Drew Laudick of Van Wert runs at the Columbus Grove Invitational on Saturday.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
COLUMBUS GROVE – It’s early in the season, but that did not prevent many of the area cross country runners from recording fast times at Saturday’s 45th annual Columbus Grove Invitational.
At Saturday’s Columbus Grove Invitational, the Ottawa-Glandorf girls squad posted several fast times, en route to winning the Red Division (larger schools).
Anna Buddelmeyer was not only the fastest runner on the O-G girls team, but she was also the quickest in the entire field of the girls Red Division as she won the race in a personal best time of 18 minutes, 23.8 seconds on the 5,000-meter course that traversed around the school’s athletic fields.
O-G edged out Toledo St. Ursula Academy for the team title, 87-96. Napoleon (123), Archbold (168) and Troy (184) rounded out the top five teams in a field of 22.
Buddelmeyer, who placed sixth at last year’s Division II state cross country meet in 18:41.4, pulled away from Napoleon’s Gwen Huddle late in Saturday’s race to record the win. Huddle crossed the finish line in 18:31.4.
“I was not expecting this at all. … I definitely was not expecting to PR by this much, this early, because I felt like I skipped out on a lot of my summer training (due to an injury),” Buddelmeyer said. “I missed out on so much of that (summer training), so it feels good to get this time.”
Rounding out the top five runners in the girls Red Division were Wauseon’s Ella Rhoades (19:24.2), Bath’s Penny Francis (19:25) and Liberty-Benton’s Madi Gaerke (19:26.7). There were 232 finishers in that race.
O-G’s other four scorers on Saturday included Brea Recker (14th, 20:35.5), Liana Fortman (17th, 20:44.5), Izzy Utendorf (23rd, 20:52.9) and Carly Siefker (32nd, 21:18.5).
“We took a little bit of a lighter week, this week,” O-G coach James Rader said. “We knew the course was a little bit faster. So, I think they’re all very happy with how today went. I thought we looked really speedy up front with Anna. And some of those girls like (our No.) 2,3,4 and 5 runners were pushing, and they’re competing against each other as well with everybody else. As a coach, it’s truly nice to see they’re not content on where they’re at.”
On the boys’ side, O-G’s Ty Rosengarten pulled away down the stretch to notch the victory in a new school-record time of 15:44.1. Van Wert’s Owen
Scott was running with Rosengarten until late in the race. Scott finished in 15:46.9.
At last year’s Division II state cross country meet, Scott placed fifth (15:42.8), while Rosengarten came in ninth (15:54.1).
“Once we got in the woods for the last time, I’d say that’s when we (him and Scott) started to pull away,” Rosengarten said. “I looked behind me and saw that it was just me and Owen. So, I figured, it would be like most of the other races that we’ve had against each other.
“I felt smooth going out. We came through like 5-flat at the mile. Then we came to the 2-mile at like 10:15. So, I knew the last mile was going to be fast. But I knew, timewise, we weren’t going to be way down there, but we were set up pretty good.”
As a team, the Van Wert boys finished second to Toledo St. Francis, while O-G placed 11th. Van Wert registered 98 points, compared to St. Francis’ 45 points. Findlay (125), Liberty-Benton (199) and Troy (203) rounded out the top five teams in a field of 25.
For Van Wert, the rest of the scorers behind Scott included Andrew Laudick (10th, 16:24.4), Johan Gemmer (26th, 17:02.7), Harrison Sloan (29th, 17:11.3) and Quintin Parrish (31st, 17:15.2). There were 172 finishers in the race.
Columbus Grove boys notch second place
Every year at the Columbus Grove Invitational, the Columbus Grove cross country program strives to defend its home course.
At Saturday’s 45th annual Columbus Grove Invitational, the Columbus Grove boys team ran well, but ran into a buzzsaw in West Liberty-Salem in the Gray Division (small schools).
West Liberty-Salem placed five runners in the top 15 spots, en route to the boys’ team title in the Gray Division. West Liberty-Salem recorded 26 points, compared to Columbus Grove’s 92 points. Botkins (104), Minster (106) and Crestview (137) rounded out the top five teams in a field of 18 full squads.
Levi Bryan was the first finisher for Columbus Grove, placing eighth in a personal best of 16:31.6.
The remaining scorers for Columbus Grove were Caiden Squillante (11th, 16:43.2), Bryce Bonifas (21st, 17:21.7), Aidan Vogt (25th, 17:28.8) and Braylon Best (27th, 17:30.3).
“I think I went out a little slow in the first mile,” Bryan said. “Then, I tried to pick it up a lot on the last two miles. That was pretty much my race, right there.
“I just tried to pace myself. But usually, if I go too fast in my first mile, I really can’t give it enough in the second and third.”
Longtime Columbus Grove boys coach Terry Schnipke was pleased with how his team performed on Saturday.
“As a coach, you do all this work, and you think you got your guys prepared. I was telling them, ‘Let’s try to win and defend our course’. … And geez, West Liberty-Salem goes 1,2,3. So, there goes that,” he said with a grin.
“Overall, they ran well. We had a difficult training week. We did some leg work and some other things. So, they were kind of beat, obviously with the heat.
“I had a guy (Bryan) that made the record board today. He PR’d and we had two other guys PR. Levi (Bryan) was 16th. To make our record board you have to be a 16:33. I think he was 16:31 today. So, that’s impressive. He’s done great. Him (Bryan) and Bryce (Bonifas) have been great leaders this year, as far as our seniors go. A couple of the other guys had good performances today. Overall, I’m pleased.”
In the girls Gray Division, Minster slipped past West Liberty-Salem for the title, 51-71. Lincolnview (100), Patrick Henry (125) and Botkins (129) rounded out the top five teams in a field of 16 full squads.
Columbus Grove finished seventh in the girls Gray Division.
Miller City’s Andrea Pfau won the Gray Division race with a time of 19:09, while West Liberty-Salem’s Malia Miller finished a distant second (19:25.3). Lincolnview’s Brynleigh Moody (19:30.6), Minster’s Maria Niekamp (19:36.3) and Patrick Henry’s Mia Amador (19:44.3) rounded out the top five placers.
“I was hoping to break 19 (minutes) today, but I was pretty close,” Pfau said with a grin. “I heard people say that she (Miller) was closing. So, I started to take off as soon as I got to the track.”
*Complete results from the Columbus Grove Invitational can be found on Finishtiming.com.
