Wiechman, Smelcer, Huron girls among top contenders

Several area runners will be contending for All-Ohio finishes at the state cross country championships Saturday. Boys and girls races in four divisions will be contested at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park in Obetz, located south of Columbus. Port Clinton senior Morgan Wiechman, a three-time All-Ohio finisher, had the fastest regional time in the state among Division III girls. Wiechman won a regional last week in Tiffin, finishing in 18:07.42. The second-fastest regional time was turned in by Wauseon's Ella Rhoades, who finished second to Wiechman in 18:08.23. Those times were not turned in on easy course, either, said PC coach Nichole Wiechman. "I think Tiffin is one of the harder courses," coach Wiechman said. "Morgan knows (state) is going to be hard, but we're excited to go. We're excited to get there." Rhoades had a slight edge over Wiechman when the two went around a tree about 200 yards from the finish at Hedges-Boyer Park. That's when the PC star found one last kick. "She said she was at the front the whole time so she might as well go for the win," coach Wiechman said. Napoleon's Gwen Huddle, who finished sixth at regional, is another top contender, according to Wiechman. The course at state includes a man-made hill about a half mile from the finish. "I don't know who will try to take it off the hill," coach Wiechman said. "It's still a good 600 (yards) or so to get into the stadium and then it's turf to the finish." Huron's girls team qualified for the Division III race. The Tigers are led by Rylie Towns, who finished fourth at the regional in 18:33.54. Other Huron runners making the trip to state are Laney Schlessman, Andrea Lesnak, Claire Putnam, Sasha Fry, Liz Heidl and Kaitlyn Kurtz. The Tigers are ranked No. 2 in this week's state coaches poll. Oakwood, located in Dayton, is No. 1 and received all 12 first-place votes. Bellevue's Reese Meacham also qualified in Division III. Perkins' Joel Smelcer is one of the top runners in the Division III boys race. Smelcer had the second-fastest regional time in the state while winning the regional in 15:13.35. He won by almost 30 seconds in Tiffin. Fairless' Brice Fuller had the best regional time (14:53.20). Port Clinton's Charlie Simpson also will compete in the Division III boys race. In Division IV, Huron's Sage Edgerly-Bork had the third-fastest boys regional time (15:48.80). Margaretta's Cole Zang and St. Mary Central Catholic's Eli Etchill also will run in the Division IV finals. SMCC's Nicolette Hile qualified for the Division IV girls finals. Norwalk's Sage Konik qualified for the Division II girls race. The event begins with the Division IV girls race at 10 a.m. The Division IV boys race follows at 10:40. The Division III races begin at 11:50 and Division II goes off at 1:40 p.m. Awards ceremonies for each division will take place after each division finishes.