CELINA – The Ansonia Cross Country team kicked off its 2025 season with a fantastic showing at the Celina Rotary Invitational, held at the Wright State University Lake Campus. Over 20 schools took to the shores of Grand Lake to compete in various divisional races. At the end of the day, the Tigers brought home the top prize.
High School Boys: The high school boys’ race kicked off the day’s events with 85 runners battling it out. Bennett Lehman cruised to a 1st place overall finish in a time of 15:51.3, setting a new course record [previously held by Bennett from last year]. Owen Marker, a senior for Ansonia, crossed the tape in 2nd place with a time of 17:08.4. Wyatt Unrast came in 6th place [18:19.8] with Luken Longenecker close behind in 7th place [18:22.5]. Freshman Max Lentz finished in a time of 20:47.8, and Gavin Stachler [22:34] and Brady Wright [24:18.2] sealed the first-place champion team effort for the men’s team.
“The guys came into the meet knowing and wanting to compete well, and they did,” said Ansonia assistant cross country coach Allen Newbauer. “Individually, each ran about as well as they could have coming off a big week of training. It was nice to go 1-2 with Bennett Lehman and Owen Marker. Wyatt Unrast and Luken Longenecker finishing in the top seven really locked our team in for the win. Freshman Max Lentz, who has been really coming on strong, showed why he is going to be very strong in the near future. Gavin and Brady ran decently and both will be making major improvements as the season goes along.”
High School Girls: Next up was the women’s race, with 72 runners competing for the top spot. Freshman Anna Yeomans led the Lady Tigers with a first-place overall finish in a blistering time of 20:52.6. Senior, Olivia Creager, also posted a medal-winning performance with a 12th-place finish overall and a time of 23:07.9. Alexa Kreiner [24:23.8] and Addison Gelhaus [24:49.4] had big races today as well, with 19th and 23rd places, respectively.
“We knew the girls were ready to open the season well, and they did just that,” said Coach Newbauer. “Anna Yeomens had a plan to stay near the front and make a move over the final mile. However, she got nervous and pushed the race open early and held on for the win. Olivia Creager, who wanted to be in the top 15, ran very smart to grab 12th and start the season in a very good spot. Addison Gelhaus 23rd, and Alexa Kreiner 19th ran very smart races and finished well, picking runners off over the final 800 meters.”
Junior High Boys: The junior high boys’ race was on full display with 140 runners primed and ready to battle it out in this ‘war on the shore’. The Tigers’ Jacob Lehman [13:37.6] finished in 43rd place, while Nolan Seger [14:50.6] and Cooper Pierce [16:04.4] ground out some stout performances.
Junior High Girls: The final race of the day would be the junior high girls’ race, featuring 150 runners. Zoie Partin led the Lady Tigers, crossing the finish line in a time of 16:05.8. Layla Fullerton [19:00.3], Julia Jenkins [19:56.1], and Addilynn King [21:42.9] all had strong races as the girls made their cross-country debut.
“Our junior high program had a terrific start to their season today,” said Ansonia head cross country coach Jason Wright. “Most of our runners are brand new to this sport, so today was a great environment to learn a lot about what it takes to be competitive on the course.”
“Understanding how to run with control, learning when to push, and simply developing racing tactics to work up through the pack are all elements that our young runners will gain more experience with throughout the course of this season,” Wright added. “There is a lot of potential for this group, and I’m excited to see their growth this season.”
Ansonia will be back on the course next Wednesday as they compete at the Skyhawk Invitational in Fairborn. Races start at 5 pm.
