Shawnee’s Noah Williams competes in Tuesday’s Allen County Invitational at Faurot Park.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA – Last year, Shawnee’s Noah Williams competed at the Division I state cross country meet.
Now a senior, Williams has set several goals for his final high school cross country season.
One of those goals was to defend his title at the Allen County Invitational on the very hilly 5,000-meter course at Faurot Park.
Williams can now check that off his list.
Williams led from start to finish Tuesday afternoon, en route to his second Allen County title in a time of 17 minutes, 12.66 seconds. Bath’s Jacob Wireman was not too far behind, finishing second in 17:26.75. Shawnee’s Carter Cleaves (17:50.78), Shawnee’s Ty Schaub (18:27.72) and Bath’s Landen Jones (18:59.15) rounded out the top five overall placers in the boys’ race.
Shawnee won the boys’ team title, edging out Bath 25-35. Delphos St. John’s (82), Perry (124), Elida (149), Spencerville (165), Allen East (171) and invitational host Lima Central Catholic (200) rounded out the eight full squads in the boys’ race.
Williams was satisfied with his performance on Tuesday. He also was impressed on how Bath’s Jacob Wireman kept in striking distance for a good part of the race.
“In the summer, I ran with him (Wireman),” Williams said. “I’m just really proud of him because he stepped up his game. He was with me for the first two miles. … I’m proud of him.”
Williams said that he wasn’t concerned about his time in Tuesday’s race – knowing that the course is very challenging, and because the league meet, and postseason tournament are fast approaching.
“Last year, I ran in the high 16s (at the Allen County Invite),” Williams said. “But really in the end, as long as I could just stay out in front and win this race, I was not going for a PR (personal record) today.”
At last year’s Allen County Invite, Williams’ winning time was 16:49.3. Williams’ all-time personal best for his high school career is 15:40.3.
Saturday, Oct. 14, is when the Western Buckeye League Championships will take place. The following Saturday is when the postseason kicks off, with the district tournament.
Williams got a snapshot of how competitive the boys’ race should be at the WBL Championships, when he held off a few of the league’s top runners at the Van Wert County Ohio Health Invitational (Sept. 23) for the win. Last year, Williams won the WBL title (16:13.77).
“At Van Wert, two weeks ago, I really saw that (the competition) – with (Ottawa-Glandorf’s Ty) Rosengarten, (Van Wert’s Owen) Scott and Wireman,” Williams said. “It (WBL title) will come down to who wants it more. … This year, I’m going for it.”
At Van Wert, Williams’ winning time was 15:53.53.
Wireman feels like his performance Tuesday gave him some additional confidence for when he competes at the WBL Championships.
“I’ve been trailing him (Williams) the whole year. So, getting closer to him makes a big difference,” Wireman said with a grin.
Shawnee first-year head coach Crista Owens was pleased with her teams’ performance – especially her boys’ squad – at how they stayed aware of the competition throughout Tuesday’s race.
“The (boys’) team knew they were looking out for blue jerseys. … They were looking for Bath jerseys,” Owens said. “They went for it as a team. They knew who they had to catch. They kept their eyes up; and they did what they needed to do. It’s a hard course. It was hard conditions, and they ran smart today. I’m very happy.”
Rounding out the five scorers for Shawnee (behind Williams, Cleaves and Schaub) included Carson Frost (sixth, 19:04.26) and Evan Conley (11th, 20:02.50).
On the girls’ side, Shawnee sophomore Jenna Stump also led from start to finish Tuesday, en route to a winning time of 21:03.70. Elida’s Emily Durham was a distant second (23:06.00), while Elida’s Kayla Dancs finished third (23:21.76).
Last year, Stump placed third at the Allen County Invite.
Cady Donaldson from Delphos St. John’s (23:41.49) and Bath’s Kyla Fallis (23:46.84) rounded out the top five overall finishers in the girls’ race.
Stump realized that it would be a huge challenge to clock a fast time on the Faurot Park course.
“I was hoping for a time, maybe in the 20s,” Stump said. “I tried to push it. It’s a little harder when there’s such a big gap (between her and the pack).
“At the first mile, I knew I really needed to speed it up, if I wanted to get a good time. I just tried to keep pushing it.”
Stump’s all-time personal best is 19:26. She won the Allen County middle school title in eighth grade.
Stump is hoping to qualify for the state meet this season.
“I’m hoping I can make it to state. … We’ll see. Last year, I was like maybe 10 places off,” Stump said.
