XC-ding Expectations

REGIONALS UPDATE:  On Oct. 26, 2019 the high school teams made their way to Troy to run in the regional meets. The girls team, running in the 3rd race of the day in the Div. 1 girls 5k, placed 6th with 196 points, sadly ending their season. The team was lead by Maddy Iden in 27th, followed by Hannah Lippincott in 42nd, Lilly Iden in 48, Libby Farmer in 49th, and Eva Motta in 53rd.

In the 6th race of the day, the Div. 1 boys 5k, the boys placed 15th with 325 points. Their season as a team ended that race, but the lead runner, Keifer Bell, placed 9th and will move on to state as an individual. He was followed by Logan Murray in 49th, Jens Bartel in 93rd, Benjamin Farmer in 109th, and Eliot Berberich in 116th.  

There will be a pep rally to send Bell off to state on Friday, Nov. 1 at THS.

Full disclosure: The writer Logan Murray is on the THS Cross Country Team. He also XC-ded expectations this year.

The Talawanda cross country teams have XC-ded the expectations this season. In the state tournament and the week leading up to it saw many great achievements from the high school team. The middle school teams also had a good end to the season during the conference and OHSAA invitational meets.

What is cross country:
Cross country is a sport where teams, comprised of at least seven runners, compete in long distance races to try to get the lowest score. Points are received based on the placement of the top five runners for the team, with each runner earning points equal to their position when they finished the race (first place gets one point, second gets two), the lowest possible score is 15 points. In the case of a tie between the top five, the sixth runner will be used to break the tie when their points are added to the teams total.

SWOC:
On Oct. 12, 2019 the teams from Talawanda middle and high schools ran at the SWOC cross country meet. Throughout the day, all the teams found great success in their races. In the high school girls 5000 meter race, the first of the day, the Talawanda High School girls won with a score of 16 points. Hannah Lippincott led the girls by finishing first in the race and receiving the girls high school SWOC runner of the year award, followed by Maddy Iden in second, Lilly Iden finished third, Eva Motta finished in fourth, and Libby Farmer finished sixth. Talawanda coach Paul Stiver was named coach of the year for high school girls. Zoe Moore got a sportsmanship award and Hannah Farnsworth, in 15th, was given an honorable mention.

The next race of the day, the high school boys 5000 meter, was also won by Talawanda with a score of 33 points. Kiefer Bell won the race and was named SWOC runner of the year for boys, Logan Murray finished third in the race, Jens Bartel finished fourth, Eliot Berberich was 11th, and Benjamin Farmer was 14th in the race. Paul Stiver was named the coach of the year for the high school boys. Quinn Kissel received a sportsmanship award and Daniel Swadai, the 18th placer, was given an Honorable mention.
The Talawanda middle school boys finished first in their two mile race with a score of 49 points. The team was led by Alex Ream in fifth place, next was Max Bixler in eighth, then Levi Bidwell in 11th, Bryson Fears in 12th, and Maddox Burns in 13th.
The in the two mile race for the middle school girls Talawanda placed third with a score of 70 points. Lucia Rodbro was the middle school girls champion with a first place finish, Kelsi Carver finished ninth, Lily Franks was 16th, Emily Watt was 20th, and Makayla Chaney was 29th.

District:
On October 19, 2019 the high school teams went to Cedarville to run in the district meet. With the girls finishing second in the Division one 5k race resulting in being named a district champs in the double district with a score of 73, this is the first time since 1985 they have been a district champion. They were once again led by Hannah Lippincott in tenth place, finishing next was Maddy Iden in 11th place, Libby Farmer was 15th, Lilly Iden was 18th, and Eva Motta was 19th.

In the Div. 1 boys 5k Talawanda boys placed ninth with a score of 230, bringing them out of districts and onto regionals for the first time since 1985. Kiefer Bell once again led the boys team with a fifth place finish, Logan Murray finished in 23rd, Jens Bartel finished 25th, Eliot Berberich was 87th, and Benjamin Farmer finished 90th.

OHSAA junior high invitational:
On October 19, 2019 the middle school teams traveled to Lancaster to compete in their final meet of the season. The boys placed 16th with 492 points in their 3200 meter race. Alex Ream continued to lead the team with an 89th place finish, Following him was Bryson Fears placed 97th, Max Bixler was 111th, Maddox Burns was 141st, and Levi Bidwell finished 144th.

The girls 3200 meter race saw Talawanda placed 16th with a score of 460. Lucia Rodbro finished in 19th, Kelsi Carver finished next in 99th, Lily Franks finished in 134th, Emily Watt was 146th, and Makayla Chaney was 179th.

Go Logan Go.
Photo Cred: Kei Brown
For more cross country photos go to: http://talawandatribune.org/2019/10/17/2019-cross-country-swoc-ths/