“It’s 10 times better than it was last year,” Grossman said of his team’s ability. “And we can all drop times still. We’re having killer workouts right now.”
Carroll won the 25-team Division I race Saturday at the Cedarville University Friendship Invitational with 56 points. Springboro was a distant second with 115. Grossman led the Patriots with a third-place finish at 16:29.3 on a hot day that wasn’t conducive to running personal records. Freshman Kevin Agnew was fifth, sophomore Grant Arnold sixth, senior Jason Dong 12th and senior Sam Janson 30th.
Grossman said the five usually run within about 30 seconds of each other. Saturday’s gap was 56 seconds.
“I think we can get top 4 again this year at state,” Grossman said. “We don’t have a lot of depth, but our top five are really good.”
Carroll coach John Agnew said getting to state will be more difficult this year because the competition is stronger, but he said his team can compete in Division I.
“They’re just a group of guys who are dedicated to this and they do the right things year-round,” Agnew said. “And it just starts paying off. None of them really came in as a superstar. They’ve just developed over the past few years.”
Other area teams and individuals also excelled at the large meet that has grown because it is also the site of the district races in all three divisions. The day included college races, four high school races, two middle school races, over 3,300 runners in all and a sea of colorful team canopies.
Springboro won the 22-team girls Division I race led by winner Lindsey Coffin (18:10.4) and five runners in the top 12 for only 29 points. Oakwood’s Elizabeth Vaughn was second and Springboro’s Zoe Chappelle was third.
“Definitely the girls team is making a huge surge right now,” said first-year Springboro coach Chad Adams, who is also the track coach. “With more opportunities to race and get better I see no doubt that they’re going to make a splash at regionals.”
Coffin and Chappelle qualified for state last year as individuals, but Adams says the depth is better this year. The team is rated ninth in the state and second or third in the region. The top five teams advance to state.
“We have a group of four more girls who have bought into our program and how we do things and are really starting to shine,” Adams said. “They’re just knocking seconds off each week.”
Versailles senior Joe Spitzer is hoping to do the same thing as he pursues the school record of 15:16. Saturday was not the day to do it because of the heat, but he still won the Division II/III race with a time of 16:10.1 Last year year he was ninth at state in Division II. The only non-senior to beat him was the state champion.
“I’m definitely a bit faster this year,” Spitzer said. “I’d like to get at least second at state.”
Division III Houston won 31-team II/III boys race with 112 points. A young Cedarville team, also in Division III, was fifth led by freshmen Trent Koning (16:57.2) in fourth and Ethan Wallis (17:14.9) in sixth.
Alter won the 31-team Division II/III girls race led by winner Perri Bockrath in 19:21.1. It was her second race back after suffering a sprained ankle. The Knights had 103 points to get past second-place Versailles’ 127 points.
“We’re happy to have her back,” Alter coach John Davalos said. “She ran nice and smooth.”
The Knights are working toward a 15th straight trip to state and they’re doing it with a deep team that has 10 runners capable of scoring in their top five. The top seven runners at each race are the varsity seven at the next race, creating competition within the team that has served it well.
“It was a hard day and the heat impacted all the girls,” Davalos said. “But our girls have been working hard and doing a lot of hill work. We’ve been working hard at running as a pack, working together and helping each other, and today’s a day when you need it.”
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