Four Marion County runners will close their seasons on the state’s biggest stage Saturday, Nov. 7, at the Ohio High School Athletic Association state championships at Fortress Obetz. Pleasant senior Joey Dietsch, River Valley senior Kael Swartz and Pleasant freshman Madisyn Ruhe will race in Division III, while Ridgedale junior Elliot Weston will compete in Division IV, according to regional results reported by the Marion Star.
All four earned their places Oct. 31 at Pickerington North. Dietsch ran 16 minutes, 37 seconds to claim the next-to-last qualifying spot in the Division III boys race, a finish he described to the Marion Star as “disbelief and relief.” Swartz finished 14th in the same race in a personal-record 16:18, Ruhe placed seventh in the Division III girls race in 19:19, and Weston finished 19th in the Division IV boys race in 17:04, the Marion Star reported.
For Dietsch, Saturday is a return trip. He ran 17:35 for 152nd place at state last year, and he told the Marion Star that knowing the Fortress Obetz course and the pace of the field should help this time. His goals for the Division III boys race, which starts at 2:20 p.m., are a time under 16 minutes and a podium finish after a regional race he felt did not reflect his fitness.
Swartz will race at state for the first time, in the same 2:20 p.m. start. He told the Marion Star that pancakes fueled a nervous regional run, and that the thought a mistake could end his career pushed him through a difficult second mile. Like Dietsch, he is targeting a sub-16 time and All-Ohio honors in his final high school race, the Marion Star reported.
Ruhe is the youngest of the four but no stranger to Fortress Obetz. As a middle school runner she placed sixth in the state 3,200 meters in 12:21 as a seventh grader and fourth in 11:50 last year, according to the Marion Star. She told the Marion Star that reaching state in the high school 5K had been her goal all season. Her Division III girls race begins at 1:40 p.m.
Weston’s path has been the hardest physically. The Ridgedale junior has nursed a hip injury that flared up at districts, and he told the Marion Star he logged only a couple of miles before regionals in hopes it would heal. His plan this week is rest, heat and ice before the Division IV boys race at 4:10 p.m., and he told the Marion Star he is focusing on the achievement itself: he made it to state.
The four will be joined at Obetz by more area qualifiers. According to the Marion Star, Northmor and Mount Gilead are sending teams, and individual qualifiers include Highland’s Veronica Ballard, North Union’s Kailin McElroy and Cardington-Lincoln’s Mickenzie White and Brayson Alwood. For Marion County families traveling south, a season of hard miles comes down to one final race on Saturday.
Photo: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0