Wadsworth girls fifth, Medina boys sixth at state cross country

OBETZ — The Wadsworth girls and Medina boys cross country teams rose to the occasion Saturday at the 95th annual boys and 46th annual girls state meets at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park. Making its first state appearance since 2020 and seventh overall, Wadsworth finished fifth out of 20 Division I teams with 197 points. The Grizzlies were ranked only No. 14 prior to the regional and No. 6 in the pre-state coaches poll. Making its ninth straight appearance and 25th overall, Medina was seeded only No. 19 in the pre-state coaches poll. The Bees finished sixth with 210 points out of 20 teams after only placing as the seventh and final state qualifier a week earlier at the Boardman Regional. Last year, Medina finished 10th. A three-time state qualifier, senior Kailyn Biecker led the Grizzlies, as she earned All-Ohio (top 30) for the second time in her career by placing 27th in 18:45.44. Biecker finished 20th at the 2020 state meet as a freshman in 18:46.0, when Wadsworth placed 10th. She was 54th in 19:11.4 as a sophomore. "It wasn't a PR (18:40), but we got fifth as a team, so I'm excited about that," Biecker said. "The course wasn't too bad. There were a couple of elbows, but that was OK because I also play soccer. "Today's race means so much. We couldn't have done without our amazing coaching staff. Our team as a whole is so unified and together. I'm so thankful for all of them. They really make all of us a better person. When we run we run for each other. We don't just run for ourselves. It's surreal (the state tournament). It goes by so fast. It's such an amazing moment." Junior Ollie Smith (46th, 19:11.46), sophomore Cami Ross (71st, 19:36.97), freshman Maggie Gerschutz (72nd, 19:36.99) and junior Rowan King (100th, 20:02.87) rounded out the Wadsworth top five. The Medina boys didn't appear to have much momentum after barely qualifying out of the Boardman Regional. The Bees caught nearly everyone else by surprise. Senior Jake Sebaugh earned All-Ohio by taking ninth in a time of 15:26.27 in a field of 182. A year ago, Sebaugh finished only 34th with 16:09.8, less than five seconds out of an All-Ohio berth. "It was definitely not one of my better performances by heart," Sebaugh said. "On paper, it might show it being better, but I know I probably could have worked a little harder. I let the pain barrier get to me at the end. That cost me places. I lost probably 3-4 places in the last mile. "It was not the mentality I wanted. It was too negative for me. I needed to work on staying positive at that point just to push into that next grouping to continue on going. It's definitely an accomplishment to make the podium (top 20), but it was not in my heart what I really wanted to accomplish today. I was hoping to be in the mix for top three." Senior Andrew Bugner (33rd 15:56.03), junior Braighden Sullivan (77th, 16:26.65), junior Andrew Mosack (86th, 16:30.83) and senior Emerson Lindsley (130th, 16:58.98) rounded out the Medina top five. Sophomore Caleb Neville of Cloverleaf sparkled in his state debut. Neville finished 27th out of 182 runners in 16:19.45 to earn D-II All-Ohio. "It hurt a lot, but I'm proud," Neville said. "I enjoyed the opportunity to compete. There were a lot of great runners out here, a lot of familiar faces. It helped to run with them. I've got great coaches and great teammates. "It (the state meet) is a lot different than any other races because it's so loud with so many people around. I had to focus on my run and to stick with people I know. I just knew I had to run all out that last mile. It was a lot of hard work to make down here. I have a lot of great teammates who push me." Cloverleaf's Megan Knapp finished 74th out of 179 runners in 20:08.33 in the D-II girls race. A year ago, Knapp was 68th in 20:29.1 when the Colts advanced as a team. "My goal was to PR (personal record), but I didn't quite get it," Knapp said. "My best time overall is 19:59, (but) I'm still happy to have a good race for my season. The start today was very rough. It was very packed. I should have been more