(Rachel Forsyth / Ann Arbor Pioneer)
Photo Credit: David Nguyen - MileSplit
By Mark Dwyer - MileSplit
Centerville, OH -- The onset of Saturday Night Lights, hosted by Centerville, brings with it some constants year-after-year.
Namely, athletes and teams are really starting to hit their stride and look to be entering into midseason form, postseason vibes are just a few weeks away and an opportunity to prove yourself against top regional and national talent awaits.
This year, the 18th installment of the annual event, lived up to all that hype and more.
With the MHSAA and OHSAA championship tournaments looming, Pioneer and Lancaster served notice, or rather reinforced notice to those who already are truly in the know, that they figure to be forces to contend with at their respective state meets.
Lainey Studebaker Championship Division
The Ann Arbor based Pioneer squad made the trek across state lines and picked up the Championship Division victory by scoring 99-points.
A nothing short of dominant showing by MileSplit No. 7 ranked Rachel Forsyth led the way for the Pioneers.
The senior expertly navigated Centerville's 5-kilometer route with 1 minute, 20 seconds and change of clearance over her nearest competition. FinishTiming clocked her at 16:27.1, officially, and we have her effort speed rated at 154.
Whether you value times, ratings or if you happen to be lucky enough to have been there in person to witness it, by all accounts, her performance was remarkable.
The squad followed her number 1, scoring in places 11, 21, 30 and 36 by the handiwork of Lydia Bowman, Natalie Mello, Katie Hume and Sylvia Sanok Dufallo.
Following their showing, we suspect there's a good chance Pioneer will be making an appearance on the next MileSplit50 team rankings release.
A final note about our individual winner. If you feel like you've been hearing about the name "Forsyth" forever, that's because you have.
Rachel's older sisters Anne, a 2018 high school grad, and more recently Sarah, a 2022 graduate, also starred for the Pioneer team.
Anne went on to be a standout performer for the Michigan Wolverines while Sarah is a current member of the Michigan State Spartans.
Immediately trailing Pioneer in the standings were the Nate King coached Hilliard Davidson Wildcats at 114-points. The MileSplit50 honorable mention and OATCCC unanimously No. 1 ranked team were led by Erica Kaulen (8th scorer, 113 rating) and Sophie Lane (12th scorer, 107 rating).
This marks another big performance out of the formidable OCC representatives. Two weeks ago, in Kentucky, they took gold at Trinity / Valkyrie, beating nationally ranked DuPont Manual in the process.
In yet another display of their ability to step up in competition and more than hang with the big schools, Minster took 3rd place overall.
The Division III juggernaut and perennial state meet champions put up 155 points and were represented first across the line by Margaret Hemmelgarn, who produced a 105 rating (18:54.8 mark).
The small school Wildcats team impressively bested many Division I schools with student enrollments multiple times their size.
On the individual front, Bentley Thomas out of Ursuline Academy continued her breakout campaign with a runner-up performance. The senior produced a 127 rating and a sub-18 minute showing (17:49.1).
Bob Bowman Championship Division
In men's competition, it was Lancaster, on the heels of a torrid final stretch who emerged victorious over Chardon and the host Elks team.
The Gales, a team who's lost a lot of talent to graduation over the past few years, showed they're all about reloading, not rebuilding. They secured 1st overall with 101 points, while Chardon and Centerville achieved 2nd and 3rd via 128 and 146 point efforts.
Amazingly, Lancaster moved up 41-places in their team's finishing sequence.
Individually, the team was guided by Wes Taylor, Carter Schorr, Carter Davis, Zane Schorr and Owen Rice in scoring positions 4-16-17-30-34. Most recently the Gales were ranked at No. 8 in the OATCCC poll and, interestingly, the number five team from Region 3.
Expect them to move up the ranks on both fronts during this week's upcoming release.
Notably, on the individual front, Lucas Towne out of Cincinnati Turpin delivered the race win in a time of 15:26.3 (174 rating).
Thanks and Condolences
In closing, we'd be remiss if we didn't express our thanks to the Centerville staff for hosting our coverage unit yet again this year, but more importantly we'd also like to offer to our condolences to the entire Centerville community, as they announced the passing of Coach Roy Thobe, who was an integral member of the program's history of coaching excellence.