It’s the same three leading the ‘Cats, with added depth

Woodmore girls took the top three places at the Northern Buckeye Conference cross country meet to breeze their way to a Northern Buckeye Conference championship.
        Woodmore senior Ava Beam won an individual title in 19:55.44, sophomore Oliva Vogelpohl was runner-up in 20:11.35 and senior Olivia Thatcher was third in 20:42.37.
        Beam has been closing in on a school-record time, but has not quite gotten there yet. Beam’s best time has been 18:59.09.
        “Ava definitely has the girls record in her sight. Last year she was only about 12 seconds away, so she’s hoping with some good competition and some faster courses,” said Woodmore first-year coach Lacy Seamans.
        “The past few weeks we’ve seen some tough hilly courses, so it really hasn’t been in their favor, so hopefully when we get down to regional competition it will bring it out, or even at the state meet, we haven’t seen that course yet. That might be a good one.”
         Mostly because of Beam, Vogelpohl and Thatcher, the Wildcats are ranked ninth in the statewide Division III coaches poll.
        “They’ve been as high as fifth in the coaches’ poll, which is really exciting to get that recognition from other coaches around the state. But, we definitely don’t put a ton of stock into that type of thing. We just really want to keep working,” said Seamans.
        “They dropped a little bit these past weeks because we’ve been resting some girls. Definitely, we want to be the underdog sneaking in there. Our region is really tough with Minster and Liberty Center both ranked really high in the state right now. We’ve got to get them through them first. We are definitely top 10 for sure and top five if we can at the state meet.”
        Last year, Beam was the Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press Runner of the Year because she placed the highest at the regional and state meet. Beam had the team’s best time at state, finishing 46th in 19:57 in the Division III girls meet. Thatcher placed 49th (20:05.9) followed by Vogelpohl (63rd, 20:20.5).
        However, at last year’s NBC meet, the same three Woodmore girls also took the top three spots, although Genoa won the meet because of its depth. After that meet, the Wildcats had the backup support to make sure they won the title and that continued into the tournaments.
        “The very next week our normal No. 6 runner stepped up and took a minute off of her time after sitting out the early part of the season, so that really turned them around before regionals and it helped to get to the state meet,” Seamans said. “So, this year we have a little more depth, so hopefully we’ve got the girls to back them up this year,”
        This year, it’s a team with even more depth, says Seamans, who took over the head coaching job for Mike Moreno.
        “Our top seven from last year all returned and then we actually added four more freshmen into that pack. It’s been a really strong team,” Seamans said. “The three girls up front are about where they were last year. Our third girl had some injury issues early in the season so we’re still working through that. Now, we have a nice supporting pack back there, too.”
        At the NBC meet, Woodmore freshman Madi Hammer (22:18.64) was ninth, freshman Emma Hammer (22:32.31) was 11th, freshman Kylie Cordie (23:15.95) was 25th, junior Kristen Davis (23:41.71) finished in 29th, freshman Molly McCarthy (25:16.57) was 38th and sophomore Angela Dickerson (26:16.22) was 40th.
        Woodmore scored 24 points to defeat second place Eastwood (31). Genoa (81) was third, Elmwood (109) fourth and Lake (125) fifth.
        For the season, the Woodmore girls have never finished lower than third place and ended the regular season with 59 wins and only four losses.
        Beam has seven individual wins while Vogelpohl has finished second to her in five of those races. At the two NBC jamborees, they finished dead even but Seamans said race officials gave the title to Beam each time.
        For Eastwood, three freshmen filled in the fourth through sixth place spots. Haley Sponaugle (21:00.38) was fourth, Zoe Ramsey (22:09.18) was fifth and Cameron Sechkar (22:13.32) sixth. Eastwood junior Anna Brown (22:25.34).
        Lake junior Izzy Greene (22:32.93) was 12th, Genoa senior Sara Partin was 14th, Genoa junior Jordyn Bronowski (22:52.57) finished in 15th and Genoa junior Sophie Richards (22:56.38) was 16th.
        Eastwood senior Cordelia Howard (23:05.46) was 18th, Eastwood junior Maisy Stevenson (23:07.4) 19th, Genoa freshman Josie Lesniewicz (23:11.38) was 21st, Genoa sophomore Katelyn Bachmayer (23:13.48) was 22nd, Genoa junior Teagan Szych (23:14.08) was 23rd, Genoa freshman Ellie Huss (23:37.21) was 28th and Eastwood sophomore Elle Ruffner (23:46.5) was 30th.
 
