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Mason’s Tori Martin celebrates with coaches after the girls won the Division I state championship in Cross Country, Saturday, Nov 3,2012. (Tony Tribble for the Enquirer)

Kevin Goheen reports:

Saturday was a good day for Cincinnati-area runners at the Ohio state cross country championships. It was a great day if you happened to be from Warren County.

Mason brought home its first Division I state championship in record-setting style while Lebanon junior Jacquelyn Crow sprinted past Janelle Noe of Sylvania Northview and St. Ursula sophomore Annie Heffernan in the final 200 meters at National Trail Raceway to claim the individual title with a time of 17 minutes, 39.31 seconds.

Crow is the 11th individual Division I state champion from the Cincinnati area in the last 14 years. She is Lebanon’s first state champion in cross country.

Cincinnati runners took five of the top six places in Division I.

• Photos: Mason wins first state title

Mason scored 42 points to beat runner-up Centerville by 100 points. The Comets placed their top five runners in the top 26 overall and had an average time of 18:24.

According to Ohio High School Athletic Association officials, that is the fastest average time for a state championship team. This is just the second year for the state meet at National Trail Raceway. Scioto Downs in Columbus was the host site for the previous 25 years and before that it was at Ohio State. Courses and weather conditions differ from year to year but the previous low average was 18:47 by Rocky River Magnificat in 2009.

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Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: centerville, chip dobson, comets, cross country, division i state championship, emily schlimm, hebron, lady comets, lauren wood, leah ford, maegan murphy, mason, mason high school, national trail raceway, title, tori martin

Mason girls’ 2012-13 cross country team / Provided

Kevin Goheen reports:

Mason cross country coach Chip Dobson had a conversation with senior Lauren Wood over the summer. For the past four years Dobson’s team had Monica Lake as its leader on the course and off of it but Lake graduated last spring and moved on to Oklahoma State University.

“I told Lauren in the summer that I need you to fill that hole and, as Lauren does, she just says ‘OK’,” said Dobson. “She’s real business-like. She’s real smart, has a 4.5 (GPA) and 34 ACT or something ridiculous like that so she just took the challenge and has put in the time.”

The Comets have followed Wood’s lead and head into Saturday’s state meet ranked No. 1 in the Division I state coaches’ poll and seeking the program’s first state title. Mason will be running in its eighth consecutive state meet and has finished second and third the last two years.

National Trail Raceway in Hebron, 25 miles east of Columbus, is hosting the state meet for the second year. The Division I race is the final race of the day, starting at 3 p.m.

Mason is the lone local team that has qualified for the state meet. Nine area runners, however, have qualified as individuals.

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Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: bethany angstadt, chip dobson, comets, cross country, emily schlimm, hebron, lady comets, lauren wood, leah ford, maegan murphy, mason high school, monica lake, national trail raceway

Alex Notten of Mason and Jacob McNamara of La Salle compete in the Division I 5K.

Kevin Goheen reports:

Boys make their way through the mud during the Division I 5K in Mason.

Tom Rapp measured 3½ inches of rain from Friday’s overnight storms at his home in Mason. His rain gauge showed another inch fell Saturday morning.

The cross country course at Corwin Nixon Park is challenging enough with its combination of flat lands, hills and jumps over hay bales and creeks, but adding mud to the mix only increased the challenge.

• Photos: Mason Cross Country Invitational

Rapp’s Mason boys’ team handled the elements and a field of 189 runners the best to capture the Division I team title at the Mason Cross Country Invitational for the first time since 2009 with 73 points.

The Comets, ranked No. 2 in The Enquirer’s Division I coaches’ poll and No.3 in the state poll, beat Lawrence North (Ind.) by six points with a pack effort that saw just 29 seconds separating their first six runners.

“It’s a source of pride because we haven’t won it the last couple of years and we train in that part almost daily,” said Rapp. “The course deteriorated throughout the day, as we knew it would, but our guys did a good job of handling it. You could either complain about the footing or go out and beat the guy next to you who’s also struggling with the footing. Our guys handled it.”

Senior Alex Notten placed sixth overall with a time of 17:08 over the 3.1-mile course. Joey Stimler (13th), Zac Thompson (15th), Tom Clark (19th), Dylan McElhenny (20th) and Nick Grismer (23rd) rounded out Mason’s top six runners.

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Posted in: Fall sports, Sports |

Tags: Tags: alex notten, beavercreek, carmel, cincinnati hills league, comets, corwin nixon park, cross country invitational, dylan mcelhenny, elder, emily schlimm, finneytown, indian hill, joey stimler, lauren wood, maegan murphy, mariemont, mason, mason high school, nick grismer, sucamore, taylor, tom clark, tom rapp, turpin, ursuline, wyoming, zac thompson