July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
TROY, Ohio — There was never any doubt.
Elle Sutter knew she needed a top-16 finish to earn a state berth. So she put herself in the top 16 from the beginning and never waived.
The Fort Recovery High School freshman climbed from 14th position after the first half-mile to finish in 10th place at Saturday’s Division III girls cross country regional meet at Troy, earning a trip to the state finals.
“It’s pretty awesome,” said Sutter, adding that she was energized, but exhausted. “In junior high I thought I did pretty good, but I never thought I’d get to state.”
“It was awesome,” added FRHS coach Michelle Stammen. “It was a fun race to watch. Adjectives that describe Elle are ‘determined, driven, hard-working, goal-oriented’, and she had a goal to get to state this year, and by George, she did it. … She always rises to the occasion, and boy did she today.”
The Indians finished ninth in the 16-team field with 219 points. They were 28 points behind eight-place Fort Loramie and 13 ahead of 10th-place Botkins.
FRHS finished 16th at the meet last year.
No. 2 West Liberty-Salem scored 61 points to upset top-ranked Minster (95) for the regional title. No. 5 Russia was third with 96 and No. 3 Versailles finished fourth with 105.
The top four teams and top 16 individuals earned trips to the state finals.
Sutter got off to a solid start and was in 14th place after the first lap around the lower level of the course along the Miami River, and she never faltered.
“The very first race (this year) I didn’t push it as hard at the beginning and I just slowly eased into it, and I didn’t get near as good a time,” said Sutter. “Now I’ve learned to push it at the beginning … sprint it out … and then slow down my race pace …”
After the second lap, at the 1.5-mile mark, she had climbed to 13th, and she took another spot as she climbed the steep incline to the top of the levy. She was up to 11th at the 2.5-mile mark and continued her climb to finish 10th in 19 minutes, 47.5 seconds.
Sutter finished 2.6 seconds behind Russia’s Lauren Francis (ninth place) and more than five seconds ahead of 11th-place Meghan Vogel of West Liberty-Salem.She was ahead of every runner from No. 1 Minster after finishing behind four Wildcat runners at the Oct. 14 Midwest Athletic Conference Championship.
Defending state champion Tammy Berger of Versailles cruised to the regional title by 17 seconds over Xenia Christian’s Bethany Norman in 18:45.
“It’s huge. It’s amazing accomplishment,” said Stammen. “This region is the toughest region there is … So to be able to go to state … is amazing. I really don’t think she knows how huge it is, but it is huge.
“It’s amazing. I cannot describe it. … And she’s a freshman. That I think is even more unbelievable. Not only does she have to get used to a longer course, going from 3K in junior high to 5K in high school, but to qualify for state and run with the best runners in the regional and possibly the state is phenomenal. I am so, so very proud of her.”
Sutter will compete in the OHSAA Division III Girls Cross Country State Finals at Scioto Downs in Columbus Saturday at 1:20 p.m. The last Fort Recovery runner to qualify for the state meet was Mindy Vogel in 2006.
Sophomore Abby May posted the No. 2 time at the regional meet for the Indians, who jumped seven spots after finishing 16th last season and 13th in 2008. She turned in a 53rd-place finish with a time of 21:17.
Alexis Sutter turned in an impressive race to close out her career. The senior was 20 seconds faster than at the Spencerville district meet, placing 71st overall in 21:58.
Jessica Vogel added a 75th-place finish in 22:00, and Nicole Heitkamp rounded out the team score in 87th at 22:35.
Also running for the Tribe were Samantha Tobe (97th – 23:08) and Abby Huelskamp (24:35).
“The team ran well, they really, really did,” said Stammen. “I know a few of the girls are disappointed and wish they would have run better, but they’ve had a great season. They have nothing to be ashamed about. They’ve had success all season long. … We’re definitely moving in the right direction. We have a bright future. We’ll come back next year and finish even stronger.
