Monthly Archives: October 2014

Jonny ran in the Regional Cross Country Championship today held in Troy, Ohio, which is located just north of Dayton.  Jonny had to be at the school to catch the bus at 7:15 in the morning.  The race was scheduled for 11:45 , with the girls scheduled to run at 2:15.

Last year the boys team was eliminated and only a couple of the boys moved on to compete individually at the State Championship.  This year none of the boys made it individually but the team took 2nd place and the entire team moves on next week to the State Championship.  They were the only team to that advanced that did not have multiple runners place in the top 16.  The other 3 teams that qualified had at least 2 runners in the top 16, which shows the consistency of the Granville Boys Team.  They all performed extremely  well and worked well with each other encouraging team members to do their best.

Regional Cross Country Championship 2014 – Beginning of the race

Jonny placed 21st out of 125 runners with a time of 16:49.4.  Last year he ran at this same meet in 18:09, so he cut 1:20 off his time from last year!

Regional Cross Regional Cross Country Championship 2014 – Near the 1st mile marker

I took some video of the meet, but it was windy and with me zooming in a lot, there is a lot of shaking.

Regional Cross Country Championship 2014 – Near the 2nd mile marker

Regional Cross Country Championship 2014 – Awards Presentation

Granville boys and girls ran at the Ohio Central District Cross Country Championship held at Watkins Memorial High School in Pataskala.  This is the 2nd week in a row and 3rd time overall the team is running at this course.  Unlike last week where it was a smaller group of kids running, 66 kids running in the Varsity race, this was another large group that had 166 kids running in the Division II race representing 23 teams.

Last year Granville was edged out by Highland-Sparta who beat Granville by 6 points and kept the Aces Boys team from winning the Central District Championship 5 years in a row.  The Girls streak of 5 years in a row was still intact and on the line today.

Jonny either needed to be one of the top 16 runners in this race to move on as an individual, or the team had to place in the top 4 to advance to the Regionals that are held in Troy, just north of Dayton, next week.  Jonny was guaranteed to move on by coming in 9th place overall, with a time of 16:46, and team won the District Championship, so the entire team gets to move on as well  The course today was a little wet and therefore slower this week compared to last week on the same course.  The Girls won the District Championship as well, upping their win streak to 6 consecutive years as district champions.

Here is the video that I took at the meet.

As always you can find the results on the Granville Aces Running Database or the official results can be found on Watkinstrack.org.

Jonny competed in the Licking County League Cross Country Championship meet today.  The meet was held at Watkins Memorial High Schoolm which is the 2nd time this season the team has raced there.  This was a much smaller than meet than what they have participated in since the start of the cross country season.  In the Varsity race there were only 66 runners participating.

Jonny at the Licking County League Championship

Jonny took 5th place with a 16:28.96 finish time which qualified him for the First Team all Licking County League.  The team took first place in the meet as well with their runners taking 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 11th and 12th overall. giving them a score of 25 with Watkins Memorial taking second with 47 points and third place Lakewood 115 points.

Jonny and Ryan in the woods at the Licking County League Championship

The course was dry and fast, which in previous years has been very muddy and the kids have come out of the woods very muddy, some from head to toe as they trip over some of the exposed roots in the woods and fall into the mud.  In the past there have even been instances of kids loosing their shoes in some of the bigger mud holes.

Here is some video that I took of the race.

The official results can be found on the Watkins Track website was well as the Granville Aces Running Database.

Jonny and team at the Licking County League Championship

Jonny competed in the Les Eisenhart Cross Country Invitational today.  This invitational has Granville as the only Division II school in a field of 25 schools.  The competition is slated to be as competitive as the State Tournament and a precursor to what the team should see at the regional level.

The weather was cool today in the mid to upper 40’s with the winds gusting in the mid 20’s.  Historically this has been a meet that witnesses fast times as most of the course is easily accessible by cheering spectators and is run with some of the best runners in the state that keep the tempo up throughout the entire race.

Jonny at the Les Eisenhart Invitational – 2014

Jonny got caught in the middle of the large group at the start of the race and had to work his way to the outside where there was more room.  He and a couple of teammates made it to the outside and encouraged each other to start making moves almost immediately.  By the half way mark, he and several team members where in positions to score well.

Jonny ended up 19th out of 208 runners and finished with a time of 16:23, which is his new personal best.  He ended up 3rd on the team and the team finished 3rd overall.

I left the house without my video camera today, but I still was able to get a little footage with my cell phone.

Official results can be found at Baumspage.com and the Granville Aces running database.