Gabe Williams (855), Grant Stump (851) and Levi Stump are all back for Shawnee this season.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
Information provided by coaches, online sources
Western Buckeye League
Bath
Division II
Coach: Dan Grime
2017 WBL finish: Ninth
2017 postseason: Ninth at Ottawa district.
Returning letter winners: Vincent Abrams (sr.), Thomas Douglas (jr.), Tyler Ross (jr.), Derek Inskeep (jr.)
Top prospects: Kaden Truman (fr.), Dillion Wireman (fr.), Drew Young (fr.), Sam Poe (fr.), Damien Mouck (fr.).
Coach’s comments: Abrams returns as an all WBL honorable mention performer from 2017. We have a good group of young runners that are working hard. How successful we are as a team depends on how well they gel and improve throughout the season as many of the freshmen transition to the 5K race.
Celina
Division II
Coach: Dan Otten
2017 WBL finish: Sixth
2017 postseason: Eighth at Ottawa district (Hunter Lynch qualified for regional as individual);
Elida
Division II
Coach: Mark Altstaetter (fourth season)
2017 WBL finish: Eighth
2017 postseason: 12th at Ottawa district.
Returning letter winners: Corbin Fingerle (sr.), Jon Stotts (sr.), Sean Dancs (soph.), Wyatt Wuest (jr.), Garrett Simmons (jr.), Scott Holmgren (soph.), Logan Develvis (soph.)
Top prospects: Connor Broshes (fr.), Dalton Swickrath (fr.), Jayden Pullen (sr.), Jacob Hedlund (soph.), Cale Wright (fr.).
Coach’s comments: With seven returning letter winners, including last year’s No. 1 runner on the team (Corbin Fingerle) and No. 2 runner on the team (Sean Dancs), Elida looks to have a strong pack of runners. Elida has 18 high school male runners. The tricky part to this season is sharing for soccer athletes, who are all important cogs on the cross country team.
Kenton
Division II
Coach: Jared Manns (16th season)
2017 WBL finish: 1oth
2017 postseason: 13th at Ottawa district.
Returning letter winners: Gaige Newman (jr.), Josh Piper (sr.), Keegan Wright (soph.)
Top prospects: Ethan Manns (jr.), Jarrett Jolliff (fr.)
Coach’s comments: We are very young this year. We have one senior this year, Josh Piper. Four of our eight runners have never ran high school cross country. Looking for leadership from Josh Piper and Gaige Newman. Both ran in our top three spots last year. Ethan Manns, a transfer from football, should also contribute nicely for us. Keegon Wright, a returning letter winner, should also be competing for the top spot on the boys’ side. With one returning sophomore and three incoming freshmen, there’s a lot of uncertainty of how things will unfold.
Ottawa-Glandorf
Division II
Coach: Holly Flueckiger (second season)
2017 WBL finish: Third
2017 postseason: Third at Ottawa district; ninth at Tiffin regional.
Returning letter winners: Josh Rosengarten (sr.), Bronson Buddelmeyer (sr.), Daniel Hughes (sr.), Connor Niese (sr.), Parker Schomaeker (jr.), Max Buddelmeyer (jr.), Kamorn Maag (jr.)
Top prospect: Aubrey Imm (jr.)
Coach’s comments: The OGHS cross country team is motivated and excited to start the 2018 season. The boys team has seven returning varsity members. Four of the seven are strong and determined returning seniors. The boys team is focused on having another successful season with goals set to compete stronger at WBL’s and districts.
Shawnee
Division II
Coach: Russ Holly
2017 WBL finish: Fourth
2017 postseason: Sixth at Ottawa district (Gabe Williams qualified for regional as individual).
Returning letter winners: Adam Stump (soph.), Caleb Egri (jr.), Josh Kuhlman (jr.), Trever Miller (jr.), Grant Stump (sr.), Levi Stump (sr.), Gabe Williams (sr.)
Top prospects: Isiah Johns (fr.), Justin Altenbach (fr.), Cole Lewis (fr.), Micah Chambers (sr.)
Coach’s comments: We have good numbers and look to improve as the season progresses. We will try to advance as many runners as we can in the postseason. Our depth and experience should contribute to overall success.