“They all ran well and did their very best, and as a coach I cannot ask for more.”[[In-content Ad]]
Elle Sutter knew she needed a top-16 finish to earn a state berth. So she put herself in the top 16 from the beginning and never waived.
The Fort Recovery High School freshman climbed from 14th position after the first half-mile to finish in 10th place at Saturday’s Division III girls cross country regional meet at Troy, earning a trip to the state finals.
“It’s pretty awesome,” said Sutter, adding that she was energized, but exhausted. “In junior high I thought I did pretty good, but I never thought I’d get to state.”
“It was awesome,” added FRHS coach Michelle Stammen. “It was a fun race to watch. Adjectives that describe Elle are ‘determined, driven, hard-working, goal-oriented’, and she had a goal to get to state this year, and by George, she did it. … She always rises to the occasion, and boy did she today.”
The Indians finished ninth in the 16-team field with 219 points. They were 28 points behind eight-place Fort Loramie and 13 ahead of 10th-place Botkins.
FRHS finished 16th at the meet last year.
No. 2 West Liberty-Salem scored 61 points to upset top-ranked Minster (95) for the regional title. No. 5 Russia was third with 96 and No. 3 Versailles finished fourth with 105.
The top four teams and top 16 individuals earned trips to the state finals.
Sutter got off to a solid start and was in 14th place after the first lap around the lower level of the course along the Miami River, and she never faltered.
“The very first race (this year) I didn’t push it as hard at the beginning and I just slowly eased into it, and I didn’t get near as good a time,” said Sutter. “Now I’ve learned to push it at the beginning … sprint it out … and then slow down my race pace …”
After the second lap, at the 1.5-mile mark, she had climbed to 13th, and she took another spot as she climbed the steep incline to the top of the levy. She was up to 11th at the 2.5-mile mark and continued her climb to finish 10th in 19 minutes, 47.5 seconds.
Sutter finished 2.6 seconds behind Russia’s Lauren Francis (ninth place) and more than five seconds ahead of 11th-place Meghan Vogel of West Liberty-Salem.She was ahead of every runner from No. 1 Minster after finishing behind four Wildcat runners at the Oct. 14 Midwest Athletic Conference Championship.
Defending state champion Tammy Berger of Versailles cruised to the regional title by 17 seconds over Xenia Christian’s Bethany Norman in 18:45.
“It’s huge. It’s amazing accomplishment,” said Stammen. “This region is the toughest region there is … So to be able to go to state … is amazing. I really don’t think she knows how huge it is, but it is huge.
“It’s amazing. I cannot describe it. … And she’s a freshman. That I think is even more unbelievable. Not only does she have to get used to a longer course, going from 3K in junior high to 5K in high school, but to qualify for state and run with the best runners in the regional and possibly the state is phenomenal. I am so, so very proud of her.”
Sutter will compete in the OHSAA Division III Girls Cross Country State Finals at Scioto Downs in Columbus Saturday at 1:20 p.m. The last Fort Recovery runner to qualify for the state meet was Mindy Vogel in 2006.
Sophomore Abby May posted the No. 2 time at the regional meet for the Indians, who jumped seven spots after finishing 16th last season and 13th in 2008. She turned in a 53rd-place finish with a time of 21:17.
Alexis Sutter turned in an impressive race to close out her career. The senior was 20 seconds faster than at the Spencerville district meet, placing 71st overall in 21:58.
Jessica Vogel added a 75th-place finish in 22:00, and Nicole Heitkamp rounded out the team score in 87th at 22:35.
Also running for the Tribe were Samantha Tobe (97th – 23:08) and Abby Huelskamp (24:35).
“The team ran well, they really, really did,” said Stammen. “I know a few of the girls are disappointed and wish they would have run better, but they’ve had a great season. They have nothing to be ashamed about. They’ve had success all season long. … We’re definitely moving in the right direction. We have a bright future. We’ll come back next year and finish even stronger.
“They all ran well and did their very best, and as a coach I cannot ask for more.”[[In-content Ad]]
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