October 26, 2024 at 2:13 p.m.
FR finishes in regional
TROY, Ohio — This Tribe’s roster is a mix of seasoned veterans and young talent.
A pair of runners have been to this stage three or four times. A handful of underclassmen are making their first or second appearance.
Joining a district that let less teams through to the state meet, the experienced of the group knew it would be a tall task to get the Indians back to Fortress Obetz. Yet, they were able to celebrate having their curtain call past the first round of the playoffs.
The younger Indians will be able to walk away with a new experience and the knowledge of what it takes to compete at the higher levels.
The Fort Recovery High School girls cross country team, along with Reese Diller, ran in the OHSAA Division III Southwest District 12 meet hosted by Troy on Saturday morning, but fell short of making a fifth consecutive appearance at state.
“It was a solid day,” said FRHS coach Christy Diller, who’s team previously competed in the Northwest regional meet at Troy. “This was kind of an information gathering day. This was our first time at this course (at regional). … Our goal really for today was to race well and I think they did that all across the board. … Let’s learn the course, figure it out and then hopefully next year we’ll have a better grasp of it.”
To move on to the state championship held at Fortress Obetz in Columbus, the girls team would have needed to place in the top three teams. The top-12 times from athletes not already on advancing teams also qualified for the state championship.
The Indians finished ninth out of 11 teams with 239 points. No.7 Madeira finished as regional champions with 72 points, edging out No. 2 Summit Country Day by one. No. 5 West Liberty Salem’s 77 points edged No. 4 Fort Loramie’s 90 for the final state berth.
Bennett Lehman of Ansonia and Caroline Hamilton of Legacy Christian claimed the individual district championships and clinched spots at state with times of 15 minutes, 52.93 seconds and 18:10.41, respectively. Miami Valley School’s Lochlan Dwyer secured the final individual spot with a time of 17:13.94, leaving Reese Diller 1:00.91 short. Taylee Woodbury earned the final spot for the girls, also with a 21st-place finish in 20:24.07, leaving Joelle Kaup 42.07 seconds short.
The meet marked the final race for three Indians; Kaup, Anna Roessner and Nicole Braun. Kaup has ran in all four district meets and the previous three state championships, Roessner competed in the meets as a sophomore and junior and served as an alternate her freshman year and Braun filled in during the 2023 district meet before serving as an alternate to regional and state.
“I’m happy to be at regionals at all,” Roessner said. “ I know a lot of teams would love to make it out of district and they couldn’t, so I’m just happy to be here and that all my family and friends came out to see me.”
Kaup and Roessner both started out strong sitting in 22nd and 29th after the first kilometer. By the one-mile mark, Kaup fell back to 26th, while Roessner got caught up in the pack.
Kaup slipped back to 34th at the beginning of the third mile, and only lost three more places before finishing 37th with a time of 21:06.37. Roessner ended in 65th at 22:39.17 for the fourth FRHS score.
“I did not run my best,” Kaup said. “I didn’t even run close to it, but honestly at the end of the day, I was just glad to get here as a team and my friends came out to see me.”
In her first regional competition, freshman Riley Heitkamp held a steady pace to claim 58th in 21:57.72. Sophomore Makenna Huelskamp fluctuated between sitting equally with Heitkamp and trailing her. With only ¾ kilometers remaining, she sat 10 behind the freshman, but managed to shift up a gear for a strong finish, putting her one spot ahead of Heitkamp at 37th in 21:56.96.
“This is only her fourth race this year, so to come out and race like that and not be tentative, especially coming back from an injury, is huge,” Diller said. “So I thought she attacked really well. She was smart about how she ran and had a great finish. All of our girls finished well.”
Rounding out the Indians score was Maddie Heitkamp, crossing the line in 23:27 flat for 73rd. Not scoring were Kendall Ranly (25:16.72) in 81st and Braun (25:45.90) in 83rd.
Reese Diller got swallowed up and boxed in early, falling back to 45th by the first kilometer, without much opportunity to make a move up in his first regional appearance.
While the sophomore knew his odds of making it through were slim coming into the meet, he started to see the writing on the wall and by the second mile and not being able to make up much ground.
He wound up in 57th place with a time of 18:14.85. Despite not moving on, Diller still relished in the learning experience and opportunity to compete at the regional.
“I think it’s good that now I’ve ran this course, so I have more experience on how hilly it is for next year,” Reese Diller said. “I probably could have ran a faster time, but I’m happy that I even got to be here today, so I can’t be sad.”
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