St. Marys
Division II
Coach:
2017 WBL finish: Fifth
2017 postseason: 10th at Ottawa district (Noah Tobin qualifed for regionals as individual).
Returning letter winners: Noah Tobin (jr.), Jordan Heitkamp (jr.), Jack Cisco (jr.), Tommy Mabry (jr.), Jaydin Davis (soph.), Jace Dubler (jr.), Kadin Davis (sr.), Robert Boyhan (soph.)
Top prospects: Clayton Drummond (jr.), Tyler Hisey (fr.), Treavor Hisey (fr.).
Coach’s comments: The boys are very deep and led well by Noah Tobin. Will be competitve in the WBL.
Van Wert
Division II
Coach: Ron Holliday (second season)
2017 WBL finish: Second
2017 postseason: First at Ottawa district; third at Tiffin regional; 13th at state finals.
Returning letter winners: Noah Carter (sr.), Gage Chiles (sr.), Ben Lange (jr.), Holden Reichert (jr.), Jacob Wasson (soph.)
Top prospects: James Hagaman (soph.) Hunter Sherer (fr.), Gage Wannemacher (fr.), Jacob Sealscott (fr.), Bobby Spath (fr.)
Coach’s comments: We are very fortunate to be a part of a program that has an incredible tradition of winning and success, both on the guys’ and girls’ side. We want this year’s teams to improve from last year as teams and as individuals and leave their mark on the legacy of the VWXC program. We have a very promising group of guys this year. They have been working incredibly hard this summer. We enjoyed success last year, including a team state appearance, and in one sense, we want to build on that. On the other hand, we know last year is in the past and nothing is guaranteed this year. Any success we see this year will be because this year’s squad earned it through hard work, not because of anything we did last year. We want to put in the work in August and September so once October hits we put ourselves in the best position possible to run our best when it counts.
Wapakoneta
Division I
Coach: Mark Cook (34th season)
2017 WBL finish: Seventh
2017 postseason: 11th at Findlay Owens Community College district.
Returning letter winners: Chance Bible (sr.), John Doll (sr.), Caleb Mosgrove (sr.), Owen Simonson (sr.), Isaac Webb (sr.), Dan Heubner (jr.), Nate Metzger (soph.), Tyler Ricketts (soph.)
Top prospects: Austin Hancock (sr.), Ethan Couch (soph.)
Coach’s comments: We want to run better each week.
Northwest Conference
Ada
Division III
Coach: Josh Klein
2017 NWC finish: Eighth
2017 postseason: No team score (had three runners compete at Ottawa District 2).
Returning letter winners: Brice Ferguson (sr.), Michael Crouse (jr.), Hunter Wells (jr.), Jacob Morgan (soph.)
Top prospects: Miguel Gonzalez-Jordan (sr.), Riley Ferguson (fr.)
Coach’s comments: I am excited to start a new year despite having small numbers. We had several factors that held our team back from being their best last year, but I am hopeful that with a fresh start, positive attitudes, and stronger workouts, we will be more competitive than we were last year. We have a pack of three that will lead the team in the 18-19 minute range, and two other guys that will run in the 20-21 minute range. If we could get all five of these guys to run together in the 19 minute range as a pack, we will definitely be much stronger.
Allen East
Division III
Coach: Leah Long (first season)
2017 NWC finish: Seventh
2017 postseason: No team score (had four runners compete at Ottawa District 2).
Returning letter winners: Andrew Cochensparger (jr.), Jordan Kennedy (jr.), Aiden Neff (jr.), Nicholas Baughman (jr.)
Top prospects: Ezra Garver (fr.), Ethan Garver (fr.)
Coach’s comments: A young team with great potential. The team is hard working, enthusiastic and has a positive attitude.
Bluffton
Division III
Coach: William Theisen
2017 NWC finish: Sixth
2017 postseason: Ninth at Ottawa district 1.
Columbus Grove
Division III
Coach: Terry Schnipke (13 years experience)
2017 NWC finish: Second (won Putnam County meet)
2017 postseason: Third at Ottawa district 2; 13th at Tiffin regional (Johnny Schmiedebusch qualified for state).
Returning letter winners: Grant Mumaugh (sr.), Jordan Bellman (sr.), Parker Sager (sr.), Jacob Bish (jr.), Breece Pingle (jr.), Tanner Smith (jr.), Johnny Schmiedebusch (jr.), Derek Birkemeier (soph.), Cody Tabler (soph.)