Delphos St. John’s edged out Shawnee for the girls’ team title Tuesday, 36-37. Elida (57) came in third. There were just three full squads in the girls’ race. There needs to be at least five finishers for a school to register a team score.
Rounding out the five scorers for the St. John’s girls’ team Tuesday (behind Donaldson) were Olivia Bockey (seventh, 24:02.99), Claire Martz (10th, 25:42.03), Mary Claire Kopack (11th, 25:56.57) and Elayna Will (12th, 26:09.62).
“We know that every year we come out here, Shawnee is super strong,” Delphos St. John’s head coach Brian Kopack said. “They always have a couple good frontrunners. It was no different today. They were strong. It always comes down to one or two spots. We were missing a couple of our top seven (runners), and our reserves came through, today. … They stepped up and stole a couple points. We’ll be happy to take that trophy home.”
Results
Boys
Team Scores: 1. Shawnee 25, 2. Bath 35, 3. Delphos St. John’s 82, 4. Perry 124, 5. Elida 149, 6. Spencerville 165, 7. Allen East 171, 8. Lima Central Catholic 200
Top 25 finishers: 1. Noah Williams (Shawnee) 17:12.66, 2. Jacob Wireman (Bath) 17:26.75, 3. Carter Cleaves (Shawnee) 17:50.78, 4. Ty Schaub (Shawnee) 18:27.72, 5. Landen Jones (Bath) 18:59.15, 6. Carson Frost (Shawnee) 19:04.26, 7. Jaden Ryan (Bath) 19:48.22, 8. Zane Bockey (Delphos St. John’s) 19:49.09, 9. Everett Bensman (Bath) 19:50.03, 10. Hank Kopack (Delphos St. John’s) 19:54.75, 11. Evan Conley (Shawnee) 20:02.50, 12. Jonah Volbert (Bath) 20:23.72, 13. Sean Alexander (Shawnee) 20:37.86, 14. Adam Jmiai (Shawnee) 20:43.46, 15. Michael Bowersock (Perry) 20:49.84, 16. Gabe Harvey (Elida) 20:56.57, 17. Amarion Jackson (Perry) 20:58.62, 18. Joshua Brenneman (Shawnee) 21:08.19, 19. Tanner Braun (Spencerville) 21:21.20, 20. Logan Clark (Shawnee) 21:27.10, 21. Cainen Melching (Perry) 21:34.10, 22. Cale Adams (Shawnee) 21:42.47, 23. Zach Bockey (Delphos St. John’s) 21:44.31, 24. Isaiah Robertson (Shawnee) 21:58.75, 25. Aaron Bockey (Delphos St. John’s) 22:09.43
Girls
Team Scores: 1. Delphos St. John’s 36, 2. Shawnee 37, 3. Elida 57
Top 25 finishers: 1. Jenna Stump (Shawnee) 21:03.70, 2. Emily Durham (Elida) 23:06.00, 3. Kayla Dancs (Elida) 23:21.76, 4. Cady Donaldson (Delphos St. John’s) 23:41.49, 5. Kyla Fallis (Bath) 23:46.84, 6. Emily Morrisey (LCC) 23:49.44, 7. Olivia Bockey (Delphos St. John’s) 24:02.99, 8. Savannah Hohe (Shawnee) 24:12.34, 9. Gwyn Owens (Shawnee) 25:34.10, 10. Claire Martz (Delphos St. John’s) 25:42.03, 11. Mary Claire Kopack (Delphos St. John’s) 25:56.57, 12. Elayna Will (Delphos St. John’s) 26:09.62, 13. Addison Hull (Shawnee) 26:20.85, 14. Nadia Ricker (Spencerville) 26:46.11, 15. Amelia Vega-Ortiz (Shawnee) 27:08.11, 16. Reem Elbabour (Shawnee) 27:21.39, 17. Madelyn Haehn (Delphos St. John’s) 27:34.64, 18. Aubrey Fairchild (Delphos St. John’s) 27:41.00, 19. Sydney Rostorfer (Delphos St. John’s) 28:36.33, 20. Makenna Wieging (Elida) 29:53.90, 21. Kaiya Hinebaugh (Allen East) 30:12.34, 22. Molly McKiney 31:28.20, 23. Olivia Schlosser (Elida) 31:41.92, 24. Ella Wilson (Delphos St. John’s) 31:57.24, 25. Jaclyn Kohlhofer (Lima Senior) 32:05.19
Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
