Redbirds’ Shultz, WH’s Mena dominate at Nanny Goat Invite
The Nanny Goat Invitational saw front-runner Tess Shultz of Loudonville bolt to a huge lead and win the event by more than one minute. Behind her is West Holmes freshman Iriel Mena, who gave chase and captured the runner-up spot with ease.
Every year the Nanny Goat Invitational hosted by West Holmes High School presents some exciting running through the winding woodland course located at Ancestor Acres near Nashville.
However, this year’s girls event that took place Saturday, Sept. 14 had all of the feel of being three races in one.
The first race featured Loudonville senior star Tess Shultz, who won the race with an almost ridiculous time of 18:59, a time that saw her dart to the front and lose the entire pack of 54 runners from seven schools.
Shultz was so far out in front that she won the race by more than one minute, meaning she ran on an island all her own.
“It’s different,” Shultz said about running by herself in a race filled with dozens of competitors. “You just have to stay focused on what you’re trying to do and stay in rhythm.”
She’s experienced this phenomenon so often this year that she said her coach gave her a bit of wisdom to try to combat the loneliness of running in front by herself.
“We came up with a saying,” Shultz said. “Coach told me that when that happens, I should just try to ‘eat the tailpipe,’” in reference to tracking down the four-wheeler that always leads the pack along the trail in each race.
The second race featured West Holmes freshman sensation Iriel Mena, who finished runner-up in 20:14 and also was all on her own, running the entire race in second place, well ahead of the rest of the pack.
“It’s always better to run in a group, at least mentally, but when you’re in no man’s land, it’s you and yourself,” Mena said. “I tried to stick with (Shultz) as well as I could, but she’s so strong. I just wanted to settle in and run my race.”
The third race story was the Lady Knights, who put forth a dominant team effort to win the Nanny Goat once again.
How dominant were the Lady Knights? West Holmes finished in four of the top six spots, with Mena followed by Katherine Kaster (third, 20:55), Zora Starner (fifth, 21:32) and Lexy Starner (sixth, 21:42).
Topping off the scoring finishers for WHHS was Alexis Wagers, who ran 11th in 22:49. The effort was so strong that West Holmes had throw out a top 20 finish from Chelsie Cooper (20th, 20:46). Alizah Sigler (37th, 27:30) and Serenity McClintock (38th, 27:30) added quality finishes for West Holmes.
The effort led West Holmes to a winning point total of just 27, which whisked them past runner-up Norwayne (51) and third-place Cloverleaf (57). Loudonville (112), Garaway (128) and River View (134) placed fourth through sixth.
Norwayne got a nice effort from the trio of Lillith Dreibelbis (fourth, 21:05), Eilash Widmer (seventh, 21:51) and Corinne McCall (ninth, 21:54).
Garaway was paced by Molly Raber (16th, 23:40) and Rebecca Yoder (23rd, 24:51), followed by Margaret Wahl (25th, 25:38) and Lydia Raber (26th, 25:44).
On the boys side of the ledger, Norwayne won with ease, recording 30 points on the strength of its top three runners placing second, third and fourth. Those honors went to Tripp Wingate (16:49), Roman Wingate (16:54) and Trenton Woodall (17:35).
Runner-up Cloverleaf finished with 60 points on the strength of champion Caleb Neville, who ran a 16:35 to fend off the Bobcats’ challengers.
West Holmes grabbed the bronze, led by Hunter Uptain’s effort of 17:53, which placed him fifth, and a 10th-place finish from Owen Neville (18:19). The Knights also got nice efforts from Reid Chaney (19th, 19:36) and Blazedyn Mullins (19th, 19:39). Parker Garver (26th, 20:23) rounded out the scoring placements for the Knights, and he was followed closely by Owen Mallasch (28th, 20:46) and Brian Wengerd (29th, 20:49).
River View (100 team points), Garaway (127), Loudonville (155) and Wooster Christian (162) rounded out the team scoring.
Garaway got top 10 placements from Carter Travis (sixth, 17:56) and Nic Palmer (seventh, 17:58) while Jase Miller (34th, 21:15), Bryce Johnson (39th, 22:04) and Caden Frazier (41st, 23:10) rounded out the Pirates’ scoring.
Loudonville received a top 10 finish from Letti Wenell (ninth, 18:17).
Hiland didn’t sport a team but had a decent meet, led by freshman Landon Troyer (19th, 19:39) and sophomore Jake Troyer (29th, 20:38). Senior Nathan Young (37th, 21:14) rounded out the Hawks’ performance.