The district meet combines two races into one, meaning the top two individual and top two team finishers are both crowned district champs. Carroll’s boys finished first overall and swept the individual district titles behind junior Kevin Agnew (15:58.14) and senior Grant Arnold (16:17.49.)
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Arnold, who missed a large portion of the season battling a knee injury, beat Oakwood senior Kyle Lethander by .17 seconds in a sprint to the finish on the 3.1-mile Elvin R. King Course at Cedarville University.
“I saw the time at the mile marker and I knew it was going to be a tough last couple miles,” Grant said. “He’s a really tough runner – and so is everyone else out there – so we gave it our best.”
Carroll, ranked No. 13 in D-II of the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches poll, raced in D-I last season. The Patriots are in pursuit of their first state tournament appearance since 2016. They get their chance next Saturday at the regional championships in Troy.
“I was thinking that someone on our team could definitely be district champion,” Agnew said. “I was focusing a lot on teams goals, doing whatever I can to help my team. … I’m happy Grant is coming back. He’s really recovered well. We talked goals yesterday and that was one of them.”
Eaton also won a district title after finishing second overall.
In the girls D-II race, Oakwood swept the individual district titles with sophomore Grace Hartman (17:51.21) and senior Elizabeth Vaughn (18:19.06). Freshman teammate Bella Butler (18:44.78) finished fourth for district runner-up honors to help the Jills claim the district championship. Tippecanoe finished second for the other district title.
Beavercreek senior Taylor Ewert, the defending D-I state champion, won the D-I race with a dominating 50.32 second victory. Ewert (17:03.13) and Lebanon junior Faith Duncan (17:53.45) claimed district titles. Centerville, ranked No. 4 in the state, did not run its full varsity roster and failed to qualify after finishing ninth.
The Beavers, who won the D-I state title last season, placed four runners among the top five overall to claim a district championship. Senior Jodie Pierce (18:30.10), senior Savannah Roark (18:30.13) and junior Juliann Williams (18:33.82) finished 3-4-5, respectively.
In the D-I boys race, Lebanon senior Sam Duncan (15:40.74) joined sister Faith as a district champ. Tippecanoe senior Bryce Conley (15:48.81) grabbed the other district title. Beavercreek junior Connor Ewert, Taylor’s brother, added a district runner-up finish as did Springboro’s Alex Berardi. Lebanon and Tipp claimed the team titles.
Fort Loramie’s girls won a D-III district championship behind a district runner-up finish from sophomore Olivia Borchers.
Anna won a boys D-III district and sophomore Lucas Smith captured an individual title by finishing first overall in 16:09.41 seconds, good for a .21-second victory over Cedarville junior Ethan Wallis.
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