High school cross country: Fairless boys end 46-year state meet drought

PICKERINGTON — The long wait for the Fairless High School boys cross country team is finally over.

The Falcons clinched their first state meet appearance in 46 years Saturday when they finished sixth in the Division II regional at Pickerington North.

HIGH SCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY: High school cross country: Minerva sweeps boys and girls district titles again

Fairless freshman Brice Fuller was runner-up in 15:42.98. He won last week's district meet at Cambridge,

Minerva will send its boys and girls teams to next week's state meet. The girls team finished second to earn a 10th straight state berth. The boys came in third and are heading to state for the fourth year in a row.

Sandy Valley's Casey Russell won a Division III girls regional title in 18:43.25. She will make her third straight state appearance.

Who are the area's Division II-III cross country state qualifiers?

DIVISION II

BOYS

TEAM

3, Minerva, 146 points

• 13, Grasyn Rettig, 16:14.17
• 28, Rowen Hoffee, 16:38.45
• 39, Ryan Cassidy, 16:56.20
• 41, Owen Yoder, 16:59.62
• 57, Kaden Knappenberger, 17:20.17

6, Fairless, 162 points

• 2, Brice Fuller, 15:42.98
• 7, Andrew Hearn, 15:58.35
• 15, Bradlee Keehn, 16:15.41
• 84, Luke Wade, 17:43.56
• 100, Rowan Askren, 18:06.25

INDIVIDUAL

11, Ricky Sibila II, Carrollton, 16:08.66

GIRLS

TEAM

2, Minerva, 48 points

• 4, Makenzie Beavers, 18:56.10
• 9, Katie Ison, 19:18.32
• 11, Tateum Richard, 19:22.23
• 12, Hannah Ison, 19:22.65
• 18, Gabby Lupshu, 19:30.69

INDIVIDUAL

20, Ahna Doane, Fairless, 19:38.00; 22, Kylie Ujcich, Carrollton, 19:41.50

DIVISION III

GIRLS

TEAM

4, Tusky Valley, 129 points

• 11, Trista Lieser, 19:50.03
• 30, Hayden Huffman, 20:39.11
• 31, Sami Ward, 20:43.00
• 44, Josie Eick, 21:10.00
• 65, Natalie Rennicker, 22:14.59

INDIVIDUAL

1, Casey Russell, Sandy Valley, 18:43.25; 8, Evelyn Pfeffer, 19:27.08

Reach Mike at mike.popovich@cantonrep.com

On X: @mpopovichREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: High school cross country: Fairless boys end 46-year state meet drought