TROY — Tippecanoe sophomore cross country runner Landon Kimmel made a statement.

Covington senior Asher Long defended his title

And Piqua junior Noah Burgh will be joining them at Fortress Obetz next Saturday for the state cross country meet as will the Tippecanoe boys on a strong day for Miami County at the Troy regional cross country meet Saturday.

D-I

When Kimmel crossed the finish line first in 15:05.97 — just three seconds off the regional meet record — Saturday and glanced at the board with the times on it as he crossed the finish line, you might have thought he was hoping for the regional record.

Nothing, could have been further from the truth.

“I wasn’t thinking about that at all,” Kimmel said. “I just wanted to do the best I could do for our team.”

And he did just that. Tippecanoe lost the sixth runner tiebreaker to Centerville 188 points, but came away with the sixth and final spot to advance to next week’s state meet as team, five points better than seventh-place Little Miami.

Nobody was happier about that than Kimmel, who also had plenty of incentive after last year’s regional meet.

He finished fourth a year ago on his way to a 25th-place finish at state and he hadn’t forgotten about that.

“I didn’t run up to my potential last year,” he said. “This year I did.”

It started with a 4:13 first mile and he never let up for a victory by almost nine seconds.

Also running for Tipp at state will be Everett Muhlekamp, 39, 16:31.37; Luke Schwieterman, 45, 16:35.60; Ethan Berning, 48, 16:36.74; Dimitri Hartman, 81, 16:57.76; Will Hept, 90, 1:13.43 and Elias Stinecker, 92, 17:14.80.

Kimmel looks for a big improvement at state as well this year.

“Hopefully, I can go over and finish in the top five at state,” he said.

Piqua was at regional as a team for the first time since 1972, which was cause for celebration in itself.

And a 15th-place finish did nothing to take away from that.

“We hadn’t been here as a team for 51 years,” Burgh said. “I am so proud of that and what this team has accomplished. That was really exciting to be here as a team.”

And Burgh added to the excitement by finishing 10th in 15:38.06 to earn an individual berth at state.

“Getting to state has been a goal,” Burgh said. “Top 30 at state is All-Ohio, so that is the goal and I think I can do that.”

Other Piqua runners Saturday were Brycen Angle, 56, 16:43.35; Branden Holtvogt, 71, 16:53.47; AJ Burroughs, 123, 17:58.60; Ty Pettus, 125, 18:06.05; Thurston Rampulla,, 18:14.84 and Evan Clark, 130, 18:26.41.

D-II

The Milton-Union boys finished eighth as a team and Ty Furlong missed by just three spots of qualifying for state after running a great race.

Furlong finished 19th in 16:56.19.

Other Bulldog runners were Colin Hinkleman, 50, 17:38.51; Chase Parsons, 60, 17:53.01; Zak Klepinger, 66, 18:07.49; Andrew Oaks, 71, 18:21.85; Jacob Grube, 73, 18:27.53 and Tyler Shoemaker, 91, 18:55.53.

Miami East’s Gunner Weldy finished 64th in 18:01.35.

For Bethel, Kade Schweikhardt was 46th in 17:31.31 and Austin Hawkins was 92 in 18:55.56.

D-III

Long showed why he is considered one of the top runners in the state.

He raced to a 26 second victory in 15:46.80 to lead the Buccs to an eighth-place finish.

“I wanted to come back and win again,” Long said. “And I did that.”

And he liked the way that he did it. A year ago, he won the regional in 16:05.4

“I think I ran a faster time in a little more difficult conditions this year,” he said. “Really, the race went about the way I thought it would.”

And now comes Long’s final high school race with everything at stake.

“I was really happy when I finished 18th last year and got All-Ohio,” Long said. “It will be a physical and mental challenge for everyone next week. It just comes down to how you handle it. I am ready.”

Other Covington runners Saturday were Caleb Ryman, 46, 17:52.52; Beck Wilson, 51, 18:04.12; Preston King, 52, 18:06.56; Chris Deaton, 63, 18:25.89; Calub Hembree, 76, 18:51.41 and Tanner Palsgrove, 77, 18:52.48.

Sports Editor Rob Kiser can be reached at [email protected]