Unioto boys cross country place third at OHSAA state meet
CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — Despite their effort and preparation throughout the season, the top ranked Unioto High School boys’ cross country team in Division II fell to 3rd place at the state meet.
Poised to possibly win their first ever state title under coach Matt Paxton, the boys’ squad cruised to the state meet barely contested. The Sherman’s won their league, district, and regional meets without being challenged. They were favored over defending champion Woodridge High School, which held the number one ranking up until the week before the event. This worried coach Paxton leading up to the race.
Unioto may have dominated cross country in Southeast Ohio, winning 5 regional championships, but Woodridge boys’ cross country has 8 state titles, and seem to be the thorn in the Sherman’s side. Paxton seemingly knew it would be a challenge after the Woodridge boys’ team failed to win their own region yet placed well enough to make the state meet.
“Would you rather face Mike Tyson before he lost to Buster Douglas or after?”
Coach Paxton’s assumptions about the Woodridge team were right, they ran towards their 9th state title in boys’ cross country and finished off back-to-back championships for 2019 and 2020 seasons.
Unioto tied Waynseville High School for second place but lost the tie-breaker. “The tie-breaker goes down to where the sixth runner on the team placed and theirs outran Markko [Turner] to beat us,” explains junior Gabriel Lynch, the top finishing Sherman.
Despite not getting the result the team wanted, there were some individual accomplishments to be proud of.
Juniors Gabriel Lynch and Corey Schobelock placed in the top 15 earning them all-state honors as individual runners.
A third-place finish in the state is still something to be proud of for the young runners for Unioto. The core of their team will return losing only two seniors, Clayton Lynch and Matt Spetnagel.
“We can be just as good if not better next year,” says coach Paxton.
Unioto Distance moves into winter running program and will prepare for redemption on the hard surface come spring for the outdoor track season.
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