TIFFIN — At last week’s Division III district meet at Columbus Grove, Perry’s Braden Yingst had to turn on the afterburners down the stretch to overtake Minster’s Alex Albers in order to win the district title.
At Saturday’s Division III regional race at Tiffin, Yingst put on the afterburners a little sooner.
Yingst did not hesitate to push the pace Saturday, as he led from start to finish, en route to a winning time of 16 minutes, 2.7 seconds on the 5,000-meter course at Hedges-Boyer Park. Albers finished second in 16:14.2.
Yingst’s victory Saturday is Perry’s first regional title in cross country.
Yingst will compete at the state meet next Saturday at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Obetz. The top seven teams, along with the top 28 placers at Saturday’s Division III regional at Tiffin, advance to next Saturday’s state meet.
“Last week at districts, I got a slower start than usual,” Yingst said. “I took it more as a strategy-type race. This week, I wanted to get back to normal. I went out about 4:52 (first mile). I wanted to be out front for the whole race.
“So, I got out front early. Albers was behind me for the whole race. Once I got to the last hill, I tried to charge hard, and I ended up losing him down the stretch.”
Last season, Yingst made it to the D-III state meet, where he finished 80th out of 181 runners in a time of 17:29.8. Albers placed 10th last year (16:24).
“It just feels amazing,” Yingst said. “Winning my first district title last week, and being able to win regionals this week is a big confidence booster, going into state. We’ve been there (state meet) before. I didn’t have a great finish last year. I have a little chip on my shoulder. I’m ready to run great down there.”
Perry head coach Matt Pauff knew Yingst needed to establish himself early in Saturday’s race.
“We had a game plan,” Pauff said. “We knew he had to get out early and establish a lead. With the sprint he did last week (in defeating Albers at districts), we really wanted to start the kick a little earlier today. We started it (on Saturday) with about 400 meters to go; and he wanted to switch again, when he got a little bit closer.”
Yingst feels like seeing Albers on back-to-back weeks has really helped him.
“Until the end of the season, I didn’t see a lot of fast competition,” Yingst said. “Then getting to regionals – it does help to get to race against him the week before. We really feed off each other. Having him behind me the entire race, keeps me from slowing down. It’s great to have that competition.”
Yingst’s only loss this season was in late September when Anna’s Hayden Schmidt defeated him in a hard-fought race at the Van Wert Health Invitational.
Shawnee’s Johns
finishes fourth in D-II
With a good 400 meters to go in Saturday’s race, Shawnee’s Isaiah Johns was sitting in eighth place.
Then, he decided to make a move.
Johns kicked it in down the stretch and finished fourth in the Division II race in 16:44.4. With a top-12 finish, Johns makes a return trip to the state meet. Last season at state, he placed 98th out of 182 runners (17:14) in D-II.
“I actually felt pretty bad,” Johns said in reference to how he felt in that final stretch Saturday. “My heart got me through. Coach (Russ) Holly has been talking this whole week about running the first two miles with your head, and the last one with your heart. I finished this last straightaway with my heart.”
Wauseon’s Braden Vernot won Saturday’s D-II race in 16:16.5.
“I actually made a big mistake in that first mile and went out way too quick,” Johns said. “Next week, I’m going to run smart. With this race, I think I could have run a little better, if I would have run a little bit smarter. But I’m pretty happy with how I placed here.”
As a team, the Shawnee boys placed fifth out of 11 teams. The top three teams advance to state.
Van Wert boys place
third and advance
Van Wert placed third Saturday and qualified for the D-II state meet.
Leading the Cougars with top-12 finishes Saturday were Asanke Steyer (seventh, 16:45.9) and Hunter Sherer (eighth, 16:47).
Rounding out the rest of Van Wert’s scorers were Gage Wannemacher (31st, 17:22.7), Jacob Wasson (40th, 17:33) and Gage Springer (50th, 17:50.1).
Defiance’s boys team placed eighth on Saturday.
Wapakoneta’s Metzger
places 16th in D-I
Wapakoneta’s Nate Metzger placed 16th in Saturday’s Division I regional race at Tiffin in 17:09.1. The top eight placers advance to the state meet.
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