Midwest Meet of Champions
Photos from the Midwest Meet of Champions
Many of the top ranked team in Ohio came together Saturday at the Midwest Meet of Champions in Ohio to see just who is the best at this point in the season. Running away from the field in the boys varsity race was Zach Wills of Mason. Wills had a shot at going sub 15, but had to settle with his state leading and the current US #3 time of 15:02.36, blazing the field by 22 seconds. And the individual field was no joke, it included formidable competition. The field was a who's who of Division I Cross Country in Ohio, with Kevin Yarnell (2nd, 15:24.01) and Greg Turissini of St. John's Jesuit, Eric Schmidt and Shawn Roberts of Centerville, Travis Hawes (3rd, 15:31.95) and Ethan Bokeno of LaSalle, Dylan Papp and Kyle Wheeler of Green, Mike Baxter and Nate Slaughter of Cuyahoga Falls, Doug Norris and Danny Neff of Vandalia-Butler, Yoshi Shimizu (4th, 15:32.78) of Davidson, and freshman standout Tsehaye Hiluf (5th, 15:34.27) of Reynoldsburg.
Wills performance also helped guide his top ranked Mason team to the overall title with 94 points. Besides Wills single point, Mason was able to place their next four runners in a span of just six seconds, and all within the top 25 individuals. St. John's Jesuit was third with 110 points and Centerville took home the bronze with 116 points.
On the girls side number 1 ranked Magnificat trumped their competition, showing why they are the top ranked team in the state. Led by individual runner-up Madeline Chambers and their strong front five that all finished in the top 10, Magnificat scored a mere 31 points, besting second place Cincinnati St. Ursula by 58 points. Clarkston (MI) finished third, two points behind Cincinnatie St. Ursula, with 91 points.
Kristen Smith (Sr., Clarkston, MI) won the overall title with a winning mark of 17:59, and a new course record. Chambers finished three second behind Smith in second place, in a time of 18:02.30. Austin Perry of Cincinnati St. Ursula finished in third with a new personal record time of 18:08.07.