OBETZ – Mount Gilead’s Allison Johnson got off to a fast start and hung on to finish fourth out of 176 runners at the OHSAA Division III girls state cross country championships at Fortress Obetz Nov. 7.
Johnson, who ran the course in a time of 18:38.2, topped her time at the regional meet (19:34.2) by nearly a minute. She and Mount Gilead teammate Emily Hanft (13th, 19:07.7) led the Indians to a sixth-place finish out of 20 teams with a score of 185 points.
“(My time) is comparable with races that I normally do,” Johnson said. “I’ve run better, but it’s different everyday no matter how the race runs.”
Only first-place Caleigh Richards (18:22.3) of Maplewood, Sarah Reinhart (2nd, 18:24.0) of Carey and Amy Weybrect (3rd, 18:30.9) of Gilmour Academy outran Johnson. The fast start may have worked to Johnson’s advantage.
“They went out and I went with them,” Johnson said. “I heard the crowd in the stretch and they definitely get you fired up.”
Like many of the runners, Johnson enjoyed the new course.
“This is definitely a wonderful state course,” Johnson said. “This is going to post a lot of great times. I came in here fresh with no expectations and I liked it a lot.”
East Knox freshman Taylor Severt (20:46.7) was 86th. This was Severt’s first state meet and she brought along a case of the jitters.
“I didn’t know what to expect," Severt said. "When I got out there, I was happy and nervous at the same time. I just ran and had fun. I’ve got three more years to do this. I’ll know what’s going to happen. I’ll know what to expect and what I need to improve and work on.”
In Division II, Highland junior Camberly Schade (20:08.9) was 63rd out of 177 runners. Her time was a little more than eight seconds slower than her time in the regional meet and not as fast as her district time of 19:49.6, which she ran two weeks earlier.
“I liked the course, but it did have the struggle of the hill in the last mile,” Schade said. “Also, it was very hard to pass in some narrower spots. I was stuck jogging in place with all the other girls.”
The start was difficult as well.
“It was pretty good, but it just closed down so quickly,” Schade said. “That made it hard to get past everyone and continue moving up.”
Also in Division III, Abigail Dickhof (20:32.2) put up the best showing for Centerburg, finishing 78th.
In Division II, Elsa Hoam (20:38.5) placed 92nd to lead all Fredericktown girls, who were running in their first Division II state meet as a team. The Freddies finished 20th out of 20 teams with a score of 503 points behind champion Lexington (113).
In Division I, Mount Vernon’s Sophie Zoldak (19:51.4) was also 92nd out of 176 runners. Centerville's Mia Robillard (17:58.5) and Emma Bucher (17:59.8) finished first and second to help the Elks win a state championship with 128 points.
