LEXINGTON — Dominique Clairmonte’s junior season was so sensational, Lexington’s ace just kept running.
The run-away choice for the Richland Source Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, Clairmonte somehow managed to improve on an impeccable resume with a fifth-place finish in the girls champion division at the Nike Midwest Regionals in Terre Haute, Ind., last weekend. The recently-crowned Division II state champ breezed through the five kilometer course in 17 minutes, 39.7 seconds and will represent the Midwest Region (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri) at the Nike Nationals in Portland, Ore., on Dec. 6.
After missing almost her entire sophomore season with a stress fracture in her foot, Clairmonte destroyed the competition this fall. She won all 12 of her races and her average winning margin with 54.5 seconds.
“From coming off a stress fracture to this, I couldn’t ask for anything better,” Clairmonte said after winning the state crown and leading Lady Lex to a runner-up finish in the team standings.
Lady Lex juniors Abby Miller, Keelie Speckert, Ashley Basham and Emily Taylor and sophomores Mackenna Curtis-Collins and Whitney Wendling joined Clairmonte on the podium at the state meet and they join her on the Richland Source first team after a remarkable showing at National Trail Raceway in Kirkersville. Lady Lex finished with 87 points, just one point behind team state champ Granville.
“I’ve never seen them race as a team like they did today,” Lexington coach Denise Benson said at the time. “All year we’d have a few on and a few off. Today everybody was one.”
Curtis-Collins emerged as Lexington’s No. 2 runner and would be the undisputed No. 1 for every other team in the area. She finished fourth at state in 18:41.49. Curtis-Collins finished second to Clairmonte at the Galion district meet (19:03.08) and was third at the Tiffin regional (19:23.30).
Miller was 31st at state in 19:35.30. She was seventh at the district meet (19:46.67) and 22nd at the regional (20:40.60).
Speckert (19:36.16) was less than a second behind Miller at state, good for 34th place. She was third at the district meet (19:34.30) and 20th at the regional (20:35.20).
Basham got faster at each level of the postseason and capped the season with 41st-place finish at the state meet, crossing in 19:42.01 She was 17th at the district meet (20:41.82) and 15th at the regional (20:22.70).
Like Basham, Taylor improved her time at every stop along the tournament trail. She was 15th at the district meet (20:25.83), 16th at the regional (20:25.10) and 49th at state (19:50.59).
Wendling was 61st at the state meet in 20:08.55. She was ninth at the district meet in 20:06.16 and 29th at the regional in 20:51.20.
The good news for Benson — and bad news for the rest of the county and state — is that all seven runners will be back next fall.
“We’re just all looking forward to next year,” Clairmonte said. “Hopefully we have a state title in our future.”
