OBETZ, Ohio – The West Liberty-Salem boys cross country team finished sixth at the Division II state meet on Saturday.
It marks the best finish for the WL-S boys since a fifth-place showing in 1988. It was the program’s 20th state appearance and the fourth consecutive overall.
Marlington was first with 77 points, Peninsula Woodridge was second with 153, Unioto was third with 171, Mariemont was fourth with 185, Bishop Watterson was fifth with 216 and WL-S was sixth with 220.
For the Tigers, Dylan Lauck was 16th in 16:06.1 (fourth straight year being an All-Ohioan), Tate Yoder was 37th in 16:35.6, Owen Harrison was 63rd in 16:47.0, Troy Bradley was 104th in 17:16.0, Asher Knox was 110th in 17:18.8, Micah Smith was 148th in 17:52.5 and Ayden Estep was 150th in 17:54.4
“What an outstanding finish to an already historic season for the Big Orange,” said WL-S Coach Mike Louden. “Completing the best season in 33 years is a phenomenal way to cap off the year and I couldn’t be any more proud of everyone in this entire program. I thought our guys did a great job getting out controlled and not getting caught up in the first-mile rush that normally happens at the state meet.”
In Division III, the Mechanicsburg boys placed 19th out of 20 teams.
For the Indians, Matthew Westfall was 89th in 17:19.2, Will Negley was 90th in 17:20.1, Joshua Porter was 130th in 17:54.9, Luke Bryant was 133rd in 17:57.1, Garrett Durham was 165th in 18:55.8, Sean Shultz was 176th in 19:46.5 and Tyler Hennigan was 180th in 19:57.3.
Mechanicsburg was making its first appearance ever at the state meet.
JH cross country
Three members of the WL-S program competed in the national meet in Louisville, Kentucky. The race was a 4K.
Brevin Louden was 35th in 14:23.3 and was the third scoring runner for Team Ohio. Taryn Bradley was 96th in 15:32.7 and was the 7th team member for Team Ohio and Caleb Larson was 100th in 15:34.1.
