OBETZ – Fortress Obetz has become a familiar stomping ground for the Lexington cross country teams. Gabi Twedt has taken the trip both years she’s been running for the Minutewomen.
This time she didn’t get the ending she was looking for, yet it still came with a podium trip and a top-20 finish for Lexington.
The sophomore finished 18th with a time of 18:46.4, leading the Minutewomen to 16th place at the OHSAA Division II cross country state championships, scoring 346 points.
With 15 consecutive state championship appearances and five state titles since 2015 – including four straight between 2017 and 2020 – it’s understandable why it’s disappointing.
“I feel like I should have done a bit better. But I know I gave it my all, so I feel happy and content,” Twedt said.
“To know how many people have raced on here before me and thrown down amazing times, my teammates in past years and my teammates here … Just to be with my team here is a really great moment.”
Twedt was Lexington’s only podium finisher and the school’s lone runner in the top 50. She was followed by seniors Jenna Halfhill and Evalynn Adkins at 52nd and 95th, respectively, junior Adria Sharrock at 165th, freshmen Nyla Loy and Brynlee Brokaw at 168th and 196th, then finally sophomore Alexis Neal at 200th.
“(The competition) was really good,” Twedt said. “It was honestly better than I thought it was going to be.
“We’re a really young team, and it’s been a difficult season with trying to drop times and trying to get places we wanted … just keeping confidence and saying we can do this, keep training hard despite any of the factors that we have.”
Aurora won the state championship with 80 points, while Watterson was second at 88, and Big Walnut finished third with 192 points. Lexington matched 15th-place Shaker Heights with 346 points, but the tiebreaker dropped the Richland County outfit to 16th.
Find all the state meet results at this link. Here’s a closer look at how north central Ohio’s girls fared:
Team and Individual Finishers
Division II Girls
- Lexington, 16th: 346 points
Division III Girls
- Anna Will, Shelby: 33rd, 19:29.2
Division IV Girls:
- Crestline, 21st (TEAM): 459 points
- Kloe Smith, Hillsdale (INDIVIDUAL): 79th, 20:10.9
