“This is so special. The whole season has been kind of rocky. I just did not give up on myself or my team. To share this with them means so much.”
The Elks, the top-ranked team in the state, pulled away from Mason to claim a 52-92 win, and their first state championship, a week after being upset by the Comets in the regional meet.
“(Last week) definitely lit a fire,” Studebaker said. “We don’t give up that easy.”
Neither do the Tippecanoe boys.
One year after finishing second in the Division II race, the Red Devils claimed the title with 94 points, 17 better than runner-up Chardon Notre Dame Catholic Latin.
“The fifth time is a charm,” Tippecanoe coach Byron Kimmel said. “The drought is over. A year ago I stood here and said we like getting second place, but it would be nice to win one. This year everything fell into place.”
Centerville trailed Mason after the first mile but took command in the second mile in cruising to the title.
“We talked all week long about synergy,” Centerville coach Dave Dobson said as the wind whipped around the podium. “They needed to move throughout the race as a team. I knew we could match up with anybody and today they believed what they needed to do.”
Count Studebaker among the believers.
The junior was sitting in fourth at the mile mark but slowly moved into the lead before winning the title by five seconds with a 18:09.43.
“Lainey’s biggest thing has been getting out of her own way,” Dobson said. “She had to not let the eight inches between her ears affect her for 5K.”
Senior Kelsey Kohls just missed a top-16 podium finish, finishing 17th in 18:43. Alexa Jennings (22nd), Kellie Walsh (29th) and Larua Drew (41st) rounded out the top five.
“It was all team, team, team,” Studebaker said. “It is amazing they got me here and I am so glad I can share this with them.”
Studebaker finished 17th at the regional, one spot from advancing as an individual if the team had not qualified.
Beavercreek overcame a 12th-place spot after the first mile to finish third with Emma Hensley leading the way with a 33rd-place finish.
For the Tippecanoe boys, taking the final step to the top of the state has been a rough one after several close calls.
“This feels great, amazing,” Tippecanoe junior Mitch Poynter said after finishing third. “It was a dream at the beginning of the year and it slowly transformed from maybe it will happen to happening. It has not sunk in yet.”
• Emily Borchers became a three-time All-Ohio runner in leading Russia to a third-place finish in Division III with 144 points.
Borchers finished 19th in 19:32. Botkins junior Chloe Flora was 13th.
“That is quite an honor,” Borchers said of her All-Ohio accolades. “This is the highest we have ever finished as a team. We were just trying to do the best we could and run as a pack.”
• Alter’s girls finished fourth in the D-II race with 147 points with Abby Nichols (eighth) and Kristen Petrosky (ninth) both recording top-10 finishes.
• Oakwood sophomore Elizabeth Ordeman was 11th in the D-II race and Lebanon’s Jessie Hartman finished 16th in the D-I girls race to earn their first podiums.
Northmont’s TJ Mackay was 11th in 15:50 to record the highest finish among local runners in the boys D-I race.
“I’m happy,” Mackay said. “The weather played in my favor. It made the race more strategic so I could stay up in the pack more and make a move at the end of the race.”
• Coldwater’s Sarah Kanney won the Division III girls race with a time of 18:00.
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