Cross country runners ready for another emotional season
Monday, August 21, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Mick Temple of Pickerington North nears the finish of the Early Season Cross Country Invitational on Aug. 19 at Fortress Obetz. Temple finished third in 15:47.60. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Similarly to the way each cross country course is designed, prep races often are filled with fluctuations even for the top competitors.
The Dublin Jerome, Bexley and Worthington Kilbourne boys can attest to that based on what they experienced late in last year’s postseason.
At the Division I regional, the Celtics celebrated an apparent fifth-place finish with 164 points for several minutes before a scoring change occurred and Pickerington North wound up with the same score, giving the Panthers the final state team berth because of a tiebreaker.
“When I saw that we (got fifth) by one point, I was thinking that would be awful to lose by one point,” Jerome senior Sam Ricchiuti said. “Five minutes later there was a sad look on my teammates’ and coaches’ faces when the score got flipped on us. That really humbled us and makes us more hungry for a good run to the state meet this year.”
For both Bexley and Kilbourne, their No. 1 runners had issues at the state meet.
Solomon McDow, who is now a senior for the Lions, was in fifth place in the Division II state meet with about 600 meters remaining but began to stumble and exited the race before finishing.
Ryan Smith, who is a senior for the Wolves, exited the Division I state race at about the 2-mile mark after falling down and hurting both of his knees.
“(McDow) got very ill and dizzy, and he was kind of gasping for air and couldn’t finish, so we pulled him out of the race there,” Lions coach Eric Acton said. “It was tough for the team, but right away, his teammates were coming to him to help him, and their concern and care for him was very heart-warming. You can go from euphoria to defeat. There are always life lessons.”
All three of those programs figure to be among the top boys teams again this fall.
Ricchiuti and Smith finished second and third, respectively, at last year’s regional meet behind 2023 Hilliard Davidson graduate Connor Ackley, who went on to win the state championship and is now at Syracuse.
At the state meet, Ricchiuti finished runner-up (15:25.6) and Westerville North senior Ben Gabelman was fourth (15:31.4).
Olentangy Orange senior Saketh Rudraraju, Dublin Scioto senior Weston Day and Kilbourne senior Steven Miller are other top returning boys runners.
“I don’t have Connor Ackley to follow any more, so it’s one of our turns,” said Ricchiuti, who is considering Butler, North Carolina and Syracuse. “I’ll be ready.”
Gabelman, who also remains uncommitted, didn’t compete as a freshman but took 26th at state as a sophomore and is expecting to surpass his personal-best time of 15:02 at some point early this fall.
“It’ll be a really fun season,” Gabelman said. “It’s not going to be very different from last year. Everyone good except for (Ackley) and a few other names are coming back. We’re actually fighting for the top spot instead of second place behind Connor.”
Natalie Fouts of Dublin Jerome nears the finish of the Early Season Cross Country Invitational on Aug. 19 at Fortress Obetz. Fouts finished fifth in 18:26.33. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Lancaster won last year’s regional and was third at state but lost its top four runners to graduation.
Coffman, which was regional runner-up and took fourth at state, lost its top two runners to graduation but brings back its next five.
Senior Zac Heyob and junior Jacob Bolton are the top two returnees, with seniors Jerermy Bons and Caden Ozbun also back.
“Central Ohio is very tough,” Shamrocks coach Joe DePalma said. “There’s going to be a lot of good teams and it will definitely be a challenge. Jerome has a great team this year, along with Orange. Olentangy should be good and Kilbourne should be really good.”
Pickerington North returns its No. 1 runner in sophomore Mick Temple, as well as senior Ian Ricker and junior Cai Watts.
In addition to Ricchiuti, Jerome has returned junior Charlie Guerrero, who was 41st at the regional.
Upper Arlington senior Thomas McMahon and Gahanna Lincoln junior Owen Towler are other top returnees.
“Central Ohio again is one of the toughest regions,” Panthers coach Tim Starkey said. “A lot of those top 10 spots at the state meet are going to be taken by central Ohio teams.”
Bexley was fourth at last year’s regional and also returns juniors Dylan Horn and Holden Gohs.
Mount Gilead won last year’s Division III state title despite having just two seniors among its top seven.
Davidson again expects to be near top of girls pack.
Central Ohio’s most consistent girls program belongs to Hilliard Davidson, which was Division I state runner-up in 2020 and last season and has made 13 consecutive state appearances.
Ian Ricker of Pickerington North nears the finish of the Early Season Cross Country Invitational on Aug. 19 at Fortress Obetz. Ricker finished 10th in 15:59.01. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Senior Sophie Lane, juniors Emi Schroyer and Anna Gagliano, and sophomores Erica Kaulen and Celia Schulte all return after running at state last fall. Junior Gemma Pusateri and freshman Sophia Tartaglia also are among the top runners.
“Last year we probably had the strongest confluence of talent and a really good dose of hard work,” coach Nate King said. “We kind of knew if you look at the scoring at the state meet that it was going to be Mason and us, and they got us by (16) points. The next closest team was 60 points behind us, so we knew it was going to be a slugfest.
“I’ve been coaching the girls team since 2012 and this is our first fall not returning an all-Ohioan. It’s still a really strong group, but one thing they wrote into their team goals is that we’re going to find a way to fill in the gap and get a couple to be at the all-state level.”
Jerome junior Helen Randolph won last year’s regional in 18:04.87 and helped her team finish sixth at the state meet as she finished 19th (18:44.3).
Junior Milly Leonard, who was 18th (18:44.2) at state for the Celtics, is not competing this fall because she also competes in soccer and swimming.
Sophomore Natalie Fouts, who was the team’s No. 3 runner last fall, finished fifth (18:26.4) on Aug. 19 in the Early-Season OHSAA Invitational at Fortress Obetz.
Seniors Abbi Havenstein and Tori Wiblin and sophomore Abbie McBrearty are others expected to be key runners for the Celtics.
“Helen’s been really solid and Natalie Fouts was a freshman last year who had a really solid summer,” coach Kaitlyn Willette said. “We’ve always really stressed the team aspect of things, and that’s something where I graduated from Jerome and we were bonded as a team so I’ve always tried to focus on being a team. That’s something I’ve tried to carry over as a coach. We’re always trying to talk about how we can be better as a team and on focusing on the little things.”
She also competes in club and prep swimming and did not run at the OHSAA Early-Season Invitational but figures to join Fouts in giving Jerome a pair of strong front-runners.
“It’s been so exciting,” Randolph said. “I know we’ve had some spots here and there maybe a few years ago where the team was pretty good. We’ve got excellent runners and awesome coaches who are really helping and It’s really building that team aspect. I like the fact that you don’t have to be on varsity to feel like you’re a part of a successful team.”
Scioto senior Selah White, Orange sophomore Brooke Chapman, Olentangy Berlin junior Grace Heitkamp and Olentangy Liberty senior Julia Bockenstette are others expected to be among the area’s top runners.
“I was really happy about my success last season and this year I’m super excited to see what I can do and be able to race,” Heitkamp said. “Central Ohio is super competitive for cross country and I’m really excited about it because I have a really cool opportunity to race against some great athletes.”