Fort falls short of state berth

TIFFIN, Ohio  — Heartbreaking.
The battle for the final state berth was so close that Indian runners, coaches and parents had to wait about a half hour after the race to learn their fate. When the official results were posted, junior Jessica Vogel collapsed into the arms of former teammate Abby Huelskamp.
The Tribe had come up six points short.
In Saturday’s Division III regional cross country meet, from which the top four teams advance to the state finals, the Fort Recovery High School girls squad finished fifth.
“It is heartbreaking,” said FRHS coach Michelle Stammen after the agonizing wait for the results. “But the girls did the best they could and they gave it their all. To be six points away from going to state is quite a feat. … Every year we get stronger. Every year we get better. This is our best finish so far, so next year we’ll make up those six points and we’ll punch our ticket to state …”
The Indians entered the meet at Hedges-Boyer Park expecting three state-ranked teams would easily secure state berths and that they would need to beat Spencerville in order to have a chance to earn the fourth. They didn’t.
The Bearcats scored 170 points to claim fourth place and the final state berth with Fort Recovery (176) in fifth and Toledo Christian (178) a close sixth.
No. 2 Coldwater (52), the defending state champion, fought off fourth-ranked Liberty Center (61) for the regional title. No. 8 Liberty-Benton was third with 117.
Sophomore Sarah Kanney of Coldwater took the individual regional title by eight seconds over Toledo Christian’s Delainey Phelps in 18:33.06.
Despite narrowly missing the state berth, the Indians still posted the best regional finish in school history as they surpassed the sixth-place effort turned in by the 2005 squad in the regional meet at Troy.
“They did a great job,” said Stammen. “They’ve been consistent all season. They‘ve worked hard. They’re a talented group. They did the very best they could today running against the best teams in the state and just missed making it. I’m very proud of them. I think they did an excellent job.”
Fort Recovery got off to a much stronger start than it had a year ago, when it got trapped in the pack at the beginning of the race and had to fight back for a seventh-place finish.
By the mile mark Saturday the Tribe had three runners in the top 30, with Elle Sutter leading the way in 24th place.
Sutter, who was looking for a top-16 finish to earn her second individual state berth, moved up to 21st with about a half-mile to go. But she was unable to make up any more ground, finishing 21st in 20:53.29.
Liberty Center’s Olivia Kundo finished 16th in 20:29.11 on the muddy regional course.
“I thought she did a heck of a job,” said Stammen of Sutter, a junior who had been battling inflammation behind her left knee all week. “She’s very courageous.  She’s a phenomenal athlete. She’s been leading our team all year. And she did a great job leading us here today.”
The next two Indians ran within a couple of strides of each other for most of the race, and finished just four seconds apart.
Senior Abby May closed her career with a 32nd-place finish in 21:10. Freshman Caitlyn Huelskamp was 34th in 21:14.
Sam Tobe, also a senior, turned in the No. 4 time for the Indians and was 72nd overall in 22:07.
“They have been amazing,” Stammen said of her two seniors. “They’re just phenomenal. Abby May is just a class act. She had her best season this year. She worked really hard. She’s an extremely talented runner, very positive.
“And Sam Tobe is just a top-notch girl. She’s just amazing and (has) a wonderful spirit. She did a heck of a job today as well.”
Sophomore Janel Heitkamp completed the Tribe team score as she finished in 22:34 for 84th place in the field of 135 runners.
Toledo Christian, which was fifth a year ago in front of Spencerville and Fort Recovery, had the early advantage in the three-way battle for the final state berth thanks to the runner-up finish from Delainey Phelps and a 22nd-place effort from Kavanaugh Phelps. But its third, fourth and fifth runners all finished behind their counterparts from the two other contenders.
Spencerville had the advantage on the Tribe from the start as junior Karri Purdy placed 11th in 20:14. Cierra Adams was 30th in 21:07, followed by Tori Hardesty (50th – 21:28), Kacie Mulholland (65th – 22:00) and Schylar Miller (86th – 22:37).
Fort Recovery had tied the Bearcats 74-74 this season at the Spencerville Invitational, winning the meet on the sixth-runner tiebreaker. Spencerville finished one spot ahead of the Indians at the district meet.
“It’s very nerve-wracking, because you don’t know where you are,” said Stammen of the close three-team competition. “I told the girls (Friday), ‘All you can control is you and the way that you run and whatever happens, happens.’ They did a great job. They had an awesome season. This was our most successful season.
“They need to hold their head up high because they represented Fort Recovery very well today.”[[In-content Ad]]