5th-Bailey Manns-Westview 20:36.5
Adams Central Places & Times: 27th-Hailey Brune 22:27.0; 49th-Adi Rumschlag 23:59.3; 51st-Macy Isch 24:03.1; 71st-Alyssa Fruechte 25:17.6; 78th-Ella Bluhm 25:55.6; 84th-Haley Jauregui 26:16.0;
Heritage Places & Times: 19th-Rosalinda Medina 21:36.7; 56th-Emily High 24:20.1; 61st-Ava Gerber 24:31.0; 69th-Elise Hissong 25:08.5; 93rd-Adalina Bacon 27:00.1; 100th-Audrey Meyer 27:33.8; 102nd-Addison Smith 27:55.3; 118th-Dhylan Gilbert 34:26.8
Notes on Girls’ Race:
-AC’s Alyssa Fruechte ran the best race of her season Saturday.
-Hailey Brune’s time was her all-time best and more than 90 seconds better than what she ran last year at the same event for the Jets as a freshman.
-A newcomer to the Jets, Adi Rumschlag took a major step forward Saturday, skipping the 24s and going 23:59. She was joined by teammates Macy Isch and Ella Bluhm in running season bests.
-Medina’s school record was a full minute faster than last week’s 5K at South Side. She inspired teammates Emily High, Elise Hissong, Ava Gerber, Audrey Meyer and Addison Smith to all run season bests behind her.
At Tiffin
Things did not go well for the Bellmont Braves, who have been attending the Tiffin Carnival race with dozens of teams from Ohio for decades. The team competed shorthanded without Logan Whitacre and Maddux Miller is still working his way to full health, although he did finish the race. Gavin Braun dealt with an injury mid-race and Hudson Krull was un-shoed midway through the race and had to pause to get his boot back on.
Boys’ Division II Race
Team Scores: 1st-Lexington 68, 2nd-CHCA 139, 3rd-Anthony Wayne 195, 20th-Bellmont 589
Top 5 Individuals: 1st-Benjamin Gasiorski-Anthony Wayne 15:23.2; 2nd-Nate Gockerman-CHCA 15:33.5; 3rd-Jacob Proctor-Anthony Wayne 15:35.7; 4th-Hayden Maus-Bellefontaine 15:39.3; 5th-Jagger Dollenmeter-CHCA 15:46.1
Bellmont Places & Times: 52nd-Hayden Whittenbarger 17:05.4; 89th-Hudson Krull 17:50.4; 144th-Owen Adams 18:36.3; 152nd-Joe Kozlowski 18:45.6; 157th-Maddux Miller 18:53.2; 165th-Landon Sielschott 19:00.1; 174-Gavin Braun 19:09.9;
Girls’ Division II Race
Team Scores: 1st-Hathaway Brown 68; 2nd-Lexington 113; 3rd-St. Ursula Academy 172; 4th-Bellbrook 177; 5th-Ottawa-Glandorf 220;
At Spencerville
Girls’ Race (Black Division)
-Adalynn Watson ran a 20:44.2 and took fifth place overall for South Adams. That time was nine seconds better than last week’s time and was her season best.
Top Five Individuals: 1st-Penny Francis-Bath 19:53.7; 2nd-Morgan Schrock-Bath 20:17.1; 3rd-Audrey Alig-Coldwater 20:22.9; 4th-Abby Alig-Coldwater 20:26.6; 5th-Adalynn Watson-SA 20:44.2
Bellmont Places & Times: 12th-Sydney Angel 23:07.4; 19th-Lilly Franz 23:37.9; 33rd-Kaleah Niece 24:53.1; 36th-Bridget Juengel 25:22.4; 38th-Haylee Franz 25:52.2; 43rd-Isabella Suarez 26:22.8; 44th-Isabelle Buuck 26:30.4; 45th-Jaylin Reed 26:30.9
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