HEBRON — It was the duel cross country fans in Richland County hoped for and it wasn’t decided until the final half mile.
Lexington’s Kyle Johnston overtook Shelby’s Caleb Brown with about 800 meters remaining and stormed to the individual Division II title at the weather-delayed state cross country championships on a raw Saturday morning at National Trail Raceway.
Temperatures were in the upper-20s with wind chill values in the teens when the race went off before noon under mostly sunny skies. The course had to be re-routed late in the week because parts of the original track were still under water from the rains that forced the event to be postponed for a week.
None of it mattered to Johnston, who beat Brown to the finish line for the second straight week after Brown won the district title at Galion last month. Johnston finished in 15 minutes, 52.9 seconds to become Lexington’s first ever boys individual state champ. Brown was second in 16:05.8.
“I’m just blessed to be in the position that I am,” said Johnston, whose older brother Ryan was the Division II state runner-up last fall. “It’s an amazing experience.”
Johnston and Brown embraced shortly after Brown crossed the finish line.
“It’s all friendly competition. I love racing against him,” said Johnston, who finished fourth at the state meet last year while Brown was third. “It’s always a joy. It’s good to race him one last time.”
Brown agreed.
“It’s awesome to have someone so talented to race against,” Brown said. “He’s got me the last two weeks.”
As for the team standings, Shelby finished third behind Woodridge (109) and Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (118). The Whippets, who were atop the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches state poll all season long, had a team score of 132.
“We were ranked first all season and ended up third. We did what we could,” Brown said. “We all didn’t race up to our expectations, but we gave it our all. That’s what matters.”
Shelby’s Sam Logan was fourth overall in 16:17.1. Blake Lucius (17:00.0) was 21st, while Corbin Osborne (17:37.8) was 72nd and Sam Swanger (17:43.2) was 82nd. Jaden Sickmiller (17:56.5) and Caden Payne (18:18.3) rounded out the field for the Whippets.
Lexington placed seventh in the team standings with a score of 212. Noah Sgambellone (17:26.4) backed Johnston, finishing 46th overall. Clay Sturts (17:35.8) was 66th and Chayse Whitesel (17:36.0) was 68th. Chris Stevens (18:08.2), Reece Miller (18:30.8) and Ethan Peebles (18:39.6) rounded out Lexington’s top seven.
Galion’s Braxton Tate concluded a sensational season with a ninth-place finish. Tate finished in 16:33.7.
Division I: Ashland’s Daniel Arimi earned a spot on the All-Ohio podium, finishing 17th in 16:301.
The Arrows placed 13th as a team with a score of 295. Hudson won the team title with a score of 107.
“I came in here and tried to get out hard, which I did. I think I was in the top five for the first 600 meters,” Arimi said. “Pretty much from there I tried to hand on and gut it out. In the last 800 meters I said, ‘I’ve got to go.’
“My goal was to get All-Ohio and I’m glad I got it.”
Reid McFrederick was second for the Arrows, finishing 63rd in 16:59.5. Mason Smith (17:20.3) was 104th and Sam Boyer (17:27.9) was 117th. Dylan Hickey (17:50.7), Joshua Hawley (17:54.4) and Cohan Robinson (17:54.9) rounded out the field for the Arrows.
Division III: Crestview finished 12th in the team standings with a score of 289 in the Division III race. Leo Ringler led the charge for the Cougars, finishing 44th in 17:28.6.
“It was pretty bad,” Ringler said of the conditions. “It was cold like this at the Firelands Conference meet but it wasn’t this windy.
“If you’re not loose enough you’ll tighten up pretty fast. I got tight.”
Following Ringler across the line were James Barber (17:50.8) in 78th and Ian Trent (17:57.4) in 90th. Jacob Littleton (18:13.9), Derek Wuthrich (18:15.6), Tommy O’Neill (18:22.5) and Jimmy Dunn (18:35.2) rounded out the field for the Cougars.
Mansfield Christian’s Clay Reynolds was the top area finisher, taking 42nd in 17:28.1. Lucas’ Gavin Shindeldecker was 87th in 17:54.9. The Mapleton duo of Beau LeFever (18:01.8) and Travis Swazey (18:12.5) were 94th and 113th, respectively.
