Huron girls win Division III regional title

TIFFIN — Huron's girls cross country team has been the epitome of excellence this season. After winning the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division title with 15 points and following it up with a dominant district championship performance, the Tigers continued their phenomenal racing at Saturday's regional meet. Huron turned in its most convincing performance to date with a team score of 41, which easily outpaced second place Ottawa-Glandorf's 119 points. "These ladies have worked so hard this season," Huron coach Taylor Miller said. "They really made a statement today, and I am just so happy for them." Leading the charge for Huron was Rylie Towns' fourth-place finish in a time of 18:33.81. Behind her was Laney Schlessman (10th, 19:26.50), Andrea Lesnak (11th, 19:28.35), Claire Putman (14th, 19:35.54), Sasha Fry (17th, 19:55.95), Liz Heidl (23rd, 20:07.75) and Kaitlin Kurtz (76th, 22:04.72). "Our whole top five got under 20 (minutes) today," Towns said. "This season, I was kind of trying to get over a bunch of injuries and I was trying to get into a good mindset." For the Tigers, the weight of expectations has not phased them, but has only made them stronger. "It is awesome to show what Huron girls cross country is all about," Miller said. "These ladies just work hard, and really do everything right. We are so happy and proud of them." Adding to the weight of expectations is the motivation to build on the legacy of previous Huron teams. In 2024, the Tigers were in fifth and in 2023, they were seventh. "We stay grounded by remembering nothing is guaranteed," Kurtz said. "I am so proud of everyone. We have worked incredibly hard this season. Winning regionals has really shown how strong we are as a team." Adding to this outstanding team were a couple freshman runners in Lesnak and Schlessman. Andrea is the younger sister of Huron cross country alum Sam Lesnak, who paced the Tigers at state last year with a time of 19:08.44 for 35th place. "I am so excited that Laney and myself are able to experience state as freshmen," Lesnak said. "I give thanks to my coaches and everyone who has supported me in this journey." Up next for Huron is this Saturday's state cross country meet at Fortress Obetz's Memorial Park. They will race at 11:50 a.m., aiming for the first state girls cross country championship in school history. "The goal for next week is to try to win it all for the first time in school history," Fry said. "We want to leave nothing on the course and do our best to work together." Division III girls Also competing in the Division III girls race as teams from the area were Bellevue, Edison and Clyde. Bellevue finished 12th as a team and was paced by Reese Meacham, who took 20th in 20:02.82. Edison took 13th as a team, led by Claire Michaelis (43rd, 20:57.53). Clyde finished 14th, led by Marissa Gessner (36th, 20:35.30). Division III boys In the boys Division III race, Perkins, Edison, Clyde and Port Clinton competed. Perkins was led by regional champion Joel Smelcer in 15:13.36. The Pirates finished eighth, just ahead of Edison in ninth. The Chargers were paced by Kellen McDonnell (27th, 17:09.84). Clyde finished 16th, followed by Port Clinton in 17th. The Fliers were led by Preston Widman (74th, 18:19.03) and the Redskins got a state qualifying performance from Charlie Simpson (19th, 16:53.98).