Calvin Heithaus is a sophomore. On Saturday, he ran faster than every other Division II boy in Ohio.
The Mount Vernon runner won Race 2 at Hilliard Darby in 15:13.3. Big Walnut's Ethan Shultz finished 5.6 seconds back in 15:19.0, and Bexley's Owen Comes was third in 15:25.1. Mount Vernon finished fifth as a team and advances, so Heithaus goes to Pickerington with his teammates.
He'll have company at the top of the division. Seven Division II boys broke 15:24 on Saturday, at four different district sites:
| Time | Runner | School | Site |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15:13.3 | Calvin Heithaus (10) | Mount Vernon | Hilliard Darby |
| 15:18.0 | Russell Stine (12) | Findlay | Owens CC |
| 15:19.0 | Ethan Shultz (11) | Big Walnut | Hilliard Darby |
| 15:20.6 | Carson Spencer (11) | Turpin | Voice of America |
| 15:21.6 | Anderson Seredick (11) | Nordonia | Madison |
| 15:23.0 | Ian Trombley (12) | Loveland | Voice of America |
| 15:23.8 | Ian Res (12) | West Geauga | Madison |
The girls side was headlined by the teams Podium Watch picked in August. Watterson, our preseason No. 1, scored 22. Wadsworth, Aurora and Granville, three of the five teams we named as its closest chasers, each won a district.
Here's how every Division II race played out.
At Cedarville University and Voice of America Park, the top two teams share the district title.
CENTRAL -- Hilliard Darby (regional: Pickerington)
Watterson's wave. Junior Kaitlyn Van Zandt won Girls Race 2 in 17:40.9, 33.8 seconds ahead of Big Walnut's Grace Buskirk. Then her teammates kept arriving:
- Campbell Retzke, 3rd
- Karine Bhowmick, 4th
- Berkley LaCount, 6th
- Emma Drab, 8th
That added up to 22 points. Big Walnut (40), Bexley, Jonathan Alder and Licking Valley also advance.
Hughey keeps getting faster. Canal Winchester senior Peyton Hughey won Piqua's Under the Lights invitational in September in 18:36.0. On Saturday she won Girls Race 1 in 17:46.3, beating Granville's Elsa Tonnessen by 23.9 seconds. Granville still won the team title with 27 points to Canal Winchester's 39. Columbus DeSales, Hartley and London also advance.
Steele by a step. Columbus DeSales senior Lucas Steele won Boys Race 1 in 15:26.2, 1.8 seconds ahead of Granville's Logan Miller. As a team, Granville won 47 to 56. Dublin Scioto, Hartley and Jonathan Alder took the other spots. Marion Harding missed by 10 points but sends six runners as individuals, led by Jackson Peters, who finished eighth.
Big Walnut's depth. Big Walnut put seven runners in the top 19 of Boys Race 2 and won with 46, ahead of Watterson (54). Canal Winchester, Bexley, Mount Vernon and Buckeye Valley round out the qualifiers. Bloom-Carroll missed the last spot by 10, but Trew Tinsley and Tucker Gortner finished eighth and ninth and advance as individuals.
EAST -- Cambridge (regional: Pickerington)
Dover dominates a short list. Only three Division II boys teams advance from the East, and Dover took the title with 35 points ahead of Carrollton (50) and New Philadelphia (56). New Philadelphia senior Kevin Smith won the race in 16:53.0. Zanesville's Kolton Darnes finished third and advances on his own.
Kuklica runs alone. John Glenn senior Ashlynn Kuklica won the girls race by 39.4 seconds in 19:34.0. Her team grabbed the fourth and final spot with 79. New Philadelphia won with 46, ahead of Tri-Valley (52) and Dover (65).
NORTHEAST (regional: Boardman)
GlenOak girls: four teams, 19 points. Wadsworth won with 88, but nobody ran away with it:
- Boardman, 95
- Hoover, 100
- Hudson, 107
Boardman senior Olivia Brady won the individual race in 18:49.8. Thirteen teams advance from an 18-team field, with Wooster taking the last spot.
GlenOak boys: Hoover out of a crowd of 24. Hoover won the biggest Division II boys field in the state with 94 points, ahead of Salem (102) and Uniontown Lake (115). Tallmadge junior Donevan Noah won in 15:55.7. Fourteen teams advance. Wooster held the last spot by 11 points over Austintown-Fitch.
