Running on Milton-Union High School’s 5K course (3.1 miles) Ford and Waynesville senior Kaden Harvey set the pace following the mass start. The duo quickly distanced themselves from the other 120 runners in the Division I-II large school meet. Ford never relinquished the lead despite Harvey’s footsteps directly behind him to win in 16 minutes, 30.2 seconds. Harvey followed in 16:35. They were the only two under the 17-minute mark.
“I never looked back, but I would judge (how close Harvey was) by the coaches saying things like nice job guys,” Ford said. “I could tell he was only a few seconds behind.”
Ford followed up his 72nd place as a seventh grader with 16th as an eighth grader. He came in 70th his freshman year before posting solid finishes of 16th two years ago and 11th last season.
Ford didn’t know much about the field of runners he was competing against Saturday. And he prefers to keep it that way.
“Honestly, most of (what I think about during a race) is about my friends and how nice they’ve been to me. They’re not counting on me to win, but they look forward to hearing how I do. It’s strong encouragement. I know no matter how I do they know I tried my best.”
Last season’s Schul Invitational had 268 runners in the big school division. The field was trimmed to comply with COVID-19 guidelines. Masks were mandatory on site. Social distancing between teams took place both at the start and at the finish. Starting boxes were spaced further apart compared to previous meets. Runners were immediately guided to designated team areas once crossing the finish line. Spectators were not permitted at this year’s meet.
In the girls’ big school race, Lebanon senior Faith Duncan trailed Oakwood junior Grace Hartman for most of the first two miles. Duncan made her move with two turns remaining, including the second-to-last turn around a gate to enter the track, and steadily pulled away to win in 18:20.6.
“Grace raced super tactically. When she went to the front I wasn’t expecting it,” Duncan said. “I thought she’d try to sit on me a little bit. I had to adapt.
“I tried to put in little surges where I could to wear her out. I could hear she was getting tired but she held on long enough to get to a turn or a tangent before me. I didn’t want to wait to sit back and kick at the end.”
Hartman, who finished second at the D-II state meet the past two seasons, finished in 18:35.4. The next finisher in the 108-runner field came in 56 seconds after Hartman.
Duncan won the Schul as a freshman and again as a junior. She battled through injuries as a sophomore and spent much of last season doing low-risk training to fully recover.
“Today I was hoping my time would be a lot faster,” Duncan said. “I have three big goals for each race I want to check off. Win, set the course record and be able to make our top seven in guys. Only one of those was met today.”
For the record, Lebanon’s No. 7 runner crossed the line in 18:04.2.
Lebanon won the boys big school title with 27 points. Waynesville was second with 53 and Oakwood third at 97.
The Warriors were led by senior Jacob Corbett (17:06.7), who finished third. Senior Carter Davidson, sophomore Jacob Fleig, freshman Calvin Kilgallon and sophomore Jesus Trejo claimed fifth place through eighth, while senior Joey Shupe rounded out the top 10.
Oakwood’s girls, paced by Hartman and sophomore Bella Butler’s 2-3 finish, won the big school title by one point over Lebanon. Senior Hannah Moulton also cracked the top 10 in fifth.
In addition to Duncan, Lebanon senior Hope Carr was eighth and junior Abby Taylor was 10th.
West Liberty-Salem swept the boys and girls small-school team and individual titles. Junior Megan Adams finished first for the girls and junior Dylan Lauck won for the boys.
About the Author