Ewert, Beavercreek dominate at Nike Valley Twilight; Beavercreek places 4 in first 6 in Girls Championship; York pack gives them Boys Championship; Kane kick for surprise Boys win

By Michael Newman

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Terre Haute, IN – It was a sea of orange intermixed with a constant drizzle that was showcased in the front of the Girls Championship race. Beavercreek OH made sure that they were heard in this meet as they placed four runners in the top six to easily win the Girls championship with only 53 points.

RESULTS     

Taylor Ewert, in only her second race of the season, pulled away from teammate Savannah Roark just after the first mile to win in 17:11.7. Roark was next in 17:49.6 followed by Jodie Pierce who ran 18:07.9. Juliann Williams (6th) and Kendall Hobbs (45th) round out the Beavers top five.

“I’ve known a lot of these girls for years,” Ewert said. “I get to watch them in practice, pushing each other and pushing me. We get up every morning for runs like other teams do. We are just friends. We have a chance to do great things this season. I just hope that we finish strong.”

Ewert had another goal on this night besides Beavercreek winning the team championship. She was hungry to get the course record of 17:00.6 set by Judy Pendergast in 2015. She was on pace to do that through four-kilometers.

“I was on pace through 4k. I needed to be at 13:36 and I was at 13:32,” Ewert added. “The last kilometer was tough. I would have helped if there was someone with me at that point.”

She will have one more chance to go after that record at the NXR Midwest Regional on November 16. Illinois runner Katelynne Hart most likely will be with her where both could push each other to some fast times. In the meantime, Ewert and her teammates will have work to do including defending their Ohio D1 State Championship. With an off week between state and NXR Midwest, Ewert won’t have to repeat what happened in 2018 when their state meet was pushed back a week. “That was a double I did not mind doing last year,” said Ewert. “It is one that I hope that I will not have to repeat.”

Columbus North IN edged Yorkville by one point for second-place 107-108 behind the 13th place finish from freshman Brianna Newell. Yorkville, who not mentioned as one of top three teams during the race, made a strong move in the final kilometer to secure third-place behind the fifth-place finish from Helena Kleronomos.

Beavercreek had made a statement in the Girls Championship race. Now it was York’s turn. The Illinois team had been one of the top 10 teams in pre-season rankings but had a rocky start for in their first two meets.

The Dukes raced were their projected top five for the first time this season with the return of Ethan Kern to their lineup. Kern had a minor injury that had postponed his seasonal debut until this race.

York had control of the race moving into position towards the front in the first mile and continued that pace from there. They placed four runners in the top 18 with Kern, the two time national qualifier, their fifth runner in 36th. York’s 78 points outdistanced Indiana schools Carmel (113 points), Bloomington South (187 points), and Brownsburg (188 points) to capture the Boys team championship.

“I’m satisfied,” York Coach Charlie Kern said after the race. “We stay closer together for a longer period of time in every race. I’m seeing improvement so that’s good.”

Daniel Klysh moved up in the final 800m to lead the Dukes with a fourth-place finish followed by teammates Colin Hill (10), Michael Moriarty (15), Sam Ayers (18), and Kern. This being Kern’s first race of the season, it will be interesting to see his improvement closer to the York pack race by race. The team split on their top five runners was 34 seconds.

“I know we have been training hard, working hard every day but our results have been unfortunate,” Klysh said. “We knew once something clicked, it would be that time. We had great workouts Monday and Tuesday and we knew it would be our time to roll. We came down her to win and we were not going to accept anything less.”

Luke Combs of Lapel IN took charge of the individual race from the start opening up a eight second lead with a kilometer left in the race. In the final 800-meters of the race, the momentum belonged to Dalton Kane of Plainfield IN. Kane closed the gap taking the lead less than 300-meters left in the race. The two runners were side by side approaching the finish line. Kane, who did not qualify for last year’s Indiana state meet,  had the edge winning in 15:31.8 followed by Combs (15:32.6).