Indians match best finish at state

OBETZ, Ohio — Nearly half the team members had the best race of their career.

The squad matched the best finish in program history.

Three runners turned in new career-best times in helping the Fort Recovery High School girls cross country team place 12th in the OHSAA Division III Cross Country State Championships on Saturday at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park.

“I think they were ranked 18th so they way over-performed today,” said FRHS coach Christy Diller, who also had a sophomore boy, Trevor Heitkamp, make his state finals debut. “I’m so proud of the way they showed up today and fought. They did great. I’m so happy for them.”

Minster, which won state titles from 2016 through 2019 before finishing as the runner-up last season, returned to its championship form by scoring 66 points. Liberty Center was a distant second with 108 points, and Fort Loramie placed third with 124.

Fort Recovery’s 316 points were seven better than its 13th-place finish last year. Finishing 12th matched the 1999 squad for best place in school history. Only four points separated the Indians from the top 10, as Midwest Athletic Conference rival St. Henry held the No. 10 spot with 313 points.

Ellie Will, who led the team at last year’s meet, was once again the top Tribe runner.

The sophomore was 68th after one mile at 6 minutes, 10 seconds, and climbed seven spots to 61st with a 6:37 second mile. But she slowed over the course of the next 1.1 miles, ending in 70th place with a season-best 20:14.5.

“I think she’s really happy with it,” Diller said. “She went out and raced really well. She looked like herself. It was a good day.”

Jenna Hart, Will’s classmate, climbed positions throughout the race. She was 89th after the first mile (6:18) and picked off five runners to sit 84th at mile two. She passed two more in finishing 82nd in a career-best 20:27, five seconds faster than her previous best time.

“She’s pretty happy today; I’m happy for her too,” said Diller, noting Hart passed the coach’s best time when she ran for the Indians in the late 1990s. “She had a great race. She had goals. That’s the benefit of coming in second year; first year they’re just happy to be here. Second year, she came in with goals. She ran great.”

Freshman Joelle Kaup improved the most spots out of her team from the first mile to the finish. She was 132nd a mile in, then jumped 10 places after the second mile. She also set a career-best time of 21:10 to place 121st, nine spots ahead of junior Alexis Wendel’s career-best time of 21:23.4.

“Both of them ran great,” Diller said of Kaup and Wendel. “Joelle dropped another 20 seconds. As a freshman she’s so awesome to watch because she is just figuring it out every week and it’s really fun.”

Junior Megan Diller completed the team score by finishing 144th in 22:04.8.

Fort Recovery was making just its fourth appearance in the state meet, having qualified in back-to-back years for the second time. All seven of its runners from Saturday will return next season, giving the Indians the opportunity to reach state in three consecutive years for the first time in program history.

“Looking forward to another good year but glad we had a good finish today,” Diller said.

Maplewood sophomore Caleigh Richards successfully defended her state title by winning with a time of 18:16.2, the 12th-fastest female time among all three divisions.

Heitkamp, the lone Fort Recovery boy to qualify for state, was caught in the middle of the pack at the first mile, and he sat 82nd at 5:15. He climbed two spots after the second mile despite a 5:40 clip, and continued to have a strong finish as he picked off four other runners to place 76th in 17:09.6.

“It was awesome,” he said. “I accomplished everything that I wanted to.”

Said Diller: “I thought Trevor had a great race … He got pushed around a lot but it’s a physical race. This is the first time he’s run in a big championship-style race. It’s an exciting learning experience and now he’s got goals.”

Brady Yingst of Lima Perry won in 15:29.4.

Also running for the Fort Recovery girls were Caitlin Weitzel (147th – 22:06.1) and Anna Roessner (151st – 22:13.6).

Minster’s girls team championship was the program’s 14th. No other girls program has more than seven, while two schools — Caldwell and Peninsula Woodridge — have nine boys state championships.

It was Minster’s 39th title across all sports, and the 142nd for a MAC school.