Smithville’s Carr, Waynedale’s Varner run to school records
At the recent Wooster Invitational, Smithville’s Kaitlyn Carr shattered the school record she broke last season on the same course, this time registering a 17:51.5.
For years the cross country course at Wooster High School has been home to numerous personal records for area runners.
On Sept. 7 both Smithville’s Kaitlyn Carr and Waynedale’s Jackson Varner took it one step further.
The talented tandem each clocked school-record times in winning their respective races in Division II/III of the annual Wooster Invitational.
Carr shattered the school record she broke last season on the same course, this time registering a 17:51.5, while Varner earned some family bragging rights as he surpassed his older brother Johnathon’s mark by nearly eight full seconds with a time of 15:41.93.
“Jackson definitely has the drive, and I think part of that comes from the fact that he comes from a family of runners and they have always taken it seriously,” Waynedale coach Shauna Pittman said. “Jackson also doesn’t like to be beat, and that helps him to keep pushing harder and harder. He is definitely a runner on a mission.”
The two-time state qualifier earned his first All-Ohio medal last season and followed that up with his previous career-best run of 16:00.60 — which he used to win the Northwest Invitational last month — and an impressive victory at Wooster over Fairless’ Andrew Hearn (15:43.9).
It also was more than enough to take down his older brother’s previous program record of 15:49.5, which he set back in 2021.
“He really looks up to his older brother JJ,” Pittman said. “His mental toughness has developed over the past few years, and this has really helped him to push to the next level.”
Orrville’s Owen Lacy and Smithville’s Joey Clabaugh also had career days at Wooster en route to top 10 finishes. Lacy was seventh in 16:09.9, followed by Clabaugh in eighth at 16:10.1.
Jackson Varner’s twin brother Jaydon Varner also had a personal record in a 19th-place run of 16:35.6.
Dalton was led by Ely Hutson (43rd, 17:18.6) and Judah Hershberger (17:18.7) as the Bulldogs were ninth as a team, one spot behind Waynedale.
Carr was equally as impressive in her win, and like Varner, she needed every bit of her record-breaking time to win against Heartland Christian’s Rebecca Geiss. In the end the two-time All-Ohioan pulled away with a win of over five full seconds against Geiss (17:56.9), the defending Div. III state champ Carr finished third behind at last season’s OHSAA State Championships.
“I think the biggest thing that stood out to me was the look she had in her eyes (before the race),” Smithies coach Greg DeRodes said of Carr, who ran an 18:01.8 on the course last fall. “She was focused and almost radiating confidence.
“She knew she was going up against a really good Div. III runner she raced against before, and she wasn’t going to back down. Kaitlyn wants to win every race and almost seems to will herself to another level when she has to.”
Carr’s teammate, sophomore Maryn Erdman, also had an impressive race as she was 14th in 19:34.7 as the Smithies were fourth in the 30-team field, including a PR run from another underclassman in freshman Tessa Duell (21:14.4).
DeRodes said having someone like Carr leading the way helps the rest of the lineup and the team reach goals.
“I think her confidence lifts the team up,” he said. “Whenever you have elite runners on a team that push in workouts, races and even with all of the other details, that tends to raise everyone to a higher level.”
Waynedale also had an impressive day as freshman Piper Polen led the way with a 15th-place finish in 19:46.2. Junior Anna Pittman (35th, 20:46.2) also was near the front for the Bears.
Triway was paced by Martha Johnson’s 21:02, good for 40th individually, while Central Christian’s Lexi Bischoff had a personal-best 21:36.55 to place 57th.