They call it the "Best in the West" and while that title could be contentious to some, the Village of Botkins gave their fullest effort to host a truly remarkable meet. From the course, the atmosphere, and the talent of the teams present; it really was a special meet.
Meet Coverage
The day began with the girls. Junior high opened it up with impressive showings in terms of times, but the overwhelming size of teams like Versailles, Troy and Wapakoneta were the takeaway. It is no secret that cross country, particularly on the girl side has seen a dip in numbers post Covid, these three teams offer reassurance for the future of the sport. Versailles junior high backed that team size up with talent as the Tigers went 1-4-8-9-11 to finish first place.
In the varsity race there were stars and there was depth. The class of the meet was Junior Paige Steinke of Anna. The young woman is ranked fourth in Ohio for any division and showed that talent as she obliterated the course record of 18:46 as she went 17:58.3 by herself and even at times running without the gator ahead of her to pace. While Steinke was the very clearly the best female individual, the team title did not run through Anna.
The host Trojans were able to go 2-3-12-13-26 to be able to outlast the much larger squad from Versailles who went 4-9-17-18-19. The two teams have had several runs against each other this year and each time the Botkins girls have come out on top.
I spoke with the Lady Trojans about hosting this home meet and how it compared to their league meet in significance, Junior Malanie Maurer says "We would love to win both races, it would be a really big accomplishment for us to win the county meet because there are so many good teams in our county (Fort Loramie, Anna) and we have been so close so many years even in junior high we would lose by two or three points so it has just been a really big goal for us this year to win that".
I asked the Trojans for how they feel in preparation as they look for a fourth straight birth to state to improve on their school record, Brittany Arnold another Junior said, "I think that we are very well prepared since we are ranked 8th in the state right now, highest in school history, we match up for regionals really well and we are mentally the strongest we have been...plus the team chemistry is the best it's ever been".
While the Trojans are confident and feeling on top of the world, or at least Ohio, I caught up with the Runner Up Tigers from Versailles to ask their thoughts on how the season is going specifically as they look at the competition they keep facing and finishing second to. Chloe Steinbrunner a freshman said, "our girls have been working really hard at practice and it is going to pay off". Kiera Rahm a sophomore adds, "we know the matchups with Minster and Loramie, we run against them all the time so we just need to keep working but eventually we will get back on top".
I asked the Tigers then whether they felt that they were working to chip away at the lead teams of the area by the end of this year or if they have more long term plans for their careers, "it would be awesome to get them this but we have a pretty young team so we have time and next year who knows what we could do, especially with some really talented eighth graders adding onto our team".
On the boy's side of the meet there was no lock for first place, Ashler Long of Covington, Lanny Oakman of Spencerville and Kellen Reichert of Jackson Center have all gone low sixteens this year and were capable of producing some quick time as the day had perfect cross country conditions.
While Kellen did not race Asher and Lanny produced a great push as the two traded the lead back forth through the first to miles, but ultimately Asher Long was able to outlast the bearcat and finish in 16:27.5 and first place. Similar to the girl's race though the team title would not be held by the team with the fastest man on the course. That distinction would be taken by the home Trojans once again as the boys of Botkins again held of Versailles but by a more convincing margin of 39 to 97.
I caught up with the Trojans at the end of the race to ask them how they felt about the race and the season moving forward, "today was a good race for us, we just were happy to be able to host and bring cross country to town where some of the people here wouldn't normally get to see a meet." In regards to their season, "we want to finish in the top three at state, we have been having a good year but that is our goal, be in the top three". While it is a lofty goal it is most definitely something within reach for a team that runs so well as a pack, only a 45 second spread in this race, and with great times, a 17:18 average.
When it comes time for league meets these gentlemen too should have a great chance to capture the crown for the SCAL and make for a great regional matchup with West Liberty Salem.
A tremendous day of racing and an awesome collection of kids to speak with, Botkins definitely does cross country right and the teams from this meet should be some to watch going forward.
