Elick, Bowen win boys’, girls’ NWC meet

Van Wert independent sports

COLUMBUS GROVE — The Lincolnview Lancer cross country teams competed in the Northwest Conference meet this weekend at Columbus Grove. The boys took home the NWC team championship for the second year in a row.

The Lancers scored 35 points to win the meet ahead of Crestview with 65 points. The Lancers also had the boys’ individual winner in Austin Elick, who finished the race in a career best time of 16:33. Elick was followed by teammate Karter Tow, who was fourth overall (17:05). Both Elick and Tow earned first team All-NWC honors and Elick was voted “NWC Male Cross Country Runner of the Year”. Other top Lancers were Tracey West in ninth (17:33), Jacob Keysor 10th (17:35), and Alek Bowersock 11th (17:36).  Two freshman rounded out the varsity scoring. Devon Bill placed 20th and Joe Sadowski was 22nd.

The boys’ team used the power of the pack to earn an NWC runners-up trophy. The Knights had only 32 seconds between their top five scoring runners (from 17:23 to 17:55). Wyatt Richardson led the way with a seventh place NWC honorable mention finish. He was followed by Collin Puckett in 12th, Gabe Smith in 14th, Caleb Bagley 15th, and Dylan Sparks 17th.

“The boys ran well today; it was especially fun to watch Austin win the race,” said Lincolnview Coach Matt Langdon, who was named “NWC Boys’ Coach of the Year” at the meet. “He has come so far in his career; after the race he reminded me of running in the 25s one race early in his career.

“It was good moment for him and for the team,” Coach Langdon added. “We hope to build from today as we head into the district tournament next weekend.”

Boys’ final standings are as follows:

1. Lincolnview, 35 points; 2. Crestview, 65 points; 3. Columbus Grove, 68 points; 4. Paulding, 82 points; 5. Spencerville, 128 points; 6. Bluffton, 188 points; 7. Ada, 195 points; 8. Allen East, 207 points.

First Team All-NWC Boys’ Team

Austin Elick, Lincolnview; Boone Brubaker, Columbus Grove; Austin Conrad, Spencerville;

The Lincolnview girls placed third in the conference, just four points behind runner-up Crestview. Columbus Grove won the girls’ meet with 22 points, while Crestview had 60 points and Lincolnview 64 points.

The Lancer girls were led by freshman Tori Snyder, who placed ninth (21:29).  She was followed by Rylee Byrne in 11th (21:47), Madeline Snyder in 13th (22:01), Alena Looser in 14th place (22:05), and Miah Katalenas in 26th position (24:44).  Rounding out the top seven were Ryanne Ducheney and Madison Dickson in 32nd and 33rd places, respectively.

“The girls ran with a lot of passion today,” Coach Langdon noted. “We knew we had to run our best team race of the season to have a chance to place second.

“Crestview ran well, so even though it was our best team race of the year, we fell a little short of our team goal,” the coach added. “However, I was proud of how hard we fought and how much we improved.  We hope to use this as motivation going into next weekend.”

The Crestview girls’ team also had a successful day as it won key battles throughout the race to capture the NWC runners-up trophy. Ashley Bowen raced to a first place finish in a time of 18:55. Bowen is the new Crestview school record holder in girls’ cross country with this effort. She earned first team All-NWC honors and was voted the “Female CC Athlete of the Year” in the NWC.

Ragen Harting finished fifth overall to join Bowen as a first team All-NWC team selectee. Her time of 20:25 places her as the ninth fastest runner in girls’ cross country at Crestview. Rounding out the scoring for the Lady Knights were the important finishing places of Brooke Ripley in 17th, Lauren Schumm in 23rd, and Lydia Saylor in 24th place.

Girls’ team finishers are as follows:

1. Columbus Grove, 22 points; 2. Crestview, 60 points; 3. Lincolnview, 64 points; 4. Ada, 107 points; 5. Paulding, 116 points.

First Team All-NWC Girls’ Team

Ashley Bowen, Crestview; Taylor Ellerbrock, Columbus Grove; Alyssa Ellerbrock, Columbus Grove; Leah Meyerholtz, Columbus Grove; and Ragen Harting, Crestview.

Columbus Grove’s Jason Jay was named “NWC Girls’ Coach of the Year”.

Both Lincolnview and Crestview will be competing in district cross country tournament.