Xander Heil, Meghan Schwartz are top county finishers at OHSAA state cross country
Xander Heil of Indian Valley was the top boys finisher and Meghan Schwartz of Garaway was first among girls runners from Tuscarawas County at the OHSAA state cross country championships, held Saturday at Fortress Obetz.
Heil, a senior, finished in a time of 16 minutes, 29.9 seconds to score a 22nd-place finish in the Division II boys race.
Marlington won the state team championship for the second consecutive year, with Dayton Carroll and Woodridge rounding out the top three.
Schwartz, a junior, completed the course in 20:32.3 to lead the Pirates' team to a 19th-place finish. Schwartz was in 65th place.
Also for Garaway, Kenadi Yoder (21:29.8) was 104th, Mya Wengerd (22:08.2) was 131st, Jessie Johnson (22:18.3) was 138th, Tory beachy (25:05.3) was 179th and Emily Rider (26:19.2) was 182nd.
The Tusky Valley girls were 20th in Div. III. Trista Lieser led the Trojans with an 84th place finish in 20:50.2. Also, Sami Ward (21:30.8) was 106th, Ella McElwee (22:16.3) was 136th, Maleah Dillon (22:52.7) was 158th, Samantha Bosler (22:53.2) was 159th, Leah Bourquin (22:57.9) was 160th and Sally Ray (23:33.6) was 170th.
Also in Div. III, Strasburg's Kylie McKenzie finished 77th in 20:45.1, and Sandy Valley finished 15th in the team standings, led by Kaydence Hoover (20:34.7) in 68th place.
Minster won the team title and Paige Steinke of Anna (17:46.1) was the race winner.
Tusky Valley's boys were 19th in Div. III boys with 429 points, led by Jake Kapper (17:31.8) in 90th place. Also for the Trojans, Josh Owens (17:59.5) was 120th, Danny Hursey (18:19.5) was 138th, Teagan Perkowski (18:19.7) was 139th, Kolton Wertz (18:49.8) was 158th, Kaelli Whitlatch (19:49.1) was 181st and Abe McElwee (21:36.2) was 185th.
Brylan Holland of East Canton won the race in 15:41.7 and Mount Gilead won the team title.
Also competing Saturday was Marcus Adelman of New Philadelphia, who finished 83rd in the Div. I boys race in 16:46.7, and Indian Valley's Rylee Raymond, who was 88th in Div. II girls in 20:41.2.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Tuscarawas County runners competed at OHSAA state cross country meet
