Let's talk Ohio HS XC

They also have their predictions here for D1:

oh.milesplit.com

MileSplit Predicts Team, Individual State Meet Champions

Mark Dwyer

The MileSplit Ohio reporting team casts their choices for the 2023 OHSAA State Cross Country Championships.

Link:oh.milesplit.com/articles/341140/miles...

Girls D1 Top 10 (not an order but rather a list)

1. Hilliard..I really do not see them losing this but you never know

and the other 9 teams in no order: Mason, Shaker Heights, Lakota West, Perrysburg, Avon, Wadsworth, Olentangy Liberty, Marysville, Rocky River/Westlake so maybe that is my top 11 overall teams. I also would not be shocked if Loveland was in top 10, but I am not sure any team I left out would be top 10 except for maybe Dublin Jerome but that would be up to their #4 and #5

I think there is going to be quite the fight for the other 4 spots in the top 5 as all of those teams listed above except for Loveland can do it on a good day from their runners

Samantha Erbach of Waynesville is an interesting story.

She is one of the favorites to win the D2 girls title and is also one of the top soccer players in the state. Her team is also one of the favorites to win the D2 title for soccer. She is headed to Xavier next year and will play soccer there.

She would also be very competitive running D1 this year. For comparison, Evelyn Prodehl won the D1 Troy regional in 17:22. The next two places were 18:20 & 18:22. Erbach won the Troy D2 regional in 18:05.

I think this point sort of shows that Pickerington, for whatever reason, did run faster than usual this year. Those top guys are great, but not quite on Ackley or Jordan’s level.

All pollsters pick Colin Cernansky for D2 boys champ. Andrew Walton won D2 Pickerington Region with a time of 14:59. Second Place: 15:34. Cernasky Won his Boardmen with a time of 15:49 Second place: 15:55. I know Cernansky won last year and Boardmen is a much slower course, but c'mon. Is if 50 seconds slower? I think Andrew Walton has a very good chance of winning.

Boardman is one of the last true cross country courses left in Ohio. I loved running it and now everyone complains how slow it is as it's not a grass track like the courses in the other regions. I think the best kids this year are in the Central but the results could be different than expected as the NE teams get overlooked that don't run fast courses the entire year.

The Boardman course isn't 50 seconds slower but it is definitely slower than Pickerington. It's possible too he just did what he had to do to win.

Ilg ran a 15:26 on the same course so it is only 30 seconds slow max, where Cernansky ran a 15:49. I of course you have to adjust for difficulty, but a 14:59 is a better result than Cernansky's 15:49, even on a difficult course.

Not true.

OUTDOOR:

1600: Ackley - 4:07, Gabelman - 4:08, Jordan - 4:10, Ricchiuti - 4:16 (hardly run)

3200: Jordan - 8:46 (Brooks Nationals), Richiutti - 9:01 (coverted 9:03 2 mile), Ackley - 9:01, Gabelman - 9:13 (only run twice)

INDOOR:

1600: Ackley - 4:07, Gabelman - NA (hasn't run), Jordan - 4:13, Ricchiuti - 4:19

3200: Jordan - 8:54, Ackley - 9:00, Ricchiuti - 9:06, Gabelman - NA

CROSS (best comps):

Darby District: Gabelman - 14:55, Ricchiuti - 15:00, Ackley - 15:04

Pick North: Gabelman - 14:51, Ricchiuti - 14:52, Ackley - 14:58, Jordan - 15:14

Olen Berlin: Gabelman - 14:55, Ackley - 15:03 (11th grade)

Bob Reall: Gabelman - 14:49, Jordan - 15:49 (perhaps different course?)

NXR: Ackley -14:29, Jordan - 14:59 (FL Midwest, not NXR), Gabelman - 15:02 (junior), Ricciuiti - 15:06 (junior)

Ackley senior XC - 5 sub 15:00

Gabelman senior XC - 4 sub 15:00

Ricciuiti senior XC - 1 sub 15:00, 5 sub 15:08

Jordan senior XC - 4 sub 15:00

So it turns out that Jordan never actually broke 15 at Pick North. His best there was 15:14, at the Pick N invite. At regionals his senior year, he ran 15:29.

