SPENCERVILLE – St. Marys cross country coach Rob Cisco had a vision when he took over the program 13 years ago.
Last season, the St. Marys girls cross country team finished third at the Western Buckeye League Championships, while the boys squad came in ninth.
This fall, Cisco is hoping for an even better finish for both teams.
On Saturday, the St. Marys girls team placed its top five runners in the top 22 overall spots, en route to a solid second-place finish at the Spencerville Bearcat Invitational. Bellefontaine won the girls Black Division (large school division), scoring 53 points. St. Marys was runner-up with 60 points. Bath (69) and Shawnee (70) rounded out the top four teams. There were eight teams that scored in the Black Division.
Morgan Henschen led St. Marys with a third-place finish in a time of 20 minutes, 56.3 seconds on the 5,000-meter course. Bellefontaine’s Brooke McClellan led from start to finish, winning in 20:33.7. Shawnee’s Lexie Marshall came in second (20:46.3).
Joining Henschen in the top five for St. Marys were Lauren Cisco (10th, 21:45), Laura Wilker (11th, 21:54.8), Brianna Cisco (17th, 22:28.2) and Kalie Gayer (23:51.6).
“Our girls have worked really, really hard,” Cisco said. “They’re a really good group. They’re a really tight-knit group. They really get along together. I can’t say enough about the quality of kids that we have. It shows on the cross-country course, because that’s what it’s all about.”
Despite losing a few scorers from last year’s girls squad, Cisco has managed to develop a solid pack of runners this season. St. Marys’ most notable loss was Kelly Wilker, last year’s WBL champion, who is now competing at the University of Dayton.
“We lost three girls from last year’s team,” Cisco said. “Brianna Cisco (fourth St. Marys runner) has come in and filled that gap. She’s a freshman. She put in a lot of miles this summer. She’s got the bug to be good, and it’s been fun watching her. If it wasn’t for her, there would be a big fall off.”
In the Black Division boys race, St. Marys notched a second-place finish, falling just eight points shy of first-place Benjamin Logan, 68-76. Bellefontaine finished third (81), while Elida came in fourth (119). There were 10 squads figured into the team scoring.
Paulding’s Bailey Manz won the race in 17:38.9. St. Marys’ Noah Tobin finished second (17:51.7), while Bath’s Vincent Abrams came in a very close third (17:54.2).
St. Marys placed its top five runners in the top 22 overall spots. Joining Tobin were Jack Cisco (14th, 18:41), Jadin Davis (17th, 18:51.8), Jordan Heitkamp (21st, 19:00.2) and Michael Jaros (22nd, 19:00.9).
“We’re led by a senior (Michael Jaros), and he’s the voice of our team,” Cisco said. “He (Jaros) was on our team in eighth grade; he was the only boy on the (middle school) team. We’re a really young team this year.”
In the boys Red Division (small school division), Houston garnered the team title, defeating second-place Botkins, 43-109. St. Henry finished third (110), while Parkway was a close fourth (119) out of 12 teams.
Parkway’s Matt Gaerke won the race in 17:03.8. Botkins’ Austin Fullenkamp (second, 17:12.3) and Tristin Freistuhler (third, 17:13.9) were not far behind Gaerke.
In the girls Red Division, Bradford’s Karmen Knepp pulled away from Lima Central Catholic senior Emily Sreenan for the win, Knepp’s winning time was 19:18.4, while Sreenan finished in 19:44.1. Sreenan was last year’s Division III state champion.
St. Henry took home the team title in the girls Red Division, defeating second-place Covington 38-69. Botkins finished third (71), while New Bremen came in fourth (84) in an 11-team field.
“I’m really happy. We needed a win,” St. Henry coach Angie Wendel said. “We’ve been hanging around third place (at this year’s invites) for a while. So, I think the girls had a really great race. Some of our injured girls are feeling better now.”