Top prospects include: Carson Closson (fr.), Caleb Stechschulte (fr.), Caleb Morman (fr.), Roy Langhals (fr.), Tayt Birnesser (fr.).
Coach’s comments: We have a great mix of seniors, juniors, sophomores and freshmen. We have talent in each grade this year and our freshmen have the potential to contribute right away. I have some real hard workers on the team this year and some great leaders. We are looking for great things to happen on the course this year. At camp there were five guys who ran at least an 18-miler on the last day of camp after having run some 60 miles during the week. We have the potential to have five guys in the (16 minute range) by season’s end. We will need to continue to work hard to be successful, but everyone knows the dictionary is the only place success comes before work. I am looking forward with great anticipation to see what these guys can accomplish. It looks to be a very rewarding year.
Crestview
Division III
Coach: Jeff Bagley (33rd season)
2017 NWC finish: Third
2017 postseason: Fourth at Ottawa district 1.
Returning letter winners: Wyatt Richardson (jr.), Danil Lichtensteiger (jr.), Dayton Schuerman (soph.), Cameron Cearns (jr.)
Top prospects: Brian Myers (soph.), Hayden Tomlinson (fr.), Jacob Forwerck (jr.)
Coach’s comments: Our team had a solid summer of preparation and is ready to transition into the competitive portion of our season. We look forward to challenging ourselves and growing as a team.
Lincolnview
Division III
Coach: Matt Langdon
2017 NWC finish: First
2017 postseason: First at Ottawa district 2; fourth at Tiffin regional; 14th at state finals.
Paulding
Division II
Coach: Jeremy Thompson (first season)
2017 NWC finish: Fourth
2017 postseason: 11th at Ottawa district
Returning letter winners: Bailey Manz (sr.), Carson Shull (sr.), Joe Reineck (sr.)
Top prospects: Caleb Thompson (fr.), Kayden Sarver (soph.)
Coach’s comments: This year will be a good year for our high school boys. Baily and Carson are looking to get to state and the other boys are learning a lot from their leadership. We can’t wait to start having meets and watch the hard work we have been putting in this summer pay off. It is great to have Caleb running as a freshman and great to welcome Kayden to the team. It is going to be a fun year.
Spencerville
Division III
Coach: Brian McMichael (47th season)
2017 NWC finish: Fifth
2017 postseason: Fifth at Ottawa district 2
Returning letter winners: Keagan Gaskill (jr.), Andrew Broseke (jr.), Hogan Lee (soph.)
Top prospects: Brayden Stephens (fr.)
Coach’s comments: With no seniors the team’s success will depend on how the underclassmen improve.
Midwest Athletic Conference
Coldwater
Division III
Coach: Marty Schoenherr
2017 MAC finish: Sixth
2017 postseason: Fourth at Ottawa District 2.
Delphos St. John’s
Division III
Coach: Steve Hellman (ninth season)
2017 MAC finish: No team score (had three compete)
2017 postseason: No team score (had three compete at Ottawa District 1)
Returning letter winners: Canyon Scirocco (sr.0, Noah Heiing (jr.)
Top prospects: Drew Palte (fr.), Marcus Freewalt (fr.), Zane Stevenson (fr.), Kevin Pohlman (fr.)
Coach’s comments: With only on senior and one junior we will be looking for the four freshmen to step up and fill out the top five for team scoring. After not having a full team last year, it is nice to b able to compete as a team this year. With only returning runners being our number one and two runners last year we will need the freshmen to step up so we can be competitive in the meets this year. Individually, I look for the freshmen to make good progress during the season as they get used to racing the 5K distance in high school compared to the 2 miles in junior high. I look for a couple of them to compete to be our No. 1 runner this year.
Fort Recovery
Division III
Coach: Kylee Moody (second season)
2017 MAC finish: Eighth
2017 postseason: Eighth at Ottawa District 1 (Drew Muhlenkamp qualified for regionals as individual)
Returning letter winners: Drew Muhlenkamp (jr.), Jared Timmerman (jr), Josh Gonzalez (jr.), John Knapke (jr.), Jayden McEldowney (jr.), Andy Weitzel (jr.)
