Central District Section 1 Preview

After a long and entertaining regular season that saw numerous entertaining performances, we can finally turn our attention towards a post-season that will hopefully be just as exciting. In this section, we will see six teams advance as well as any individuals who finish inside the top-24 places. 

Boy's Race

Projected Individual Champion: Mick Temple (Pickerington North)

Projected Team Champion: Columbus DeSales Stallions

Projected Team Qualifiers: Columbus DeSales, Olentangy Liberty, Gahanna Lincoln, Marysville, Thomas Worthington, Pickerington North

When looking at the projected team qualifiers, five schools have separated themselves from the pack and appear fairly safe bets to advance to the regional meet. Barring any unforeseen injuries or illness, five of your six qualifiers will be Columbus DeSales, Olentangy Liberty, Gahanna Lincoln, Marysville and Thomas Worthington.

All five of these schools hold a team average of 16:16 or faster for 5000 meters, giving them a healthy margin of error over our next group of teams that are fighting it out for the sixth and final qualifying spot. 

Naturally, I'm sure your next question is who are those schools with a shot of keeping their season alive? My personal pick is the Pickerington North Panthers. I’m giving Pickerington North the edge over schools such as Delaware Hayes and Hilliard Davidson because of the incredibly tight 15-second spread they have between their number two runner and number seven runner. Throw in star Mick Temple at the front of the race (and assuming he brings home a top-3 finish) and I think we see the Panthers race at least one more weekend this fall. 

In addition to the previously mentioned Temple, some other individual title contenders are Sheridan’s Tate Ruthers, Gahanna Lincoln’s Owen Towler, Thomas Worthington’s Mulu Ferguson, and the Columbus DeSales duo of Jacob Reash and Charles Rizek. 

Ruthers’s 15:13 (5k) is the fastest seasonal best of the bunch, but I'm leaning more towards either the DeSales duo or Mick Temple to come out, mainly because they simply have more on the line, with a district team title being a legitimate possibility for DeSales and regional qualification berth for Pickerington North coming down to the wire.

Girl’s Race

Projected Individual Champion: Katy Zang (Teays Valley)

Projected Team Champion: Lancaster Golden Gales

Projected Team Qualifiers: Lancaster, Gahanna Lincoln, Big Walnut, Teays Valley, Marysville, Delaware Hayes.

In this district, there appear to be three distinct tiers among the teams with a legitimate shot of advancing to the second weekend of the postseason, the favorite, the safe bets, and the maybes. 

The overwhelming favorites for the team title are the Lancaster Golden Gales. The Golden Gales haven’t lost a meet since August 17th, and hold an amazing 5k average of 18:45. I think it’s safe to say that barring any catastrophic circumstances, we will see Lancaster advance to the regional meet. 

After Lancaster, we get to a trio of schools, Gahanna Lincoln, Marysville, and Big Walnut. All three hold team averages under 19:40, two of the three (Gahanna Lincoln and Big Walnut) are fresh off wins at their conference championships, while Marysville took runner-up behind a strong Dublin Jerome squad. With that impressive body of work behind them, it’s enough to convince me that all three of these squads should more than likely survive and advance to next weekend.

Finally, we get to the most interesting part of the district meet, the fierce competition for the final two qualifying spots. The way I see it, Teays Valley and Delaware Hayes are the favorites for the final two spots, but it wouldn’t shock me if New Albany or Granville (fresh off a win at the Licking County Championships) snuck in and nabbed a qualifier. 

Flipping over to the individual side, let’s not make this more complicated than we need to. Teays Valley junior Katy Zang is one of two runners in the state to have run under the 17-minute barrier for 5000 meters, is undefeated on the year, and I don’t think that’s going to change this Saturday. One other runner who I think deserves mention is Grove City Junior, Aubrey Smith. Smith isn’t from a traditionally strong cross country powerhouse but she is more than capable of advancing to the regional meet as an individual and quite possibly even the state meet. 

As we approach an exhilarating postseason, the stage is set for teams and individuals to shine. Columbus DeSales and Lancaster are strong contenders for regional qualifications and titles, while Pickerington North aims to secure the final boys' spot. On the girls' side, Katy Zang stands out, but fierce competition lies behind her.

Click here for full team start lists and meet information