Colonel Crawford sets pace at county meet

GALION - "The weather was amazing," Colonel Crawford junior Chad Johnson said after setting a new personal record Saturday morning. "The air was just so thick and it kind of just filled my lungs and I was like, 'All right, I can do this.'"

Johnson breezed through Amann Park at the Crawford County Meet with a time of 15:26.85, a full minute quicker than his teammate Brad Bauer in second place. Nick Studer and Wade Hopkins, also of Colonel Crawford, finished third and fifth to nearly give the Eagles a sweep of the top spots and secure the overall team win with a time of 1:25:19.89.

"I wasn't really expecting a (personal record) today. I was running blind the whole time," Johnson said. "I didn't hear my first mile, heard my second mile at 9:59, and so I was like, 'Huh, I'm feeling pretty good' so I didn't want the day to go to waste so I just pushed it from there and negative split that last mile again.

"I was surprised when I saw the clock."

It seems like Johnson surprised everyone at Amann Park with his time considering he ran there last weekend with a time of 15:33 and felt like that was a great, competitive time. His coach, Jody Grove, said he's "on a roll right now" and that they'll just take it one day at a time from here.

Grove's girls also dominated their race taking first, second and third, along with the overall win with a time of 1:47:28.17. Anna Reffey took top honors with a time of 20:11.26, with her teammate Emily Kemper nine seconds behind her. Courtney Britt finished just more than a minute after them to sweep the top of the standings for the Eagles.

Reffey bested her time from last week's meet at Amann Park by 19 seconds and, like Johnson, credited the cool weather as a major factor in her success. She admits it wasn't easy leading the pack.

"It was a hard race because usually I have people in front of me and today I was by myself, so it was really challenging mentally," Reffey said. "But I really felt it today and I wanted to get first. I just tried really hard and Emily was right behind me so she was pushing me, but my goal was to get first place and I did."

In her last year with the Eagles, Reffey is finally in the spotlight and making the most of her opportunities.

"It's just her turn," Grove said. "She's been a good runner for us. She's a senior and has always taken a bridesmaid honor, but it's nice she finally got her county honors."

Bucyrus finished second for the boys with a team time of 1:31:29.99. Galion (1:32:44.07), Wynford (1:34:26.02) and Buckeye Central (1:46:13.01) rounded out the standings. In the girls race, Galion (1:57:22.80) took second, Bucyrus (1:58:55.31) finished third and Buckeye Central (2:04:32.12) was fourth.

For Grove, notching a win with the boys and girls is big this late into the season in terms of building confidence, especially for those runners who posted lower than usual times. Despite the dominant performance, Grove says they approached it like any other day.

"We came in just saying it was another race day," Grove said. "Whether it's a county meet or not, it's another race race and they approached it that way, it's another work day.

"They know they have to race every Saturday if they want to be there at the end of the season, and that's just how we approach it."

Boys

Colonel Crawford (26) was 1st, led by Chad Johnson, 1st,15:26.85; Brad Bauer, 2nd, 16:27.32; Nick Studer, 3rd, 16:58.46; Wade Hopkins, 5th, 17:25.93; Braxton James, 15th, 19:01.33.

Bucyrus (56) was 2nd, led by Carson Pirnstill, 4th, 17:12.17; Devon Sigler, 7th,17:46.28; Dakota Hedrick, 8th, 18:05:69; Noah Johnson, 17th, 19:04.56; Yoshi Caldwell, 20th, 19:21.29.

Galion (57) was 3rd, led by Braxton Tate, 6th, 17:38.76; Lucas Conner, 10th, 18:18.00; Colin McCullough, 12th, 18:50.26; Luke Eisnaugle, 13th, 18:52.81; Spencer Guinther, 16th, 19:04.24.

Wynford (75) was 4th, led by Timothy Chandler, 9th, 18:12.42; Seth Karcher, 11th, 18:26.54; Joshua Rose, 14th, 19:01.09; Noah Smith, 19th,19:16.46; Ty Flohr, 22nd, 19:29.51.

Buckeye Central (149) was 5th, led by Alex Young, 26th, 19:40.21; Justin Dentinger, 34th, 20:40.81; Dylan Case, 37th, 20:57.71; Joseph Shock, 41st, 21:43.17; Steven Long, 49th, 23:11.11.

Girls

Colonel Crawford (24) was 1st, led by Anna Reffey, 1st, 20:11.26; Emily Kemper, 2nd, 20:20.71; Courtney Britt, 3rd, 21:39.32; Katie Hopkins, 8th, 22:45.76; Sydney Studer, 10th, 22:47.21.

Galion (58) was 2nd, led by Sari Conner, 5th, 21:53.63; Theresa House, 7th, 22:19.96; Megan Zeir, 11th, 23:03.29; Ashlie Sallee, 19th, 24:31.10; Lauren Huggins, 21st, 25:34.82.

Bucyrus (61) was 3rd, led by Julia VanVoorhis, 4th, 21:41.81; Mirium Everett, 6th, 22:05.13; Jessica Mahley, 9th, 22:45.76; Taylor Patterson, 23rd, 25:53.80; Taylor Myers, 25th, 26:28.81.

Buckeye Central (87) was 4th, led by Kendra Stahl, 12th, 23:09.59; Katelyn Petty, 15th, 23:53.66; Cierra Schwab, 18th, 24:18.47; Haley Kalb, 24th, 26:01.99; Tamara Metzger, 28th, 27:08.41.