Richards places 2nd for Tigers

By BRAD MORRIS
SPORTS EDITOR
Published: Tuesday, September 7, 2010 9:02 AM EDT

CIRCLEVILLE — A week made all the difference for Circleville’s Julie Richards.

After finishing 13th at the Pickerington Invitational to open the season, Richards turned in a second-place performance on Saturday at the Circleville Kiwanis Invitational in 19:55.4.

“I wanted to come out and improve on my first performance of the season where I was cramping up and not breathing very well,” Richards said. “I wanted to go out with a more conservative approach that allowed me to have enough to pass some of the leading runners.     “I felt pretty good and met my goal of finishing between 19 and 20 minutes by a couple of seconds.”

On the girls side, Sheridan bested the Ohio Christian University course with 110 points. Teays Valley was the top area team, winning a tiebreaker against Logan Elm to take sixth with 237 points.

“The best part of the girls race was that they ran a team race,” TV coach Zach Frank said. “The split between our No. 1 runner and our No. 5 runner was 1:05, which is pretty impressive.”

 Unioto won the boys field with 36 points. Circleville led area teams by placing fifth with 159 points, paced by Nick Foster taking 10th in 17:15.7.

 "Nick had what we hope is a breakout race for him,” CHS coach Jason Wells said. “As a team, we ran a conservative race and poured it on at the end.”

The following are top finishers in the boys and girls races at the Circleville Kiwanis Invitational on Saturday and a rundown of the top seven runners from area schools.

High School boys

20 teams competed

1. Unioto         36
2. Brookville         65
3. Liberty Union         85
4. Eaton                             110
5. Circleville                159
7. Westfall                 226
10. Teays Valley               309
12. Logan Elm                 335

Medalist: Adrian Ross, Unioto in 15:42.2

Circleville — Nick Foster (10th, 17:15.7); Jacob Wingett (31st, 17:57.3); Eddie Stolarz (41st, 18:16.7); Alan Kocher (43rd, 18:20) and Jon Strutz (45th, 18:26). Also: Ben Lloyd (56th, 18:41.5) and Jeremy Turner (133rd, 20:31.3).

Westfall — Cody Steele (26th, 17:52.1); John Jude (35th, 18:05.4); Dylan Newton (53rd, 18:37.6); Matt Koehler (60th, 18:45.8) and Neal Hegarty (78th, 19:15.6). Also: Blake Metzger (81st, 19:19.7) and Garrith Smith (82nd, 19:19.8).

Teays Valley — Cody Redman (28th, 17:53.3); Sam Stewart (51st, 18:31.4); Dallas Lindeman (92nd, 19:24.6); TD Gantner (96th, 19:28.9) and Brandon O’Linn (103rd, 19:33.5). Also: Tyler Dresbach (104th, 19:33.71) and Ben Barr (108th, 19:48.1).

Logan Elm — Scott Blubaugh (19th, 17:42.8); Ethan Smith (86th, 19:23.5); Adam Agosta (90th, 19:24.2); Joey Wright (100th, 19:32.6) and Matt Trobaugh (117th, 20:01.8). Also: Daniel Baldinger (163rd, 21:47.7) and Derrick Edgington (174th, 22:36.5).

Amanda-Clearcreek — Dale Luck (38th, 18:12) and Nick Howard (102nd, 19:32.9).

High School girls 

20 teams competed

1. Sheridan                 110
2. Eaton                             141
3. DeSales                 141
4. Brookville                 170
5. Berne Union                182
6. Teays Valley                 237
7. Logan Elm                 237
10. Circleville                 277
13. Westfall                 317
18. Am.-Clearcreek         399

Medalist: Taylor Hatfield, Zane Trace in 19:01.8

Teays Valley — Mariah Hicks (37th, 22:16.9); Sara Toskin (39th, 22:21.9); Allie Cotner (49th, 22:47.2); Rachael Smith (57th, 23:12) and Madison Lamoreaux (61st, 23:22.1). Also: Katie Glover (64th, 23:36.3) and Ruth Kasler (79th, 24:09.5).

Logan Elm — Brooke Gardner (sixth, 20:25.9); Paige Gardner (45th, 22:34.5); Ashley Trobaugh (47th, 22:39.1); Makayla Martin (54th, 23:02.9) and Emily Wright (100th, 25:06.8). Also: Alisha Johnson (116th, 25:53.6) and Timber Hardbarger (124th, 26:17.7).

 Circleville — Julie Richards (second, 19:55.4); Sam Stevens (12th, 20:46); Elizabeth Burns (78th, 24:08); Emily Burns (98th, 25:00.9) and Lindsay Yahn (126th, 26:19). Also: Lea Craig (127th, 26:19.3) and Monique Dugan (137th, 27:03.4).

 Westfall — Deidra Teets (28th, 21:48.7); Devin Miller (59th, 23:19.61); Alyssa Lamb (74th, 23:56.1); Lizzie Essman (75th, 23:57.6) and Becca Vonderschmitt (104th, 25:12.5). Also: Katie Dingus (115th, 25:50.5) and Miranda Perdue (134th, 26:48.2).

Amanda-Clearcreek — Sammie Butterbaugh (26th, 21:42.3); Bekah Legg (44th, 22:32.1); Jenni Miller (105th, 25:14.1); Ellie Johnson (147th, 27:59.7) and Heather Johnson (158th, 30:17.2).