Now that the OHSAA Cross-Country State Championships have come to a close and all that is left of this season is the Mid-East Championships along with the various post-season competitions set to take place beyond state lines, we took a look at two underclassmen who had outstanding performances at last weekend's championships.
Both of whom found themselves on the podium for the first time at the state championships.
Brice Fuller (Fairless 2028) - 15:23.18 - 5th - Division 2
Ashlynn Kuklica (John Glenn 2027) - 18:24.17 - 4th - Division 2
Starting with Fuller, he wasn't just the fastest overall underclassman at the state championships, but also threw down a huge personal best which would end settling him for the #11 time in the country out of the Class of 2028. Last Saturday, he found himself taking the fifth-place spot on the podium to conclude his first OHSAA season as a high schooler. Notably, Fuller was the only freshman in the Top-30 from Division 2.
Looking back to this fall, it seemed like all he needed was one race to get warmed-up to racing in high school, as he debuted with a 16:36.80 and a fourth-place finish in the silver race at Pickerington North XC Classic in August; this race was won by the eventual fourth-place finisher for Division 3, Landen Eyre. Not even two weeks later, he dropped a huge personal best by almost a minute: 15:45.50 at Wooster XC Invitational. After this performance, he began to ride the momentum and consistently dipped under the 16-minute mark (Stark County XC Championships being the exception).
Leading up to the state championships, Fuller went on a bit of a winning streak, notching 'Ws' at Stark County XC Championship, Principals Athletic Conference, and then OHSAA Division 2 District - Cambridge. At the OHSAA Division 2 Region 7 - Pickerington, he ended up taking second out of the race but also set a small personal best of 15:42.98. Fast forward to the state championships a week later, the freshman threw down his 15:23.18, fifth place performance.
Compared to his opener, he had improved by over a minute since August from an already solid time.
Moving onto Ashlynn Kuklica, she is someone that we have not covered yet during the previous editions of 'Ohio Future Stars,' but from her performance at not just the state championships, but also the competitions leading up to it, have put her on the radar as someone to look forward to in the coming years.
The sophomore from John Glenn not only greatly improved her finish at the Division 2 State Championships to find herself on the podium this year (43rd in 2023 to 4th in 2024), but also find momentum in the latter half of this fall, notably at her respective regional competition (OHSAA Division 2 Region 7 - Pickerington), where she dipped under 19 minutes (previous best being 19:06.27) for the very first time, running 18:47.45 for a third place finish. That field also had eventual regional and state champion Sophia Szolosi of Athens.
Fast forward to the state championships, Kuklica proceeded to put her name on the map with a breakout performance of 18:24.17 at Fortress Obetz to find herself on the podium. That time moved her up to the #4 sophomore in the state.
For both of these athletes, it is unknown on whether they have intentions on toeing the line during the post-season competitions in hopes of qualifying for the national championships, but if they are, we could see them throw down some notable performances against out-of-state competition.