Recordpub.com - Woodridge runs to record fourth straight cross country state title

By Michael Leonard

Gateway News sports editor

COLUMBUS — For the last 25 years, the Scioto Downs Horse Racing Track has served as the host of the Ohio high school state cross country championships.

For the past four years, however, a different animal has taken charge at Scioto Downs: The Bulldogs of Woodridge.

On a gorgeous late fall day, the Woodridge boys cross country team, claimed its fourth straight Division II state championship with 93 points.

The state title is the Bulldogs’ fourth consecutive, becoming the first Division II cross country team to ever win four straight.

The Bulldogs’ feat is only exceeded by Caldwell High School, which won eight consecutive championships in Division III in the 1980s.

Much like last year, it was another close call for the Bulldogs, as runner-up Elyria Catholic finished with 98 points.

The good news of another state crown was delivered to the exhausted Bulldog runners by the Woodridge girls team, leading Everyone in maroon started hugging each other in celebration in the infield.

Woodridge head coach Jeff Howard feared his team may have been too pumped up at the start of the race.

“At the 200-meter mark, we were all out in front; that’s dumb. If you go out too quick, you have 2 1/2 miles to suffer,” Howard said. “It says something about their character that they were able to overcome that.”

Woodridge finished with two All-Ohio finishers, as Kyle Cochran was 12th in 16:24.88 and Vibushan Sivakumaran was 18th in 16:34.58.

After missing last year’s state meet because of an injury, Cochran said he was a bit surprised how the race turned out, but was happy to have earned All-Ohio honors.

“The exciting thing is we’re only losing one senior (Nathan Mercer),” Howard said. “That is the first time we have won this without a returning All-Ohioan. These kids deserve it.”

For Mercer, it was less about how he did and so much more about how the team did.

“Even if I wasn’t one of the scoring runs, I am proud to be a part of this Woodridge team,” Mercer said. “I hope they can keep it going next year and maybe go on to win six or seven (straight) titles.”

The Woodridge boys weren’t the only one from the Portage Trail Conference to have a good day.

Elsewhere in the Division II boys race, Crestwood senior Brandan McGee erased the memory of last year’s tough race by finishing fifth overall in 16:12.07.

“I’m really satisfied with this,” McGee said, noting that illness forced him into a 56th last year. “It was pretty tough out there, the thing was that it was a pretty big pack.”

Speaking of historic runs, Ravenna senior James Nichols became the first Raven since 1965 to run at the state meet. He finished in 82nd place in 17:49.86.

Waterloo junior Ethan Whittaker finished 66th in the Division II race in 17:34.54.

In the Division II girls race, Woodridge girls’ team had a bit of a difficult time, taking 10th place with 231 team points. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary won the team race with 98 points.

Junior Maria Moore earned a place on the podium, taking 11th place in 19:24.49.

“It’s a big improvement from last year,” Moore said. “Everyone on the team improved from last year.”

Howard couldn’t take anything away from his team’s performance.

“We were hoping for a bit more, but they left it all out there,” Howard said.

Crestwood’s Sammi Vaughan battled throughout the race before finishing in 114th place with a time of 21:42.96.

In the Division III girls race, Waterloo junior Annie Wise just missed a place on the podium, but did earn All-Ohio honors in her third consecutive trip to states.

Wise finished 16th in a time of 19:54.94. She collapsed after crossing the finish line, but said it was worth it after she failed to crack the top 100 at last year’s race.

“I just wanted to stay with the girls up front as long as I could,” Wise said.

It was a memorable day for Wise, who etched her name into school history.

“She went out fast and held it the whole way,” said Waterloo head coach Greg Drugan. “She likes to lead early and it served her well. This is the first girl to finish All-Ohio for us since the 1970s.”

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Michael Leonard can be contacted at mleonard@recordpub.com