Van Wert CC teams compete at Hebron

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HEBRON — Van Wert High School ‘s cross country teams competed in the first invitational of their respective seasons at the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s official Preseason Cross Country Invitational, held at National Trail Raceway in Hebron, home to OHSAA’s championship races.

Saturday’s invitational featured many of the top teams from around Ohio.

The varsity boys’ team finished a respectable 5th in a field of 22 teams. Junior Cal Wolfrum led the Cougars with a 15th place finish, covering the 3.1 mile course in 17:35. In his first high school race, freshman Jacob Wasson placed 25th with a time of 17:51. Wasson also earned the team’s “Cougar Pride” award for his efforts. Senior Thane Cowan (44th place, 18:30), junior Gage Chiles (45th place, 18:33), and sophomore Keaton Brown (48th, 18:40.5) rounded out the scoring for Van Wert.

The varsity girls finished 13th place out of 22 teams, led by sophomore Caylee Phillips’ 4th place individual finish in a race that featured nearly 200 runners. Phillips ran a career best 20:47 and earned the girls’ “Cougar Pride” award for her hard work and effort. Sophomore Jerica Huebner (30th place), freshman Rachel Spath (92nd), sophomore Ali Gemmer (99th), and junior Caton Williamson (136th) rounded out the scoring for the Lady Cougars.

“Today was an opportunity to get our first race under our belts and see where we are at,” said head coach Ryan Holliday. “We’ve put a lot of work in over the summer and recent weeks and it was great to finally get out there and race.”

“The state course is tough, and Saturday’s weather was quite warm, but definitely we had some solid performances to build on,” Holliday added. “We learned a lot about ourselves today and plan on using these races to get better.”

The teams will compete again Saturday at the Delphos St. John’s Blue Jay Invitational.