Jr. Chad Johnson of Colonel Crawford is odd's on favorite as we head into the post season. Shown above at Tiffin this season, (photo Christian Lisle)
D3 Boys
Jr. Chad Johnson of Colonel Crawford was 7th last year and has lost only once this season. Since that loss in early September, he has won his last five races. He should be fine through District and Regionals and one would expect him to have some company through the two mile at State, but this should be his championship to win. So. Evan Leist of Eastern-Beaver is ranked D3 #2 with a 15:33.00 some 27 seconds back of Johnson's 15:09.30. Expect Independence Sr. Tyler Polman to be in the mix. He was 6th last year and recently ran 15:37.00 in s 2nd place finish in the Large School Div. at the Legends.
Maplewood, St. Thomas Aquinas and Fort Loramie are ranked 1,2 and 3 in both poll. Maplewood would like to defend their State Title. They are in different Districts and should have no problems at Districts, but will meet up prior to State at Regionals. We'll see then who may be atop the podium in a few weeks. Fort Loramie has a different route to State. As with the girl's, both are seasoned State teams with XC tradition. Maplewood has an Average Time of 16:38.66 with a 1-5 Split of 37.8 seconds. Aquinas has an Average Time of 16:37.40 with a 1-5 Split of 49.00 seconds. Week two at Regionals will be the State Preview.
D3 Girls
So. Jenny Seas of Peebles is atop the D3 girl's rankings with an 18:01.50. Seas was 10th last year as a freshman. If she is going to win her first title and put herself in a position to win three, she will have to contend with several girls who are just behind her in the rankings and who will challenge her for the State title: Jr. Emily Sreenan of Lima Central Catholic and Fr. Emma Watcke of Minster. These are the three girls at and under the 18:15 mark. Sreenan is undefeated this year and was 8th last year. Arguably, she is the one to beat for the State title as she has the experience. Watcke will be making her first trip to State leading a #1 ranked Minster's girls team. She has started to mature as a freshman and proved that she has the talent to be at the top in her 7th place finish at Centerville's Saturday Night Lights. The only other girl in D3 under 18:20 is Sr. Ashleigh Rowley of Western Reserve-BC She ran an 18:18.20 in her win in the Small Schools Division at the Legends. Sreenan and Watcke will race against each other at Districts and Regionals so we will see how the freshman fares.