First for the freshman

CELINA, Ohio — Unlike others, Trevor Heitkamp took his time at the start of the race.

He didn’t bother trying to get out front early and maintain the lead throughout.

The youngster let others set the pace, then blew by them during the second mile.

Heitkamp, a Fort Recovery High School freshman, overtook the lead pack after the opening mile and held on to that position in winning the third section of the Celina Rotary Cross Country Invitational on Saturday at Wright State Lake Campus.

“I feel very happy with that,” Heitkamp said. “Couldn’t have done it without my teammates cheering me on (and) my coaches. They’ve pushed me all season to get to where I am.”

Fort Recovery scored 102 points for fourth out of six teams in the third of three sections. Marion Local (35) won, with New Bremen (54) second and Blackhawk Christian (77) third.

The Tribe girls scored 45 for second out of four teams. St. Henry was first with 29 points.

Jay County’s boys and girls team ran in section one. The girls had two runners place in the top six as the team took fourth out of six squads. The Patriot boys were sixth out of seven teams.

After the first mile of the third section, Heitkamp was in fifth behind Troy Stucke of Marion Local, Jones Doden of Blackhawk, Patrick Bernhold of New Bremen and Noah Budde of Marion Local.

But as those four bunched up toward the front, Heitkamp mounted his push. After the first lap as the course turned around the Auglaize-Mercer YMCA toward the softball diamond away from the spectators, Heitkamp picked them off one by one. By the 2-mile mark, he was at the front and got stronger from there.

Heitkamp crossed the finish line in 18 minutes, 46.42 seconds, nearly 40 seconds ahead of Stucke.

A few strides past the finish, Heitkamp raised his hands in a sort of celebration.

“I started out not in front at all and I had to work my way up there,” he said. “I slowly pushed my way up there. People died a little bit because they went out too hard.

“But overall it was a pretty tough race. I had some pretty good competition and came out on top.”

His coach, Christy Diller, was surprised by his finish.

“Holy smokes,” she said. “He had a great race. He has been working all week about being aggressive and staying consistent … He responds so well to coaching. You tell him something and that kid goes.”

Heitkamp’s time was the 18th fastest overall out of 190 male runners across all three sections.

Connor Gower finished 24th in 22:08.1. Luke Keller ended 27th in 22:18.64, and Ethan Evers was one spot behind in 22:27.82. Caleb Rammel had a time of 23:04.56 for 34th.

Fort Recovery’s girls had three runners, including a pair of freshman, finish in the top 10. Ellie Will, one of the freshmen, was fifth with her time of 23:11.96. Fellow freshman Brynn Stammen (23:33.56) and senior Anna Wendel (23:37.39) were eighth and ninth, respectively. Jenna Hart placed 12th in 24:02.31, and Megan Diller completed the team score by finishing 15th in 24:06.97.

Chloe Hogue of Blackhawk won with her time of 21:23.64.

Jay County sophomore Lydia Keihn paced the Patriot girls as she finished with a time of 22:53.02 for fourth place in the first section. She was two places ahead of junior Lindy Wood, who had a time of 24:10.48.

Raven Weaver (19th – 25:35.64), Makayla Brainerd (37th – 27:57.96) and Lita Chowning (39th – 28:04) also ran for the Patriots.

Kayle Dameron of Celina, which claimed the team title, won in 20:01.42.

Mitchell Winner was the top JCHS boy as he was 23rd in 19:59.61, and Aaron Funkhouser placed 26th in 20:12.81. Logan Zimmerman (31st – 20:59.64), Dustin Harris (34th – 21:12.35) and Ben Hunter (36th – 21:21.48) rounded out the Patriots’ top five runners.

Deion Guise of section three team champion Bellmont finished first in 17:01.56.

Also participating for the FRHS girls were Hanna Metzger (17th), Alexis Wendel (19th), Sarah Siefring (21st), Caitlin Weitzel (23rd), Alyssa Heinrichs (25th), Kendra Metzger (28th), Olivia Laux (49th) and Britney Klenke (55th). Jac Barga (47th) competed for the Tribe boys.

For Jay County were Seth Wilson (37th), Isaac Kunkler (40th), Sebastian Solis (50th), Carson Davis (51st), Griffin Lennartz (64th), Timo Minnich (68th) and Kyle Theurer (72nd).



Middle school

Anna Roessner was the lone Tribe runner to finish in the top 10 as the FRMS girls placed sixth out of seven teams in the second of two middle school sections.

Fort Loramie put six total in the top 10 to win with 28 points. South Adams was runner-up with 76 points and St. Henry was third with 111. Fort Recovery totaled 119 points.

The FRMS boys scored 158 points for seventh. Blackhawk Christian’s 36 points won the championship, with Parkway (51) second and Fort Loramie (104) in third.

Roessner had a time of 14:35 for sixth overall. Joelle Kaup was 17th in 15:15, while Maddie Heitkamp finished 34th in 16:28. Aubrie Heitkamp (38th – 16:56) and Megan Weitzel (47th – 17:44) rounded out the Tribe’s team score. Saidy Deroo placed 54th.

Eli Lennartz led the FRMS boys by taking 23rd in 14:23. Ethan Evers had a time of 14:30 for 29th, and Caleb Smith ended in 16:01 for 45th. Drew Backs finished 52nd in 17:20, and Drew Stammen was 58th in 18:34.