Top prospects: Jason Siefring (sr.)
Coach’s comments: We look to continue to show improvement on a weekly basis, have a better showing at the MAC meet and advance as many athletes as possible, as far as possible, during the postseason.
Marion Local
Division III
Coach: Doug Jutte
2017 MAC finish: Seventh
2017 postseason: Seventh at Ottawa District 1.
Minster
Division III
Coach: Larry Topp (33rd season)
2017 MAC finish: First
2017 postseason: Won Ottawa District 1; third at Tiffin Regional; 18th at state finals.
Returning letter winners: Jon Albers (sr.), Aaron Huwar (sr.), Jacob Salazar (jr.), Luke Barga (jr.), Austin Felice (jr.)
Top prospects: Brock Schulte (soph.), Joel Berelsman (soph.), Mathew Droesch (soph.), Alex Albers (fr.)
Coach’s comments: The athletes are working very hard and are looking to find their spot on the team and to be ready for the first meet. We lost three great leaders to graduation (Carter Pohl, Ryan Cavanaugh, Andrew Broering) from last year’s team, with them we also lost a lot of our leadership. The seniors are now accepting their new roles as leaders and the team is starting to work hard toward their goals. The boys have been working on becoming a cohesive and hardworking team. The seniors and last yea’rs letter winners are hungry for more success. The boys are looking to build on the success from last year’s season. The team has high expectations for this season and with the hard work that they have been putting in they just might reach their goals. There will be many obstacles in their way but we hope to see them through to the team’s goals.
New Bremen
Division III
Coach: Julie Ferguson (17th season)
2017 MAC finish: Fifth
2017 postseason: Sixth at Ottawa District 2 (Ezra Ferguson qualified for regional as individual).
Returning letter winners: Hunter Waterman (jr.), Landin Boyle (jr.), Spencer Elking (sr.), Micah Condon (sr.), Ben Zimpfer (soph.)
Top prospects: Luke Davidson (soph.), Dominick Steinke (soph.), Connor Ransbottom (soph.)
Coach’s comments: We have a young team, but hopeful the experience of our returners will help lead us closer to our goals in league and postseason performance.
New Knoxville
Division III
Coach: Sephanie Boyle Fledderjohann (eighth season)
2017 MAC finish: Ninth
2017 postseason: 11th at Ottawa District 1
Returning letter winners: Jared Osborne (sr.), Jakob Rollins (jr.), Jonah Resor (soph.)
Top prospects: Zach Kuck (sr.), Wyatt Childress (sr.), Noah Katterheinrich (jr.), Dylan Steinke (jr.), Jamiel Bucher (fr.)
Parkway
Division III
Coach: Ann Vian (13th season)
2017 MAC finish: Fourth
2017 postseason: Second at Ottawa District 2; ninth at Tiffin Regional (Kyle Roth and Matt Gaerke qualified for state as individuals).
Returning letter winners: Preston Browning (jr.), Aaron Bruns (jr.), Wesley Ford (jr.), Matt Gaerke (sr.), Chaz Neuenschwander (soph.), Kyle Roth (jr.)
Top prospects: Gage Hamrick (fr.), Riley Samples (fr.), Cade Schoenleben
Coach’s comments: If everyone stays healthy, we look to have a very strong team this year. We have a good group of returning lettermen. Of the top runners from last year, we lost one due to graduation (Reid Etzkorn). The freshmen will help us to fill that spot and help push the older ones. Their goal this year is to return to state as a team. They went as a team in 2016, but last year only Matt and Kyle went to state. They really want to have the team experience again.
St. Henry
Division III
Coach: Angela Wendel (second season)
2017 MAC finish: Second
2017 postseason: Second at Ottawa District 2; fifth at Tiffin Regional; 16th at state finals.
Returning letter winners: Seth Brookhart (sr.), Blake Ontrop (sr.), Matt Mescher (sr.), Matt Rindler (sr.), Alex Dues (sr.), Zach Ontrop (sr.)
Top prospects: Blake Beyke (jr.), Wyatt Rose (jr.)
Coach’s comments: Although we lost some key runners from last season, Blake Ontrop and Seth are back with a group that jockeyed for the 6-7 spots last year. Along with Blake Beyke and Wyatt, we have a team fired up to tackle the season and postseason one meet at a time all the way to state.
