‘Hard work and dedication’: How Hilliard Darby runner Logan Behm made it to the top
Monday, October 26, 2026
By Michael Rich
mrichnotwealthy@gmail.com
Hilliard Darby senior Logan Behm won the OCC-Cardinal Division championship on Oct. 17 at HIlliard Bradley. Photo: Michael Rich
The path from middle of the pack to a top runner is a long one and Logan Behm knows it well. This season, the senior is now seeing the glory of his hard work for the Hilliard Darby boys cross country team.
Behm is coming off winning an OCC-Cardinal Division championship on Oct. 17 at Hilliard Bradley two weeks after setting a personal best time.
So, where does he attribute his success? Well, two people – last year’s top runner and 2025 graduate Kole Hyer and Darby first-year coach Zeke Bennett.
“Bennett is super adamant on hard work and dedication,” Behm said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re talented or not. It doesn’t matter if you have experience. He’s big on two things you can control and those are effort and attitude.”
Effort and attitude provided the basis for Behm’s success this season. He set a new personal best of 15 minutes, 9.1 seconds where he was third of 176 runners at the Olentangy Berlin-hosted Bear Den Dash on Oct. 3.
Then, secured the Panthers’ second consecutive individual league champion when he beat out 54 other runners at 15:26.4.
“I think he was just tired of being one of those guys that was always top 15,” said Bennett, a 2019 Bradley graduate, who served as an assistant with the Panthers last year. “He kept saying that he wants to be top 10. Then he made it top 10 and was like, ‘I want to be top five.’ Now he’s going for No. 1. I think it was just setting goals.”
If Bennett’s coaching style set the basis for Behm’s success, it was Hyer that lit the fire. Hyer won the OCC-Cardinal last year at 15:31.8.
Darby’s Logan Behm (left) greets the other competitors after his OCC-Cardinal victory at Hilliard Bradley. Photo: Michael Rich
“He was a senior last year and kind of in that spotlight,” Behm said. “I was really trying to fight to get that top spot. It was a constant battle for me just trying to keep up with him in workouts.
“It was great to be able to practice with him because (of how he) would push himself all the time. Honestly, that helped out a lot.”
Behm grew up playing soccer and decided to give it up after a handful of injuries.
“I had a broken arm one season and then like a stress fracture the next,” he said. “It was just so hard mentally because I loved the sport even though I wasn’t really able to participate as much. So, after the eighth grade, I shifted to cross country.”
Behm was a part of Darby’s run to the state meet last year where he finished 13th of 180 runners, including Hyer (16th, 15:47.1) at 15:37.6. The Panthers (220 points) were seventh of 20 teams.
At the OCC-Cardinal meet, the Panthers placed third of six teams with 80 points behind champion Dublin Jerome (34).
Junior Venny Kurapati (15th, 16:33.0), senior Shane Mountain (19th, 16:56.2), junior Evan Ridgeway (23rd, 17:03.7) and senior Gus Hughes (25th, 17:06.4) also scored for the Panthers.
Darby’s pursuit of another trip to state, which would be the program’s seventh overall, begins at the Division I regional meet on Oct. 31 at Pickerington North.
The top eight teams and 16 individuals not on those teams advance to the state meet Nov. 7 at Fortress Obetz.
“Having a week off, not doing anything, kind of defeats the purpose of going into regionals,” Bennett said. “So, this week, we did a 1-mile time trial just to be competitive. We (treated) like a race.
Darby’s Logan Behm (1553) leads the pack during the OCC-Cardinal championship race last Saturday. Photo: Michael Rich
“My second through my fifth runners – I wanted to see them close the gap. I wanted to see them race close together.”
Bennett takes a mental approach in his coaching style and it has resonated with Behm.
Bennett, who is also the boys track and field coach at Darby, replaced Jon Agriesti in cross country. Agriesti is now running the boys program and assisting in track and field at Upper Arlington.
Bennett ran track at Bradley and then Wittenberg where he got a degree in education and is an elementary school teacher in the district.
Taped to his desk at school is a piece of paper with nine principles that’s the basis for his coaching philosophy.
“It’s actually something my dad came up with,” Bennett said. “He uses it for work (in information technology) and with his mentality.”
The nine principles are show up, work hard, don’t rely on talent alone, be coachable, know your why, empower others, listen to learn, share your knowledge and take nothing for granted.
“One of my favorites is ‘Don’t take anything for granted,’” Behm said. “I’ve known so many people in the past that get hurt during the postseason and there’s no one expecting something like that. So, it’s just being grateful for every day because you never know what could happen.”
Behm hopes to run in college but is undecided where that will be. He’s interested in pursuing a degree in either finance or engineering.
For now, he’s just enjoying the home stretch of his final season in cross country.
“I’ve just learned to love the process, honestly,” Behm said.