Pandemic changed everything
        For the Wildcats, training started earlier than usual, and has been a bit extraordinary because of the coronavirus pandemic.
        “We started on our training pretty much in May when they officially canceled track season. Some of the kids took their down weeks and we just started hitting it. We made a promise that we could keep track of everybody before we were allowed to meet in person again. They have been putting in the miles,” Seaman said.
        “Ava remarked that she had her longest run ever this summer before season started. We did a lot of things in minutes versus miles and trying to get those underclassmen ready for the jump up from two miles to three miles. It was definitely more workouts this summer than they’ve seen before.”
        Plus, it has affected the way meets are held, often split into different sessions with smaller numbers participating at any given time.
        “It’s just been kind of different with the smaller meets and it will be just a little bit of a shock going into the postseason without having those big meet experiences. But, I really think the older girls can help the younger girls know what is coming and what to expect since they’ve seen it the last few years,” Seamans said.
        “Hopefully, just looking at the courses, one good thing about this virtual learning stuff is no kids have courses on Mondays so we were able to travel a little bit, find some hills if we need to. Castalia quarry is a favorite — nice, crushed trails there with some hills.”
 
WOODMORE SEASON BY COACH LACY SEAMANS
 
A few highlights are that our girls have not finished lower than third and finish the regular season with 55 wins and only 4 losses. Ava Beam has 6 individual wins while Olivia Vogelpohl has finished 2nd to her 5 of those races (at the two jamborees they finished dead even and they gave it to Ava each time) 
 
Seneca East 
Wow! What a great first showing for the teams. Ava and CJ made it a Woodmore sweep of the individual titles and the girls hoisted the first place trophy for what I'm guessing is the first time of many this season! Vogie(2), Olivia T(6), Jordan(20), Emma(22) and Madi(24) also went home with some hardware. Kylie filled out the 7 spot and completed the challenge I set out for the team of top 7 finishing top 30 by placing 27th. Everyone ran faster than our intrasquad meet at Walsh Park and we had 5 all time PR's (yes, 4 of those were the freshmen girls). Marty was the biggest improver on the boys side from Walsh park running 4 mins faster and Angela ran almost 3 minutes faster on the girls side.  Kristen ran over a minute faster than she did at this meet last year and Vogie and CJ each improved by over 40 seconds even with the sloppy conditions.
 
Columbus Grove
Another awesome showing by the Wildcats on Saturday! CJ is now the co-owner of the school record until we get confirmation on Montana's official time (or he beats it again)! The girls walked away with the second place trophy and while they may have wanted more, they still beat several D2 and D3 state ranked teams (when you merge all division results only Minster and Perrysburg(D1) would have beaten them on the day). Besides CJ, we had 5 other all time PRs (Emma, Madi, Kylie, Molly and Marty) while Vogie tied her PR. Every person ran a season best with 8 athletes (Liv T, Jordan, Emma, Kristen, Molly, Julia, Marty and Mason) running over a minute faster than Seneca East! Ricky ran over 1 minute faster than this race last year in his first official race of the year and was only a few seconds off his PR. CJ(3), Ava(3) and Vogie(4) went home with trophies for finishing in the top 10, Liv got a plaque for 15th place and Jordan left with a ribbon for 27th.
 
NBC jamboree 1
It was another successful meet as the kids worked on new racing and pacing strategies. The girls took home first place led by another dead even tie by Ava and Vogie. CJ took the win in the boys race as the boys team finished 6th. Madi and Molly ran to new PRs while Angela finished in a season best time!
 
