Dykema, Simmons, Eastwood girls race at state meet

In the Division II regional meet, the Eastwood girls cross country team finished second to qualify for the state meet, held at Fortress Obetz south of Columbus on November 6.

The top three teams, Lexington (76), Eastwood (93) and Shelby (119) advanced to the state meet, to be held at Fortress Obetz and Memoral Park south of Columbus on November 6.

Eastwood freshman Leah Emch (19:50.8) was the Eagles’ top finisher, placing eighth out of 98 runners. Lexington junior Emma Wise won the individual championship in 19:21.1.

Eastwood sophomore Avery Bowman (20:08.4) finished 14th, sophomore Haley Sponaugle (20:17.2) was 16th, junior Talie Baum (21:19.1) was 35th, sophomore Zoe Ramsey (22:18.2) was 46th, sophomore Cameron Sechkar (22:24.8) was 50th and senior Maisy Stevenson (23:14.1) was 64th.

St. Francis junior Logan Dykema, an Oregon resident, was part of the Knights’ team that finished as Division I regional runners-up, scoring 50 points to Anthony Wayne’s 49 as both teams qualified for state.

Out of 58 runners, Dykema finished 12th in 17:17.7 as his teammates, junior Rylan Winkler and sophomore Ethan Cope finished first and second in 16:18.6 and 16:30.4. They were joined at the state meet by seniors Connor Bacome, Dylan Gomez, and Duncan Borland and freshman Jameson Heck.

In Division III, Gibsonburg junior Emelia Simmons qualified for state as an individual, finishing in 16th place out of 181 runners with a time of 20:07.3.

Woodmore finished eighth out of 22 teams scoring points, just one spot out of qualifying for state as a team. Top Woodmore runners were junior Olivia Vogelpohl (20:56.8) and sophomore Emma Hammer (21:18).