Putnam County League
Kalida
Division III
Coach: Scott Miller (12th season)
2017 PCL finish: Second
2017 postseason: Seventh at Ottawa District II (Ryan Lucke and Will Zeller advanced to regionals as individuals).
Returning letter winners: Treyton Martin (sr.), Trevor Vorst (sr.), Noah Miller (jr.), Will Zeller (soph.), Ryan Lucke (soph.), Ayden Warnecke (soph.)
Coach’s comments: With five seniors back and two regional qualifiers as freshmen we should be strong in leadership and depth this year. We have some other members that will be pushing hard to be in that top seven. The group has a great team chemistry and has been working hard this summer. They are excited to get the season started.
Leipsic
Division III
Coach: Steve Campbell (first season)
2017 PCL finish: No team score (had three compete); had three compete in BVC Championships
2017 postseason: No team score (had three compete at Ottawa District 2)
Returning letter winners: Ethan Chambers (soph.)
Top prospects: Alex Hernandez (jr.), Gideon Brake (soph.), Roman DeLaRosa (fr.)
Coach’s comments: Small in numbers. We are still trying to build a program. This is only our fourth year with the program back after a 20-plus year absence.
Ottoville
Division III
Coach: Bob Kaple (5oth year coaching)
2017 PCL finish: Third
2017 postseason: Eighth at Ottawa District II (Brendan Siefker adanced to regionals as individual); Seifker second at Tiffin Regional; Seifker second at state finals.
Returning letter winners: Kyle Looser (jr.), Cole Furley (soph.), Cooper Hanneman (soph.), Jacob King (soph.), Adam Kimmet (soph.)
Top prospect: Nolan German (jr.)
Coach’s comments: We had two boys graduate in state runner-up Brendan Siefker and Brendon Stoner. We have five returning lettermen. Kyle Looser was our number two man. We have a well needed addition in Nolan German.
Pandora-Gilboa
Division III
2017 PCL finish: No team score (sixth at BVC meet)
2017 postseason: No team score (had four compete at Ottawa District 2)
Others
Botkins
Division III
Coach: Ryan Gutman
2017 Shelby County Athletic League finish: Third
2017 postseason: Eighth at Cedarville University district (Austin Fullenkamp qualified for regionals as individual); Fullenkamp finished 10th at Troy Regional to advance to state.
Cory-Rawson
Division III
Coach: Gary Holland
2017 BVC finish: No team score (had three compete)
2017 postseason: 1oth at Ottawa District 1 (Jonathan Hoorman advanced to regionals as individual).
Jackson Center
Division III
Coach: Steve Hoover
2017 SCAL finish: Fifth
2017 postseason: 12th at Cedarville University district (Parker Morris advance to regionals as individual).
Lima Central Catholic
Division III
Coach: Mike Griffo
2017 postseason: Finished sixth at Ottawa District 1 (Quentin Potempa advanced to regionals as individual).
Lima Senior
Division I
Coach: Alan Kingsbery (second season)
2017 Three Rivers Athletic Conference finish: Eighth
2017 postseason: 12th at Findlay Owens Community College District 1
Letter winners returning: Kyius Simpson (sr.), Terris Collier (sr.), Philip Korikan (sr.), Peter Fike (sr.), Connor Brayton (sr.), Xylon Paine-Greeno (jr), Anthony Lutz (soph.), George Moore (soph.)
Top prospects: Chris Sellati (fr.), Dalton Hahn (fr.)
Coach’s comments: With eight letter winners and a senior laden team, this promises to be one of the better seasons for our team. Led by Kyius Simpson and Anthony Lutz our results should be greatly improved this year.
Hardin Northern
Division III
2017 Northwest Central Conference championships: Second
2017 postseason: Ninth at Ottawa District 2
Perry
Division III
2017 postseason: No team score (had two compete at Ottawa District 2)
Upper Scioto Valley
Division III
Coach: Charles P. Renner
2017 Northwest Central Conference championships: Third
2017 postseason: No team score (four competed at Ottawa District 1 with Brady Hipsher qualifying for regionals).
Waynesfield-Goshen
Division III
2017 Northwest Central Conference championships: Fourth
2017 postseason: 12th at Ottawa District 1.