Tiffin Columbian Carnival 
The meet didn't feel like the normal Carnival but we still got some great performances on the course that is our gateway to state! The girls once again took first place but the trophy (along with individual awards) will be delivered later. Ava and CJ ran away from their respective fields to take top honors while Vogie(2), Liv T(7) and Jordan(8) also finished in the top 10! The girls top 6 all finished in pairs with Madi and Emma taking 23rd and 24th. Jordan was our only season best of the day but we had many close calls on a hillier course than we have faced the last 3 races. Ava (:11), Jordan (1:41), CJ (:43) and Marty (:40) ran faster than this meet last year. If they would have combined all three divisions on the day,  Ava, CJ and the girl's team would have still taken 1st place!
 
Lakota invite
NEW SCHOOL RECORD! 
CJ came through the first 2 splits faster than his official track PRs (he’s gone faster in practice) and didn’t slow down as a late challenger helped push him across the line a whopping 13 seconds under the previous record he shared with Montana. This was also a new course record but the large division winner ran the same time so he will have to share that record for the next year. 
The girls put up a good fight but Liberty Center stacked all of their scorers in the top 10 so the Wildcats went home with second place and a new standard to chase. Ava (3rd), Vogie (4th) and Liv T (11th) took home medals. The girls team is ahead of where we were last year with 6 runners faster than our number 4 last year this race and 9(!) girls faster than our 5th last year. 
 
New PRs(improvement):
Madi 22:16 (:18)
Angela 23:50 (:01) 
CJ 16:08 (:13)
 
New season bests:
Ava 18:59 (:09)
Liv T 20:12 (:13)
Kristen 23:41 (1:03)
Angela (1:44)
Julia 29:08 (:19)
Mason 26:00 (1:11)
 
Liberty Center Invite
More hardware for the Wildcats!
Hot, humid conditions on a tough course had PR's in short supply on Saturday but the kids still made sure to COMPETE and get stronger over the hills and through a few creeks. Ava, CJ and the girls team took top honors after they combined the two DIII races. The girls top 5 all took home medals with Vogie 3rd, Liv T 13th, Madi 22nd and Jordan 23rd in the combined results. Our only season best of the day was Josh, taking 4 seconds off his time. This was a new course from last year but compared to that meet Ava(:11), Angela(:20), CJ(:58) and Josh(:35) ran faster. I really loved that we have seen a different order each of the last few weeks with our 4-9 runners on the girls side with packs and pairs forming throughout the races!
 
NBC jamboree 2
At the jamboree on Tuesday we didn't have any season bests but the kids competed well! The girls won with a smaller squad and Ava(1t), Vogie(1t), Madi(6), Emma(9), Kylie(18), CJ(1), and Josh(14) finished in the top 21!
 
Old Fort invite
More wins on a very chilly morning. CJ took the boys win by 50 seconds while the team finished 4th. The girls took one of their most impressive wins of the season, prevailing by 2 points while missing 2 of their normal top 5 runners. Ava took the win, Vogie was second, Emma finished 10th, Madi was 16th and Kristen rounded out our medalists taking 24th! Both CJ and Ava had the fastest times on the day. Emma ran to a new PR by 11 seconds and Ricky tied his season best. Compared to last year these athletes ran faster: Ava(:14), Vogie(:01), Kristen(1:56), CJ(:30), Ricky(1:42) and Mason (:22).
 
Fostoria Invite
Great tune-up before tournament season starts! The teams got another look at the NBC course for next weekend on a windy day. The girls team rested a few runners and still finished in third and the boys took 5th competing against mostly DII schools. Josh had another 1 second season best. CJ(2), Josh(15), Liv T(5), Madi(15) and Emma(16) recorded top 20 finishes. Kristen ran 1:05 faster than this race last year and CJ went :24 faster and  Marty was 1:28 better.