prepared for it, but I'm happy with how it went to a point." Making their third straight appearance, Black River's boys finished 13th out of 20 with 285 points but were just eight points from 10th. A year ago, Black River was eighth after taking 10th in 2021. The Pirates were ranked only No. 17 in the pre-state poll. Senior Dillon Royster led Black River, as he placed 68th out of 186 runners in 17:06.21. His time was an eight-second improvement from last year at state, when he placed 65th in 17:14.9. "I don't think I performed to the level I'm capable of, but I'm all right with my effort," Royster said. "As a team, we didn't do as well as we hoped, but three out of the top seven on the team are underclassmen, so hopefully they can make it back and improve next year." "Overall, I thought it was a good effort," Black River coach Patrick Brean added. "From top to bottom, our times were better than last year which you always look for that growth. I'm very happy with the boys, season. This is a fun group and it's a good way to cap it." Contact Paul Heyse at sports@medina-gazette.com. Results BOYS Division I Standings: 1. Massillon Jackson 86, 2. Mason 148, 3. Olentangy Orange 172, 4. St. Xavier 178, 5. Rocky River 191, 6. Medina 210, 7. Toledo St. Francis de Sales 249, 8. Dublin Coffman 252, 9. Springboro 279, 10. Perrysburg 281, 11. North Canton Hoover 286, 12. Dublin Scioto 293, 13. Lancaster 308, 14. Amherst 319, 15. Centerville 320, 16. Hudson 329, 17. Tippecanoe 348, 18. Westerville North 368, 19. Beavercreek 373, 20. Chardon 394. Medina (210): 9. Jake Sebaugh 15:26.27, 33. Andrew Bugner 15:56.03, 77. Braighden Sullivan 16:26.65, 86. Andrew Mosack 16:30.83, 130. Emerson Lindsley 16:58.98, 152. Gage Kole 17:12.68, 165. Nick Colosimo 17:37.12. Brunswick (NS): 96. Santino Diligente 16:38.42. Division II Standings: 1. Marlington 108, 2. Woodridge 123, 3. Fairfield Union 136, 4. Bay 161, 5. Kenston 181, 6. Hawken 221, 7. Field 232, 8. Sheridan 241, 9. Bexley 250, 10. Madeira 260, 11. Oakwood 264, 12. Jonathan Alder 282, 13. Cincinnati CHCA 297, 14. Carroll 322, 15. Liberty-Benton 329, 16. Granville 345, 17. Van Wert 368, 18. Minerva 374, 19. Shelby 418, 20. Celina 419. Cloverleaf (NS): 27. Caleb Neville 16:19.45. Division III Standings: 1. Columbus Grove 122, 2. Mount Gilead 128, 3. Maplewood 166, 4. West Liberty Salem 171, 5. Versailles 197, 6. New Bremen 237, 7. Lincolnview 242, 8. Seneca East 256, 9. Tuscawaras Valley 261, 10. Botkins 277, 11. Pleasant 278, 12. Ottawa Hills 284, 13. Black River 285, 14. Cedarville 287, 15. Minster 311, 16. Waynedale 353, 17. Mineral Ridge 357, 18. Fredericktown 358, 19. Marion Local 404, 20. Fisher Catholic 428. Black River (285): 68. Dillon Royster 17:06.21, 86. Nicholas Kostecki 17:21.89, 108. Christian Orgel 17:37.77, 112. Connor Rhein 17:39.41, 134. Noah Orgel 18:05.36, 145. Lucas Olive 18:20.86, 160. Nathan Obarski 18:31.40. GIRLS Division I Standings: 1. Perrysburg 102, 2. Hilliard Davidson 124, 3. Mason 175, 4. Shaker Heights 175, 5. Wadsworth 197, 6. Avon 202, 7. Olentangy Liberty 230, 8. Lakota West 241, 9. St. Joseph Academy 255, 10. Rocky River 261, 11. Loveland 262, 12. GlenOak 264, 13. Dublin Jerome 302, 14. Strongsville 303, 15. Marysville 362, 16. Westlake 366, 17. Springboro 393, 18. Toledo Notre Dame Academy 407, 19. Gahanna Lincoln, 416, 20. Beavercreek 41. Wadsworth (197): Kailyn Biecker 18:45.44, 46. Ollie Smith 19:11.46, 71. Cami Ross 19:36.97, 72. Maggie Gerschutz 19:36.99, 100. Rowan King 20:02.87, 115. Grace Piepho 20:21.14, 177. Emily Hanson 21:41.92. Brunswick (NS): 80. Amber Kemmann 19:42.57, 109. Ella Daddario 20:08.63. Medina (NS): 83. Alexis Warnement 19:47.05, 102. Haley Black 20:05.04. Division II Standings: 1. Minerva 144, 2. Woodridge 157, 3. Lexington 166, 4. Tallmadge 171, 5. Ottawa-Glandorf 177, 6. Waynesville 208, 7. Oakwood 221, 8. Salem 231, 9. CVCA 231, 10. Athens 243, 11. Jonathan Alder 275, 12. Granville 284, 13. Fairfield Union 302, 14. Shelby 319, 15. St. Vincent-St. Mary 334, 16. Eastwood 342, 17. Carroll 360, 18. Canfield 373, 19. Mercy McAuley 408, 20. West Holmes 448. Cloverleaf (NS): 74. Megan Knapp 20:08.33.