Boys and Girls cross country advance to Regionals

On Oct. 18, the boys and girls cross country teams competed at the OHSAA Division III Southwest District Championships at Cedarville University. Both teams qualified to move on to the Regional Championships on Oct. 25. 

On the boys side, junior Colin Hinkelman led with an eighth place finish and a time of 16:34.3. Finishing in 15 was younger brother Grant Hinkelman, who ran a time of 16:57.0 and third brother, Finn Hinkelman came in 48 with a time of 18:33.8. Following those three were Chase Parsons in 60 with a time of 18:57.7, Andrew Oaks in 77 with a time of 19:37.3 and Tyler Shoemaker in 99 with a time of 20:15.9.

Although this wasn't how the placements were expected to go when walking into the meet, the boys still qualified for the Regional Championships in Troy. They placed sixth overall, and 13 teams made it overall. 

Leading for the girls team was sophomore Aubree Bates, who placed 15 and ran a time of 21:17.2. Next in was Amelia Iddings, who placed 34 with a time of 22:21.4, and following her was Sydnie Bartlett in 50 with a time of 23:12.9. Alaina Manning finished 61 with a time of 23:36.7 and Madalyn Korte was close behind, finishing 64 with a time of 23:53.2.

Rounding out the team was Mallory Coate in 76 with a time of 4:56.2 and Jessa Lightner in 96 with a time of 26:21.0. 

The girls team placed eighth overall and 11 total teams moved on.

With temperatures being around 73 degrees during race time after a week of training in cooler weather, it was certainly a factor in the times run by Milton’s athletes. However, they still overcame the barriers and will continue into another week of training.