Twenty full teams toed the starting line Saturday at the Division III Southeast District Cross County meet at the University of Rio Grande and when the dust settled 3.1 miles later the Whiteoak Wildcats had claimed their first-ever district cross country championship.
Whiteoak finished with a score of 88 and runner-up Waterford was a distant 57 points behind.
Fairfield finished eighth and Lynchburg-Clay was 12th.
Whiteoak was led by freshman Landen Eyre who finished in second place out of 141 runners with a time of 16:59. Right behind Eyre was teammate Weston Blair, who had his race of the season and finished third at 17:01.
The race winner was Reedsville Eastern junior Brayden Obrien in a time of 16:35.91.
Other finishers for Whiteoak included: Wade Evans was 27th (19:00), Bryce Van Hoy 29th (19:05), Robbie Raines 30th (19:05), Connor Butler 59th (20:15), Evan DeAtley 66th (20:29).
“We came in wanting to win it all, but we were behind the eight ball a bit being without our strong No. 3man Christian Price,” Whiteoak coach Doug Hughes said. “But that also motivated us even more. The kids wanted it for themselves, but they also wanted to win this for their teammate. Eyre did what he’s done all season. Weston Blair … man that kid was ready to race. He refused to let up and was sensational today. Tremendous focus and drive.
“Evans, Van Hoy, Butler and DeAtley were right where we needed them to be to get the job done. Senior Robbie Raines had a big day. He’s done it in the past and it was debatable if he should be in our top seven based on our season stats, but I knew he had it in him. I gave him a strategy and he stuck to it and easily finished in our top five. Love seeing him finish strong.”
Whiteoak moved to 130-18 on the season.
“We’ve raced in some big time races and went away from smaller nearby meets and it’s helped take us to the next level,” Hughes said.
Whiteoak is 109-6 against all divisions of southeast district teams and is 59-0 against southeast district Division III teams.
Whiteoak will compete in the regionals next Saturday at Pickerington North High School.
Boys team scores at the district were: Whiteoak 88, Waterford 145, Rock Hill 146, Belpre 155, Fairland 190, North Adams 206, Beaver Eastern 215, Federal Hocking 219, Leesburg Fairfield 238, Reedsville Eastern 261, Huntington 270, Lynchburg-Clay 271, Wheelersburg 292, Manchester 342, Peebles 348, Frankfort Adena 363, South Webster 406, West Union 437, Symmes Valley 446 and Crooksville 473.
The top finisher for Fairfield was junior Landry Hattan. He finished 10th in a time of 18:07.31.
The fop finisher for Lynchburg-Clay was senior Austin Barnhill. He finished 11th in a time of 18:11.38.
The top eight teams and those individuals that finish in the top 32 advance to the regional tournament.
In the girls race, Fairfield freshman Aylah Humphreys was the lone Highland County runner to move on to the regional. She finished 21st in a time of 22:4.71.
The top seven teams and those individuals that finish in the top 28 advanced to the regional tournament.
The race was run by sophomore Marie Souther of Zane Trace in a time of 19:36.77.
Girls team scores were: North Adams 54, Westfall 83, South Webster 85, West Union 104, Huntington 149, Federal Hocking 159, Zane Trace 168, Crooksville 205, Leesburg Fairfield 229, Paint Valley 247, Franklin Furnace Green 254, McDermott Northwest 287, Symmes Valley 321 and South Gallia 330.
Lynchburg-Clay sophomore Macy Etienne finished 35th in a time of 23:51.64; and Whiteoak sophomore Claire finished 57th in a time of 25:48.32.
