Findlay's Stine returning to state as regional champ

CROSS COUNTRYREGIONAL MEETTIFFIN – Russell Stine headed to last year's state cross country meet as a qualifier.This year he heads down as a regional champion.Stine was a second off of his school record time and Cam Stechschulte ran a career best as the two Findlay High runners, both state qualifiers a year ago, earned a return trip to this weekend's meet at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park with strong showings at Saturday's Division II regional competition at Tiffin's Hedges Boyer Park.Stine, who tied the school record time of 15:18.0 at last week's district meet, ran a time of 15:18.8 in winning the Division II individual title. Stechschulte was 11th overall in a personal best 15:54.0 to earn one of the top eight advancing times for runners not on state-qualifying teams.Lexington (74) edged Bowling Green (76) in the Division II boys team standings. Fremont Ross (66) dominated the girls meet, with second place a heated battle between Lexington (111), Anthony Wayne (113), and Bowling Green (114). Findlay's girls team was 11th (273) in the team standings; the FHS boys (266) were 12th.Corban Johnson (54th, 17:17.8), Dexter Stripe (118th, 18:31.1) and Zachary Barnhart (132nd, 18:48.1) rounded out the FHS boys scoring.Kayla Moyer was 39th (20:12.1), Isla Crim 40th (20:13.5) and Gabby Brankamp 50th (20:29.4) for Findlay's girls, followed by Abanna Dotson (68th, 21:12.6) and Raia Koomen (91st, 22:04.6).DIVISION IIElmwood had a bit of a cushion, Upper Sandusky did not but both were able to qualify their teams for the Division II boys state cross country meet on Saturday.With the top four teams advancing to state, Elmwood locked up one of those spots by placing third with 121 points. Upper Sandusky was fourth (167), just ahead of Archbold (171), Edison (172) and Paulding (173).Three top ten placers led Elmwood and Upper. Elmwood's Henry Good ran a time of 15:48.4 and was second overall. Evan Strausbaugh was eighth (16:20.2) for Elmwood, and Carter Pohlman was seventh (16:19.90 in leading Upper.Trever Shaffer (30th, 17:13.8), Braxton Benner (35th, 17:21.2) and Gavin Reinhart (46th, 17:38.1) helped Elmwood lock down an automatic qualifying bid to the state meet.Henry Minehart (23rd, 17:06.6) and Franklin Arnold (25th, 17:07.3) had top 25 placings for Upper, with Andrew Leightey (41st, 17:33.3) and Joshua Craig (18:34.1) rounding out the Rams scoring.Bluffton's Levi Essinger landed an individual qualifying bid to state by placing 15th with a time of 16:43.6.Cohen Levenhagen (48th, 17:36.8) and Matthew Strete (64th, 17:57.3) led Liberty-Benton, but did not place high enough to land a state qualifying spot.Ottawa-Glandorf bunched its runners well in scoring 108 points and finishing second behind Huron (51) in the Division II girls meet.Lily Nienberg, a freshman, led O-G by placing seventh with a time of 19:23.2. Alivia Schroeder was 17th (20:00.6) for the Titans, Maci Maag was 24th (20:12.9) and Brea Recker 26th (20:17.8). Lianna Fortman (4th, 20:45.6) was O-G's fifth runner placing among the top 35.Upper Sandusky was tenth in the team standings, Upper Sandusky was 11th and Liberty-Benton 18th. None of the three advanced in the team standings, but all three will be represented by some individual qualifiers. Elmwood's Janessa Childress (12th, 19:9.6) and Alayna Beasley (15th, 19:57.9) both qualified for state, along with Upper Sandusky's Jocelyn Leightey (9th, 19:30.8) and Liberty-Benton's Josie Kern (13th, 19:54.9). Upper Sandusky's Madison Miles was 23rd with a time of 20:09.3, but fell just short of landing one of the individual runner spots qualifying for state. DIVISION IVColumbus Grove's Caiden Squillante placed seventh overall (16:22.0), Zach Bryan was 12th (16:37.1) and Aidan Vogt was 17th (16:44.4) in leading the Bulldogs to a fourth place finish in the Division IV team standings.The top eight boys and top nine girls teams automatically qualified for the state meet at Fortress Obetz. Joel Schumacher (88th, 18:04.8) and Nathaniel Jones (92nd, 18:06.7) rounded out Grove's team scoring. Leipsic's Calvin Miller qualified for state among individual runners, placing 21st overall with a time of 16:44.4).Wyatt Foust (43rd, 17:16.4), Micah Bendict (44th, 17:19.3) and Thomas Craig (59th, 17:37.2) led Cory-Rawson's contingent in the Division IV regional. Ian Bloom (39th, 17:01.8) and Hudson Schmidutz (69th, 17:52.7) paced Hopewell-Loudon, and Camden McCartney (54th, 17:23.0) and Garrett Williams (61st, 17:29.8) were North Baltimore's top placers.No area girls teams qualified for state in Division IV, but a number of individuals did.North Baltimore's Ady Reynolds and Maddie Stufft head that list. Reynolds placed tenth and had a state qualifying time of 19:35.5. Stufft was 20th overall in 19:57.0. Bluffton's Xandra Gatchel will also be competing at state after finishing 19th overall (19:55.0).Columbus Grove runners Claire Koch and Paige Lugibill were an example of how mere seconds and one place can affect state qualifiers. Koch ran a time of 20:33.0, placed 30th overall and earned one of the individual runner spots advancing to state. Lugibill finished just behind her in 20:36.6, but missed qualifying for state by one spot.Carey placed 14th and Riverdale 15th in the Division IV teams standings. Elysa Holsinger (36th, 20:39.4), Scarlett Sizemore (54th, 21:12.4) and Ellianna Arnold (75th, 21:51.6) were Carey's top placers in the regional meet. Paige Vent (35th, 20:38.3), Annalese Woodruff (69th, 21:42.9) and Gwen Bucher (21:53.4) led Riverdale.Grove's Alexa Kamphaus placed 43rd (20:55.6) in the overall standings, Bluffton's Tessa Tarplee was 66th (21:39.6) and Van Buren's Lydia Kramer was 70th (21:22.6).