PICKERINGTON – Fredericktown senior Thomas Caputo barely edged out Eli Fullerton of Belpre to win the OHSAA Division III, Region 11 boys cross country championship on Oct. 31.
Caputo’s time of 16:18.8 was only slightly better than Fullerton’s time of 16:18.9, but it was enough to lift the Freddies boys to a second-place team finish and a state berth for the sixth time in the last seven seasons. Fredericktown's 92 points as a team was second to KMAC rival Mount Gilead (79).
Senior Titus Krabill finished 17th for the Freddies with a time of 17:11.1. Junior France Evan (17:45.6) placed 30th, senior Grant Shrimplin (17:51.5) was 34th and junior Xavier Platt (18:10.7) was 46th for Fredericktown. Also heading to state will be Freddies’ teammates Owen Krabill and Peyton Hogg.
Caputo didn’t really have a particular strategy. He was running with the front group until he and Fullerton started dueling around the two-and-a-half-mile mark.
“Before that, we were just kind of cruising with each other and there was a big pack of us,” Caputo said. “Once we got two-and-a-half, that's when we started turning and burning.”
Fullerton tapped Caputo and threw down the challenge. That was when the two runners took off, battling each other to the wire.
“Halfway through the woods, he (Fullerton) gave me knuckles,” Caputo said. “He was like, ‘Are you ready to roll?' I said, ‘Let's go man.'”
Even with the individual win, Caputo is particularly proud of being part of a Fredericktown boys team to make it to state in each of his four years in high school.
“I don't know what it would be like to go by myself, but I imagine it would be pretty lonely,” Caputo said. “It's such a great program that we have going here at Fredericktown. You don't have to worry about going by yourself.”
Centerburg’s Blake Johnson (25th, 17:33.1) and Alex Hayden (26th, 17:37.5) just missed out on DIII individual state berths.
In the Division II, Region 7, boy’s race, Highland sophomores Hunter Bolton (20th, 17:06.5) and Joel Roberts (23rd, 17:08.2) will go to state.
“Our coaches told our team that we were going to have to start out fast, just so we don't get left behind a lot of people,” Bolton said. “That’s pretty much what I did.”
Utica’s Jay Figgins (17:07.0) finished between Bolton and Roberts, placing 21st to gain a state berth.
“Yeah, the mud was tough, and then there were so many people crowded at the start that it was hard to get position,” Figgins said. “I had to cut along the edge of the course just to pass a big group at the beginning. Otherwise, I would have been way back.”
