Chasing state goal

FORT RECOVERY — The Indians didn’t have their best day at the district meet.
Oddly, that may turn out to be a good thing.
Despite not running their best times, the Fort Recovery High School girls cross country team was able to hang right with host and runner-up Spencerville Bearcats.
So now the Indians believe, if they run to their potential, they can get past both Spencerville and Crestview (Ashland) — the two squads who will most likely stand between them and a trip to the state meet.
Fort Recovery will get the chance to prove it Saturday at 11 a.m. when they compete in the Division III regional meet at Hedges-Boyer Park in Tiffin.
“I think it’s going to work to our advantage,” said FRHS coach Michelle Stammen before Wednesday’s practice. “We did not have our best times on the season. When the girls finished, they were very disappointed in their performance, and we were still within 13 points of getting Spencerville. And two of their top five had (season-best times). I think that helped them really see this is doable. It helped give them the confidence we need that even when we didn’t have our best run for the year, we were still within striking distance.”
Derek S. Sutter, a sophomore, will also compete for the Indians in regional action Saturday at 1:30 p.m., but he’ll have a much longer trip. The sophomore will travel all the way to the state’s eastern border to run in the regional meet at Youngstown’s Boardman High School.
The top four teams and top 16 individuals from each regional advance to the state finals.
Fort Recovery’s girls are making their sixth trip to the regional in the last seven seasons. But they have never earned a regional berth, with their best effort coming with a sixth-place finish in 2005.
The Indians enter the meet as the No. 6 seed based on district times behind top-ranked Coldwater, No. 2 Liberty Center, No. 7 Liberty-Benton, Crestview and Spencerville. They have made Spencerville their target after finishing 13 points behind the Bearcats in regional action.
“Jess (Vogel) and Abby (May) … have to finish under 21 minutes. … And they just have to stick with (Spencerville’s top three),” said Stammen of what it will take for her team to achieve its state goal. “Because they’re not that far behind them time-wise. … I know that they can do it.”
May and Vogel have traded the No. 2 spot for the Indians behind Elle Sutter, who qualified for the state finals during her freshman season. Sutter is Fort Recovery’s top-seeded runner for the regional at No. 15 after finishing in 20 minutes, 22.6 seconds in the district meet.
Coldwater freshman Sarah Kanney is the regional favorite at 18:29.6, and Delta senior Kristen Fruchey is the No. 16 seed at 20:27.6.
May (21:35) and Vogel (21:42) are seeded 52nd and 59th respectively. Junior Senior Nicole Heitkamp (21:48) and junior Sam Tobe (22:20) round out the Tribe’s top five.
“We have the strength, we have the talent, we just need to put it all together,” said Vogel of the possibility of a trip to the state meet. “It would be awesome. We’ve worked so hard this year and we haven’t made it as a team in so long. It would just be a great accomplishment overall, for the program and for everyone.”
Derek Sutter is the first Tribe boy to make it to the regional meet in more than a decade after fighting off New Bremen’s Drew McClurg by three seconds for the final qualifying spot at the Spencerville district. He got boxed in at the first turn and sat 28th at the mile mark before slowly working his way up and earning the 16th-place spot by three seconds.
“You could hear all the other fans for the other teams behind me, so it had me kind of worried at first,” said Sutter, who is seeded 61st for the regional. “But when I actually crossed the finish line, it was kind of awesome.”
“I am super excited for him, because he has been focused all season,” added Stammen, who said her goal is for Sutter to place in the top 50 at the regional meet. “His goal was to get to regional. We knew, go or don’t go, it was going to be close. …
“He pushed so hard that entire race and really did earn that spot. He ran incredibly well.”
Derek Sutter and the Indian girls both departed Fort Recovery today in order to get a chance to run on the regional courses this evening. It will be their first time running at the respective sites, and Stammen hopes it won’t be the last time her girls teams competes this season.
“If they run to their potential, we will be fine,” she said. “If they run like I know they’re capable of running and have the times they’re capable of putting up we should be in that top four.
“They definitely have the talent.
“I would be thrilled for the girls. … They really do deserve it. They really have had the work ethic and the training necessary to achieve that goal. I would just be so happy for them.”[[In-content Ad]]