LEXINGTON — Latrell Hughes and his Lexington teammates can’t wait.
The Minutemen will have a target on their backs when the Division II boys race goes off at Saturday’s state cross country meet at Fortress Obetz.
Hughes is looking forward to the challenge.
Lexington has been ranked atop the cross country coach’s state poll for the past three weeks. The Minutemen received all 12 first-place votes in the pre-state poll, released earlier this week.
“We know we’re the No. 1 ranked team in the state, but it doesn’t matter. Anybody can beat you on any given day,” Hughes said after Lexington won last week’s Tiffin regional championship.
“We want to show everyone what we’ve got.”
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A senior, Hughes is the undisputed leader of a wildly-talented Lex boys team. He was the Division II individual state runner-up last year, finishing in a school-record 15 minutes, 13.46 seconds and leading the Minutemen to a runner-up finish in the team standings.
He won last week’s Tiffin regional title in 15:14.69.
Hughes led a dominant Lexington performance at Tiffin.
Lincoln Rice finished fourth in 15:41.13, followed by Will Hooper in eighth (16:11.98), Finn Devaney in ninth (16:12.28) and Luke Haring in 12th (16:18.71). Christian Estep (16:20.32) was 13th and No. 7 man John Bartone (16:48.73) was 29th.
The split among Lexington’s five scoring runners was 1:04. The average finishing time for that quintet was 15:55.
“We want to win a state title,” Hughes said. “We were runner-up last year, which is really good, but I think we’re ready to take the next step.”
The Lex girls should also be in the mix for a Division II team trophy. Lady Lex was raked sixth in the pre-state coaches poll and won a 13th consecutive regional title last week at Tiffin.
“As our coach (Denise Benson) has been repeating to us, it’s team, trust and tradition,” said Katya Prykhodko, who placed third at Tiffin in a personal-record 18:17.43. “We’re looking to really take it to the next level and amaze ourselves.
“This team doesn’t realize how good it can be.”
Freshman Gabi Twedt (18:48.98) finished seventh at Tiffin while Brailey Slone (18:53.17) was eighth. They were followed across the finish line by Adria Sharrock (19:46.15) in 19th, Jenna Halfhill (19:50.76) in 21st, Evalynn Adkins (19:55.49) in 24th and Hallie Durbin (20:19.20) in 34th.
Two other area runners should challenge for podium finishes in the Division II girls race. Mount Vernon’s Lucy Rush finished third at the Pickerington regional in 18:05.71, while Shelby’s Anna Will was 10th at Tiffin in 18:57.14.
Division III
Xavier Trent led the Ontario boys to a fourth-place finish and a state-qualifying berth at Tiffin. Trent finished third overall in 16:05.83.
“It’s a huge accomplishment for the team,” Trent said.
Rylan Baker followed Trent across the line in 17:12.02. Ashton Drozda (17:14.13), Alex Simmering (17:47.97), Michael Ward (17:50.94), Jackson Buttil (17:54.45) and Remington Schroeder (18:18.97) rounded it out for the Warriors.
Clear Fork’s Katrina Neal is north central Ohio’s lone representative in the Division III girls race. Neal placed third at Tiffin in 18:33.54.
“I’m just hoping to go a little faster,” Neal said of her state expectations. I want to finish cross country season with a good race.”
Division IV
Mansfield Christian’s Riley Patrick should be in the hunt for a podium finish at Fortress Obetz after finishing third at the Tiffin regional in 18:40.38.
“I’m pleased that I made it,” said Patrick, who finished 14th in the Division III state meet last year. “I hope to get on the podium again.”
Crestline’s Nevaeh Hill (19:47.45), Centerburg’s Payton Tucker (19:58.200, Hillsdale’s Kloe Smith (20:24.24) and Lucas’ Riley Trumpower (20:29.73) qualified for the Division IV girls race. They will be joined by the Crestview girls team of Emmie Kemp (20:00.67), Alina Durbin (20:39.92), Laynie Kemp, Crestview (21:06.51), Audrey Wolford (22:17.38), Alexandra Cutlip (23:00.79) and Emily Pond (30:04.87). The Cougars finished ninth as a team at the Tiffin regional to punch their ticket to state.
Centerburg’s Andrew Dickhof is the area’s lone competitor in the Division IV boys race. Dickhof was 19th at Pickerington in 17:07.49.