CVCA, one-two-three. Isaac Solomon (16:24.5), Zac Andamasaris and Andrew Clark swept the top three places at Lorain County Community College. CVCA won with 96, ahead of Westlake (107) and Cloverleaf (108). It was the program's preseason No. 1 ranking showing up in October. Brecksville took the 11th and final spot by two points over Olmsted Falls, 267 to 269.
CVCA girls, too. CVCA swept the site's Division II team titles, winning the girls race with 104 to Avon's 115. Bay sophomore Maya Gonzalez won it individually in 18:18.7, 3.5 seconds ahead of Brecksville's Annalise Costin.
Aurora's sophomore takes it to another level. Earlier this season, The Podium Report called Audrey Miller the story of Division II. At Madison, she ran 17:17.6, the third-fastest girls time in Ohio on Saturday and nearly a minute ahead of second place. Teammates Claire Jenkins and Evelyn Jenkins were second and third, and Aurora won with 31.
Kenston's pack, Nordonia's winner. Nordonia junior Anderson Seredick won the boys race at Madison in 15:21.6, holding off West Geauga's Ian Res by 2.2 seconds. Kenston put four runners in the top 12 and won the team title with 61.
NORTHWEST (regional: Tiffin)
Bocik by a mile. Sylvania Southview sophomore Julia Bocik won the girls race at Leaders Farms in 17:20.5. Bowling Green's Lilly Downey was second, 1 minute, 37.8 seconds later. Bowling Green won the team title with 45, and seven of its runners finished in the top 17.
St. Francis by three. St. Francis de Sales (Toledo) edged Bowling Green 40 to 43 for the boys title at Leaders Farms. Sylvania Southview senior Steven Owen won the individual race in 15:27.3.
Stine wins, Lexington rolls. Findlay senior Russell Stine won at Owens Community College in 15:18.0, 22.4 seconds ahead of Fremont Ross's Bentley Lopez. Lexington was ranked second in our preseason poll and won the team title with 42. That's 84 points better than the next team. Fremont Ross and Lima Shawnee tied at 126 for second, and Shelby and Ontario tied at 221 for ninth. All four advance.
Celina's sophomore. Elle Miesse won the girls race at Owens CC in 17:27.6, the fifth-fastest girls time in the state Saturday. Fremont Ross's Lillian (Lily) Kiser was second in 17:54.0, and Fremont Ross won the team title with 51.
SOUTHEAST -- Rio Grande (regional: Pickerington)
Eighteen-hundredths. Gallia Academy senior Lane Shaffer won the boys race in 15:50.9. Chillicothe junior Levi Wood finished in 15:51.1. Gallia Academy finished ninth as a team, so Shaffer advances as an individual.
Unioto won the team title with 51, ahead of Jackson (83). In September, Unioto pulled off an upset as the No. 3 seed at Piqua.
Logan's girls. Logan won with 66, ahead of Athens (83) and Sheridan (92). Athens junior Zoe Wayner won the individual race in 19:02.5.
SOUTHWEST (regional: Troy)
Bellbrook sweeps Cedarville. Bellbrook won both Division II titles at Cedarville University:
- Girls: 44 points, with Butler (79) as co-champion. Senior Allison High won in 19:02.2.
- Boys: 50 points, with Carroll (88) as co-champion.
Tippecanoe went one-two individually in the boys race. Senior Everett Muhlenkamp won in 15:54.7, and Eli Ramos was second.
Turpin's two titles. At Voice of America, Turpin junior Carson Spencer won the boys race in 15:20.6, ahead of Loveland's Ian Trombley (15:23.0) and Anderson's Elijah Trickey (15:25.4). Loveland won the team title with 43, and Turpin (67) shares it.
On the girls side, Turpin sophomore Colby Lewis won in 18:05.9. Turpin and St. Ursula Academy are co-champions. Monroe held the 14th and final spot by three points over New Richmond.
Up next: Regionals, Saturday, Oct. 31. The Division II state races at Fortress Obetz are Nov. 7: girls at 11:50 a.m., boys at 12:30 p.m.
Results are from official athletic.net postings for each OHSAA district site, pulled Oct. 24-25, 2026. Earlier marks and preseason rankings come from Podium Watch's published coverage. School names are written out in full. Podium Watch is not affiliated with the OHSAA.
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