GALION — Kayla Gonzales celebrated her 18th birthday in style Saturday at Amann Reservoir Park.
Shelby’s senior distance ace, Gonzales overtook Galion’s Raygann Campbell after the first mile and cruised to the individual title in the Division II girls race at the Galion Cross Country Festival.
Gonzales crossed the finish line in 19 minutes, 6.2 seconds, 10 seconds ahead of runner-up Kaylie Dameron of Celina (19:16.9). Campbell (19:24.7) finished third.
“I was honestly kind of nervous in the beginning,” said Gonzales, who won the Division II-A race at the prestigious Tiffin Cross Country Carnival last week. “I just wanted to keep my pace. I knew where I wanted to be.
“It was kind of nice having that person up there to chase. That helped for the first third of the race.”
So what will Gonzales do to celebrate her 18th birthday?
I don’t know,” she said with a laugh. “I might go home and get some mac and cheese. We’ll see.”
Lexington won the team title with a score of 47, well ahead of runner-up Eastwood (82). All five of Lady Lex’s scorers finished in the top 17. Emma Wise led the way, finishing fourth in 19:35.2. Brailey Slone (19:47.5) was seventh, followed by Kenley Miller (19:56.4) in eighth.
“Kenley Miller just PRed by 39 seconds,” Lexington coach Denise Benson said. “It’s the first time she’s broken 20 (minutes) and at the beginning of the season she didn’t even believe she could do that. Last week I said, ‘What if you’re going to break 19 this year?’
“There was some good stuff today.”
Eastwood finished second in the team standings with a score of 82. Tallmadge (104) was third.
Locally, Shelby (172) was seventh while Galion (214) was ninth and Clear Fork (354) was 12th. Madison McKenna led the Colts, finishing in 22:48.7.
Division III
In the Division III girls race, Colonel Crawford sailed to the team title with a score of 79. Fredericktown (148) was a distant second and Crestview (154) was third.
Cecelia Chase led Colonel Crawford with a third-place finish in 19:01. All of Colonel Crawford’s scorers finished in the top 25.
Fredericktown was led by Elsa Hoam. The senior finished 11th in 20:30.9. Audrey Wolfrod led Crestview, finishing 12th in 20:34.
Locally, Wynford (286) was 12th while East Knox (312) was 15th. Loudonville (364) was 16th and Buckeye Central (395) was 17th.
Briana Westrick led the Royals, finishing in 22:22.5. Adrian Clutter topped East Knox, placing 14th in 20:40.9. Loudonville’s Tess Schultz finished ninth in 20:23.3.
New London’s Reese Landis won the individual title in 18:19.4, the fastest time of the day. Rittman’s Pyper Gibson (18:56.7) was second.
