The Ansonia boys cross country team won their third straight league title at the WOAC championship on Saturday October 12th.
Ansonia won with (50) points, second Dixie (63), third Tri-Village (68), fourth Arcanum (79), fifth Newton (87), sixth Preble Shawnee (149) and seventh Franklin Monroe (165).
Ansonia coach Jason Wright was named WOAC Boys Cross Country “Coach of the Year” and he shared with me that the foundation to their successful 3-year run started years ago.
“We’ve enjoyed a lot of success this year, but I would like to rewind. This all started with guys like Matthew Lee and Ethan Sparks who laid the foundation. It’s been a torch handed down over the last couple of years, work that’s been done in years past going forward. It’s really exciting to see that next group of guys and girls who are ready step up and take that leadership role to keep it going,” Wright stated.
The WOAC meet was hosted by Dixie High School and the home team along with Tri-Village and Arcanum challenged the Tigers who had to employ strategic tactical running to reel in their third straight championship.
Assistant coach Allen Newbauer talked about the strategy employed to help win the race.
“Today was a little bit of personal sacrifice on one of our leaders (Bennett Lehman). We tasked our best runner of making sure our three, four and five guys got off to good starts in the race. He stayed back to push them to be where they needed to be before he moved up later in the race. That sacrifice helped our guys come in a little faster and although it affected his time, it was more about how the team finished,” Newbauer explained.
While Bennett sacrificed some time he still won the race for the 2nd year in a row with a time of 16:08.1 and was named the WOAC “Runner of the Year”.
The top 10 runners earned first team all-league.
WOAC First Team All-Conference
Bennett Lehman Ansonia
Owen Marker Ansonia
Collin Day Dixie
Tucker Denlinger National Trail
James McNew Dixie
Coleman Trantham Tri-Village
Samuel DeHart Twin Valley South
Carter Trantham Tri-Village
Leland Neumaier Arcanum
Evan Jackle Dixie
WOAC Special Mention All-Conference
Luken Longenecker Ansonia
Malachi Wright Arcanum
Eli Hoffman Bradford
Josh Hurd Dixie
Charlie Stull Franklin Monroe
Bryce Couvutsakis National Trail
Tanner Long Newton
Elijah McKeeth Mississinawa Valley
Evan Shields Preble Shawnee
Oliver Kutter Tri-Village
Hunter Todd Twin Valley South
Here is a link to boys cross country league results: https://finishtiming.trackscoreboard.com/meets/647740/events/2554
OHSAA Boys Cross Country District Meet
It would be a great day for the WOAC at the OHSAA D4 District Boys Cross Country Meet. Four boys teams Ansonia, Dixie, Newton and Tri-Village advanced out of district and will run at the OHSAA D4 Regional meet on Saturday October 24th at Troy High School.
Ansonia’s Bennett Lehman won the district race with a time of 15:55.00. The Tigers would have to run without Owen Marker who was 2nd at the league meat out with an injury but Ansonia would hang on to advance to regionals.
Collin Day was the 2nd highest individual runner from the WOAC in 6th place with a time of 16:39.30 and James McNew was 15th for the Greyhounds with a time of 17:13.40
Tri-Village Coleman Trantham was the highest place for the Patriots in 12th place with a time of 17:07.70 and teammate Carter Trantham was 21st with a time of 17:19.10.
Newton’s Nick Staub was the highest placer for the Indians in 48th place a time of 17:58.70 and teammate Tanner Long wasn’t too much further behind at 18:04.50.
Twin Valley South didn’t advance as a team, but Samuel DeHart was 20th overall with a time of 17:18.60.
National Trail’s highest placement came from Tucker Denlinger in 22nd place with a time of 17:19.60
Franklin Monroe’s Charlie Stull was the highest placer for the Jets at 58 with a time of 18:15.50 and qualified as an individual to run at regionals.
Bradford’s Eli Hoffman was 74th in a time of 18:43.00 and Mississinawa Elijah McKeeth was 90th in a time of 19:18.00.
Good luck to individual runners and teams competing at the Regional Meet.
