Newark fights conditions, competition to qualify for regional

PATASKALA - Saturday's conditions were not conducive to personal bests.

Instead, area runners just attempted to trudge through the mud during the district meet at Watkins Memorial, and the best news for many is they have another opportunity next week.

"I was just trying to get through it. I was slipping in the mud," said Newark's Owen Keith, who placed fifth (15:55.09) in the Division I, Section 2 race to lead the Wildcats to a fourth-place finish and earn qualification for next week's regional meet at Pickerington North.

"The first guy was off. The second guy I was hanging with him until the (2.5-mile mark), somewhere in the woods."

Watkins Memorial will join the Wildcats in the Division I meet after finishing fourth in the Section 1 race. Heath and Granville each won district titles in Division II, and Newark Catholic raced to a runner-up finish in the Division III, Section 1 race.

Heavy rains Thursday and Friday left a slow track through the wooded areas, and a brisk wind dropped temperatures more than 20 degrees from the league meets held a week ago. The Wildcats were not able to keep their momentum from winning the program's first league title, but they did survive and advance.

Jacob Todd (seventh, 16:05.49) followed Keith, and other scorers were Bruce Davisson (33rd, 17:06.21), Jack Sites (39th, 17:14.70), who had the race of the day for the Wildcats, and Monte Street (40th, 17:15.06).

"You just have to stay loose when you run. You can't be all tense," Keith said. "That's what I tell (Davisson) sometimes: 'Just relax and run.'"

Heath repeated as district champions in the Division II, Section 2 race, but the Bulldogs received a bit of a challenge from Eastmoor Academy. After Taylor Hopkins ran away with the individual title (15:51.88), the Bulldogs prevailed with their pack, scoring 38 points to Eastmoor's 59.

Chandler Wilhelm worked his way up to fourth (16:32.74) and just ahead of Eastmoor's pack. The following Bulldogs were Nick Lee (eighth, 16:48.37); Caleb Large (12th, 17:22.44) and Wyatt McQueen (13th, 17:27.76), who has been a key addition as a first-year runner.

"We knew that it was going to be a dogfight between us and Eastmoor," Wilhelm said. "We just had to run our best and get them."

Heath is one of the top contenders for a regional title next week. The Bulldogs are hoping their impressive season builds to an improvement from their 13th-place state finish from 2015.

"I'm really excited. I want to go back and do better than we did last year," Wilhelm said. "We knew what we had to do in practice and that we couldn't back off too soon. When you go to those big meets, your nerves are crazy, but we know how to control the nerves this year."

Lakewood's David Drushal placed third (16:24.68) to qualify.

"Just trying to fight the stiffness was the real race," Drushal said. "When it gets to regionals, you are not expecting three or four guys to run up with (Hopkins). It's just surprising to try to stay up with them because you are going into it blind unless you scout around which is tough to do."

Jonny Lukins placed third (16:46.71) to lead Granville to the team title in the Division II, Section 1 race. The Blue Aces' 45 points edged Buckeye Valley's 48. Jack Saigh (eighth, 17:08.56); Thomas Patton (ninth, 17:09.69); Ethan Cheney (12th, 17:21.90) and Jack Burczak (13th, 17:28.47) followed Lukins.

Licking Valley's Ramen Felumlee placed seventh (17:07.70) to qualify.

Watkins' Daniel White placed third (15:49.56) to lead the Warriors in the Division I, Section 1 race. Following were Brad Day (12th, 16:31.49); Bryce Small (20th, 16:44.87); Jacob Gero (23rd, 16:51.37) and Gerick Brewer (31st, 17:10.97).

Mount Gilead was dominant in winning the Division III, Section 1 race, but Newark Catholic tucked in behind the Indians to grab second place. Caleb Bemiller (sixth, 17:27.95) and Ben Bemis (seventh, 17:39.33) led the way.

"I felt like our whole team was super confident going into today," Bemiller said. "This is our third time just this year running this course, so I felt like we were really prepared and knew where to take advantage of the no wind."

Other NC scorers were Anthony Ghiloni (14th, 18:05.50); Vincent O'Neill (24th, 18:37.07) and Jody Mummey (25th, 18:38.54).

ksnyder@newarkadvocate.com

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Twitter: @newarkurt