Warren Boys, Fort Girls Win Scenic Hills Lions Club Invitational
VINCENT — Eastern High School junior Connor Nolan successfully defended his title in the boys race and the Fort Frye’s approach to using Saturday’s Warren Scenic Hills Lions Club Invitational as a workout actually turned into a team title in the girls field.
A total of eight schools converged on the campus of Warren High School. While the majority of their teammates were attending the Noble County Fair, Shenandoah teammates Ida Estadt and Dena Clark were the sole representatives for the Zeps and managed a pair of top five finishes – with the freshman Estadt dominating the race from start to finish.
“We had never been to this course before, and we didn’t know what the course was going to be like,” Estadt said. “When we were running down in the woods, I knew we had about a half-mile to the finish, so I told myself to just hold on until you get to the track then kick it in. If my mom (who also coaches the team) had my time right, it was a PR.”
Saturday’s turnout from Fort Frye was a drastic turnaround from a year ago when the Cadets were riddled with injuries and competed with four runners. One year later, Fort Frye coach Jason Lipot stuck with this season’s philosophy of using the regular season as preparation for the postseason.
As an added bonus, the Cadets placed first in the team standings.
“We are just trying to get everyone better,” Lipot said. “We know what we have at the top and we use those top two runners to help with the bottom and use a pack run for the first two miles. It produced a PR for Cameron Huck who finished fourth today. She plays volleyball and runs cross country. She is a worker.
“I have to give a lot of credit to Cameron because her jumping in like that has really helped boost our team. It was a great performance for everybody. Our ultimate goal is to get state and try to get a top 10, perhaps a top 10 there.”
His girls stay within a pack for the first or two into the 3.1-mile course. Ava Huck and Cadence Waller pulled away from the group late into the race and placed second and third, respectively. A season-long Achilles injury prevented Huck from competing at last year’s Scenic Hills Invite.
“Today was a workout, so we were going to drag our whole team at a seven-minute pace for the first two miles,” Waller said. “We wanted to pull our back pack closer to us then to get something out of it coach said just take off the last mile. We were able to pull out our teammate Cameron to a PR.
“What’s great about this team, if anyone is having an off day there is someone to pick us up.”
With renovations taking place at Fort Frye High School, students will be in a classroom setting for the first time this semester this week. As a result, times for cross country practices have covered the gamut from mornings to evenings with the help of assistant coach Scott Burnham.
“Next week is our home meet at Fort Frye – that’s part of the reason we took today as workout,” Huck said. “We want to smash our home meet.”
Clark, a sophomore who joined Estadt in transferring from the Caldwell school district after the most recent school year, placed fifth. All five Fort Frye representatives placed in the top seven thanks to Emma Richards and Laine Spindler finishing sixth and seventh, respectively.
Estadt placed third behind Huck as medalist and Waller as runner-up last week at the Broughton Invitational in Marietta.
“I knew the Fort Frye girls were running as a pack, so I told myself just try to get out ahead of the pack and not get stuck behind it,” Estadt said.
The boys race followed and runners set a torrid pace from the outset. Federal Hocking’s Evan McPherson and Nolan hit the one-mile mark led the field while positioned stride-for-stride. Wood County Christian’s Jimmy Erlandson was also in the hunt in third place, with a host of runners still in contention.
Knowing McPherson tendency, Nolan decided to make his move and establish a decent gap.
“Last year, (McPherson) beat me at the conference meet, so I made it my goal not to let him beat me today,” Nolan said. “I felt him drop off a little bit so that’s when I kicked it in for the last third and eventually pulled away to get the win.
“His style was to sit and kick – he sat on my shoulder the entire race. He has better leg speed than I do and he could outkick me at the end. That wasn’t going to happen today.”
When Nolan reached the stadium track and 400 meters away from potential victory, a good 200 meters separated himself from McPherson – the same individual who turned the tables at last year’s Tri-Valley Conference Meet.
“I felt very comfortable there at the end of the race,” said Nolan, who finished in a time of 16:16.77 compared to 16:37.71 for McPherson. “I know I can run faster than I did today. It’s not the easiest course. The first mile was super fast. I knew that was going to happen. Overall, I am happy with how the day went.”
Warren’s Carter Norman (17:42.33) overtook three runners in the final 300 meters to claim third place and spearhead the Warriors boys title. Waterford’s Troy Gibson (17:43.79) and Shenandoah’s Jarrett Wentworth (17:44.22) rounded out the top 5.