Let's talk Ohio HS XC

I think Jerome's varsity is going out of state next weekend, so no Ricchuiti/Gableman/Smith battle. However, I believe Kimmel is entered, along with Cope, and Raduraju, so we should get to see how those guys stack up at this point.

Did the Celtic Clash course seem legitimate this year? A few years ago it was short, IIRC.

The Woodridge boys & girls seem to be getting better. They always seem to find a way to get it done even when they're supposed to be having a "off year."

There is a girl named Julia Bockenstette that runs for Liberty. I wonder if she is the daughter or a relative of Doug Bockenstette, a Cincinnati LaSalle runner from the early 90s. He was one of the strongest runners in the Midwest and was State XC champion, 1600 & 3200 champ. He was also a part of the strong 4 x 800 LaSalle teams.

I’m guessing the new route is short.

Why would the course be short?

Those guys are all good and there's no reason to doubt that they're not capable of those times.

I probably should not brought the times up. My bad. People get too fixated on times in cross country.

4985M, best possible line, wheeled, several times, Same as the 2022 course.

The obvious target for new course in 2022. A new construction fence appeared in the last few days before the 2022 Bob Reall, the rushed final "as built" length was what it was. The minor modifications for the 2023 course incorporated the same features, and intentionally maintained the same length... I (maybe others) prefer year-over-year comparability to better track progress.

I continue to think on the factors that impact the speed of a course:

Weather conditions of course...

But also, bring together elite competitors and magic happens.

Good, firm footing, short/tight grass surely matter.

I personally don't think hills have to be a huge negative, especially for the front-runners... and long, sweeping downhills more than pay back the effort climbing.

Course design? I think it matters... When designing a course, I want features that require some planning, on-the-move thinking, patience maybe, and keep the runners engaged in the racing rather than feeling sorry for themselves and thinking "how much farther". Thinking outside the body, rather than constantly "checking your gauges". In our sport, if you're looking for pain... or a reason to give in, you can pretty easily find it.

In addition to hills, curves/turns that follow natural ridges and other natural features and vary in size/shape/direction, attractive views, available/usual features(bridges for example). I am not a fan of laps around athletic fields and chain link fences, but, hey... you work with what you have.

edit: The obvious target for the new course in 2022 was 5000M

Here is who is currently listed at Nike Twilight and I'd assume they'd be full strength to test themselves before the post season.

athletic.net

Track & Field, Cross Country Results, Statistics

Meet results and team scores.

Link:www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/meet/221...

Ohio Teams: Dublin Scioto, Medina, Beavercreek, Springboro, Mason, Milford, St Xavier (OH), Madeira

Best course in Ohio.

This. Absolutely phenomenal course, phenomenal energy all around yesterday.

Agreed. This is a really good post. Thank you for this contribution, Gales.

Gabelman and Ricchiuti both commit to Syracuse?!? Ackley, Gabelman, and Ricchiuti all on the same team?!? The Columbus to Syracuse pipeline!

Entries for the Berlin Bear Dash. This is like a 2nd state preview meet. Eeesh.

Teams and Current Rank: #2 D Coffman, #4 Westerville N, #8 O Orange, #9 W Kilbourne, #12 D Jerome, #15 O Liberty, #17 Toledo SF, #19 D Scioto, #22 Pick North, #29 Perrysburg, #33 Marysville, Westerville C, Big Walnut, Boardman, DeSales, Rittman, Tippacanoe, Upper Arlington

Sub-16 Individuals and PRs:

Kimmel 14:42, Gabelman14:49, Smith 14:54, Snyder 15:02, McMahon 15:05, Richuitti 15:06, Day 15:15, Temple 15:20, Bolton 15:20, Schroff 15:21, Radruraju 15:22, Cope 15:23, Ozbun 15:28, Clark 15:30, Miller 15:32, Guerrera 15:34, D'Altorio 15:34, Farris 15:35, Novisky 15:40, Stanford 15:42, Dellasanta 15:47, Allender 15:52, Johnson 15:52, Arquette 15:53, Towler 15:55, Bons 15:55, Sanford 15:55, Hawkins 15:56, Lengl 15:56, Ricker 15:59

3 sub 15:00... 13 sub 15:30... 30 sub 16:00

Does the winner go 14:35? I mean, this field is so, so loaded.

Forgot Reash of DeSales (15:51). Make that 31 sub 16:00 entries.

What is the course like?

I'm more interested in how the teams do and how the individuals run against each other, irrespective of the times they run.

Pancake flat. Fast as hell. Results from last year...

oh.milesplit.com

Berlin Bear Den Dash 2022 - HS Boys Varsity

MileSplits official HS Boys Varsity formatted results for the 2022 Berlin Bear Den Dash, hosted by Olen. Berlin in Delaware OH.

Link:oh.milesplit.com/meets/464888-berlin-b...

Someone on this forum was saying that Jerome’s varsity isn’t entered, but that could be incorrect

That could be true. Jerome is entered under "Teams" on Milesplit, but I just looked in the "Entries" tab, and I couldn't find Richuitti or Guerrera listed. Maybe their varsity is elsewhere.

I was expecting a bigger breakout performance from Day by now, but I think it is still coming. Got to hang with the sub 15 guys.