Batavia boys varsity cross country squad, champions of the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division. Team members are, front row from left, Cody Schott, Ryan Cooper, Jake Greiner, Alec Jacobs, and Bret Fortner and second row, coach Dona Braswell, Hunter Stith,Tim Knauer, Jacob Braswell, Ryan Harper, Josh Moon, Griffin Stith, and Mat Mackey.

Batavia boys varsity cross country squad, champions of the Southern Buckeye Conference National Division. Team members are, front row from left, Cody Schott, Ryan Cooper, Jake Greiner, Alec Jacobs, and Bret Fortner and second row, coach Dona Braswell, Hunter Stith,Tim Knauer, Jacob Braswell, Ryan Harper, Josh Moon, Griffin Stith, and Mat Mackey.
New Richmond, Batavia, and Bethel-Tate each earned a championship in Southern Buckeye Conference cross country competition.

Boys

American Division

Team scores and standings

New Richmond 16, Bethel-Tate 64, Western Brown 76, Goshen 87, and Amelia 121. Clermont Northeastern did not compete.

New Richmond literally ran away with the title by having the first four finishers.

Individual finishes and times

Alex Ariapad of New Richmond (first) 17-minutes and 48-seconds, Grant Gilman of New Richmond 18:31, Luke Gilday of New Richmond 18:35, Ben Green of New Richmond 18:42, Daniel Hulsmeyer of Goshen 18:47, Bobby Bingham of New Richmond 18:50, Sterling Briggs of Goshen 19:00, Stephen Rouse of Amelia 19:05, Ashton Hutchinson of Bethel-Tate 19:09, Gage Perkins of Western Brown 19:12, Jadon Henry of Bethel-Tate 19:26, Sumner Hobart of Bethel-Tate 19:33, Brady Patrick of Western Brown 19:45.01, P. J. Seng of Western Brown 19:45.71, Brodey McConnell of Bethel-Tate 19:47, Tony Sharp of Western Brown 19:51, Zane Copestick of Bethel-Tate 19:52, Daniel Wirth of Amelia 20:03.00, Dylan Torok of Bethel-Tate 20:04.00, Patrick Voto of Goshen 20:09.00, Jason Adams of Bethel-Tate 20:14, Sam Ploucha of New Richmond 20:43, Phoenix McMullen of Western Brown 20:52.00, Chip Ratcliff of Bethel-Tate 21:01.00, and Rick Pride of Western Brown 21:13.

Rylan Shebesta, New Richmond head coach, said, “At the beginning of the year We had trouble just finding runners and then Green and Bingham came out. I was surprised, but they got better all the year. At the league I was surprised they all ran that well.

“Ariapad, Gilday, and Gilman I knew from the beginning they would be our leaders.

“The league race was a total team effort. . . The future is unknown for the boys after this year. We’re just not getting alot out for the team.:

National Division

Team scores/standings

Batavia 24, Georgetown 38, Blanchester 91, Williamsburg 98, and East Clinton 116. Felicity did not compete with a full five harrier squad.

All five of Batavia’s scorers, including the Stith twins, finished among the best eight finishers overall.

Individual finishes and times

Nick McAfee of Georgetown (first) 16:56.00, Hunter Stith of Batavia 18:00, Jacob Braswell of Batavia 18:02.00, Griffin Stith of Batavia18:06, Kyle Damen of Georgetown 18:08.00, Antonio Hill of Georgetown 18:09.00, Josh Moon of Batavia 18:16.00, Timmy Knauer of Batavia 18:17, Jordan Kattine of Georgetown 18:30, Jeff Cook of Blanchester 18:33, Roger Thornberry of Williamsburg 18:41, Gage Egner of Blanchester 18:44.35, Eric Hinkle of Blanchester 18:44.59, Ian Henson of East Clinton 19:03, Cody Schott of Batavia 19:13.00, Ryan Cooper of Batavia 19:18.39, Matthew Williams of Georgetown 19:18.61, Nate Collings of East Clinton 19:31.00, Jake Cropper of Georgetown 19:34.00, Ryan Boggs of Williamsburg 19:43.00, Tyler Crawford of Williamsburg 19:44, Ryan Harper of Batavia 19:57.00, Jamie Simmons of Williamsburg 19:59.00, Tom Cropper of Georgetown 20:07.00, and Jake Greiner of Batavia 20:17

“This was fun for the seniors. They’ve been working hard all year. We’ve been runner-up the past several years in a row. The situation continued to improve for us all year this year,” said Dona Braswell, the Bulldogs’ head coach.

“Tim Knauer joined us a couple of weeks ago and was a major difference. . . The seniors have been injured all year. The Stith twins have been the core of the team.

“I see several years ahead of strong running at Batavia with the Stith brothers coming back and some other strong runners coming up.”

Girls

American Division

Team scores/ standings

Bethel-Tate 45, New Richmond 47, Goshen 58, Amelia 88, and Western Brown 89.

Individual finishes and times

Madison Terry of Amelia (first) 19:57, Brittany Clark of Goshen 20:37.00, Andi Lanigan of Bethel-Tate 21:09, Olivia Behymer of New Richmond 21:28, Deanna Sipple of Bethel-Tate 21:31.00, Kara Burns of New Richmond 21:50, Courtney Turner of Goshen 22:01, Emily Erdman of New Richmond 22:11, Heather Liming of Western Brown 23:05, Zoe Crabtree of New Richmond 23:12, Morgan Calhoun of Bethel-Tate 23:18, Brittany Fischer of Bethel-Tate 23:23, Ashley Taylor of Amelia 23:24, Carolin Baker of Bethel-Tate 23:27, Morgan Huff of Goshen 23:28.00, Megan York of Goshen 23:36.00, Emily Siemer of Western Brown 23:37.00, Sara Briggs of Goshen 23:41, Sarah Molitor of New Richmond 223:54.42, Lindsay Duncanson of Western Brown 24:08, Anna Mefford of Western Brown 24:11.00, Kelsa Gruber of Western Brown 24:15, Jenny Wilson of Amelia 24:30, Katie Kaphart of Amelia 25:17.00, and Taryn Rupp of New Richmond 25:29.00.

The Tigers and the Lions have been edging each other out all season and of course the league meet is the showdown.

Said Bethel-Tate head coach Pam Taylor, “We tied with New Richmond once this year and we’ve beaten each other in races. The kids had it in their minds they were going to run as hard as they could and they did. I’m very happy for them because most of the team has been together since junior high.

“New Richmond is a good team. We went back and forth with them all season.

“We’re going to miss our seniors next year as runners and as people.”

Said New Richmond head coach Rylan Shebesta, “It was a solid effort by the girls. I’m very proud of them. The (Bethel-Tate) fifth girl (Baker) ran a good race that made a difference. We’ve been battling in close races with Bethel all years. We knew this one would be close, too.”

National Division

Team scores/ standings

Georgetown 23, Blanchester 42, Batavia 59, and Felicity and Williamsburg did not compete with a full five runner team.

Individual finishes and times of Clermont countians

Cheyenne Trammel of Felicity (third) 23:38.00, Cierra Isner of Batavia (seventh) 24:14.00, Lindsey Smith of Williamsburg (ninth) 25:13, Lindsay Shepherd of Batavia (13th) 27:14.00, Emma Wallace of Batavia (15th) 27:38.00, Emily Moon (16th) of Batavia 27:52.00, Becca Ewing of Batavia (17th), 27:54.00, and Cheyenne Smith of Batavia (20th) 29:53.00.