Either way... to say Gabelman and Ricchiuti are "not on the level" of Ackley or Jordan isn't correct. They're pretty damn equal in XC. Jordan separates himself in track with his 8:46, and Ricchuiti doesn't quite have the 1600 speed to join the others. But if we're using their times to say Pick North was especially fast this year, I say no. They're just really talented in a year of historical levels of talent in Central OH.

100% agree. Anyone care to bet? Walton ran stupidly and still hung on to Gabelman and Smith to the very end at Lancaster. I say he's the champ, running away from Cernansky and winning by 15 seconds.

Ackley ran 8:51 full 2 mile indoor. That's 8:48 for 3200.

Ackely ran 8:51.1 for an indoor 2 mile with a 8:48.47 3200 en route.

What separated Jordan, not just in track but also XC, was his dominance during his senior year. At the Pickerington regional that year he beat the field by about 12 seconds. It is worth noting also that Columbus has about 1.5" of rain on the Wednesday of that week. At the state meet, Jordan's dominance was even greater, winning by about 20 seconds in 14:54 at NTR.

Also, it's kind of difficult to compare cross country times across years. Conditions differ, the fields differ, and all of that. Who knows what Jordan would have run at Pickerington had he had someone with him? Time is not that big of a deal in cross country and that is why I am reluctant to compare times from various years, against different competition, and different conditions.

I'll give you that the Columbus guys might be on par with Ackley this year but I still will not concede that they're on par with Jordan.

Beat me to it!

Thanks. Missed NBIN. We'll see what Gabelman and Ricchiuti do on a national level if they choose to go that route. I'm guessing we'll see an 8 in front of Sam's new 3200 PR, and Ben might - might - sneak down into Kidder or Mountain range with his 1600/Mile.

To restate... in the context of the "Was Pick N especially fast this year?" debate, I still say no. Central Ohio just has the best collection of individual talent this year that it's ever had. Perhaps the only year that gets close is the Jha, Payne, Moore, Scrape, Bons, Kreft, Johnson crew...

Sorry boardman is not pancake flat and is a true xc course, Cernansky wins d2 unless he's sick or something unforeseen happens. Walton seems legit, but Cernansky has won every time he toes the line in xc in the state of Ohio in the last two years except a 2nd place finish at Wooster to Tommy Rice. I would not be surprised if its close, but if I was a betting man I would put all my money on Cernansky.

You've never seen Lancaster's course, I take it. But thanks for your haughty judginess of all Central Ohio courses. Walton ran 14:57 there among the plentiful hills and covered bridges - true cross country! - finishing only 8 seconds behind Gabelman, which is something only Ricchiuti and Ryan Smith have done this season.

You may want to peak around at Walton's year and see what he's been doing before you put all your money on Cernansky. I stand by my prediction. We'll have a new guy atop the D2 podium on Saturday...

Who's going to tell him about this year's Stark County meet ;)

Lancaster is a good course but it isn't a regional course. Also, Lancaster is getting into the Appalachian foothills so it is not that similar to rest of Central Ohio. It is getting into SE Ohio, almost.

I could be wrong but I believe the comparison and reference to pancake flat courses was pertaining to regional courses. Boardman is quite a bit more difficult than Pick North is.

This is why I don't pay a lot of attention about times from different courses and why XC "records" from different courses are a stupid idea. More than a few times the qualifiers from the Boardman region came to the state meet and were underestimated because the times that they ran were slower compared to other regions.

You're right. Lancaster is SE Ohio, but that's where a lot of Central Ohio teams run. And it was brought up because it was part of the Walton-Cernansky discussion/ debate.

One guy was saying Walton's sub 15 at Pick North doesn't mean much, that Cernansky's Boardman win is a better performance and therefore he'll win. The other guy countered with Walton also breaking 15 at Lancaster earlier in the year running against Gabelman.