The fastest girl in Ohio and the fastest boy in Ohio ran at the same district Saturday morning, on the same course at Owens Community College, in races scheduled 40 minutes apart.
Napoleon junior Gwen Huddle went first. She ran 17:05.5 and won the Division III girls race by 1 minute, 51.5 seconds.
Then Margaretta junior Cole Zang ran 14:52.9 and won the boys race by 1 minute, 55.1 seconds.
Add those margins together and you get 3:46.6, the time between two district champions and everyone else.
They weren't the only Division III stories, either. Versailles senior Jackson Spitzer broke 15 minutes for the second time this fall. Fairless junior Brice Fuller ran 15:06.7. Woodridge swept a district, and so did Van Wert. And two teams reached regionals by one point.
At Cedarville University, Rio Grande and the Voice of America boys race, the top two teams share the district title.
CENTRAL -- Hilliard Darby (regional: Pickerington)
Pleasant's great day.
- Senior Joey Dietsch won Boys Race 2 in 16:04.3.
- Pleasant took the fourth and final team spot in that race by one point, 110 to Highland (Marengo)'s 111.
- Freshman Madisyn Ruhe won the girls race in 19:05.4, 27.4 seconds ahead of Northmor freshman Vada Walters.
- The Pleasant girls finished third as a team and also advance.
Highland's boys season ends one point short, but Maddox Weiss and Ciaran Gilmore go to Pickerington as individuals.
Northmor's girls. Northmor won the girls title with 63, ahead of Worthington Christian (105), Pleasant, Buckeye Valley, Highland (Marengo) and North Union. All six advance.
Less than a second. Lakewood (Hebron) senior Carson Pound won Boys Race 1 in 16:55.4. Fairbanks' Daniel Thomas finished 95-hundredths of a second behind him. Utica won the team title with 51.
EAST -- Cambridge (regional: Pickerington)
Fuller and Fairless. In September at Piqua, Brice Fuller ran 14:54, eight-tenths faster than Jackson Spitzer's winning time there. At Cambridge, the Fairless junior won in 15:06.7, 33.6 seconds ahead of Union Local's Connor Bendo. Behind him, Fairless put seven runners in the top 28 and won with 44, ahead of Minerva (86).
A freshman runs away. West Holmes freshman Ava Reiheld won the girls race in 18:14.9, beating the next finisher by 53.7 seconds. Minerva won the team title with 60, ahead of Tuscarawas Valley (78).
Thirteen of the 15 scoring teams advance. Philo took the last spot by three points over River View.
NORTHEAST (regional: Boardman)
Woodridge, twice. Woodridge was Podium Watch's preseason No. 1 in Division III boys. At Lorain County Community College, it scored 25:
- John Brock won in 16:01.7.
- Remington Griffiths was 3rd.
- Eli White was 4th.
- Devin Pietrowski was 8th.
- Nathan Adams was 9th.
Then the girls won too, with 27. Lola Mullen and Lillian Singer went one-two, and Woodridge swept the site. Waynedale took the last boys spot by two points over Fairview (Fairview Park).
Same school, same last name, one-two. At Madison, Garfield (Garrettsville) junior Owen Thomas won in 15:32.6, and freshman Lucas Thomas finished second in 15:36.9. Garfield finished fourth as a team and advances. Chagrin Falls won the title with 69.
Valentino's 17:54. Hathaway Brown junior Caroline Valentino won the Madison girls race in 17:54.6, 27 seconds ahead of Crestwood freshman Luci Maschek. Crestwood won the team title with 62, ahead of Berkshire (72).
Girard by one. At GlenOak, Girard grabbed the ninth and final boys spot with 256. Poland Seminary scored 257. Nathan Hupp, Ash Adams and Jack Downie advance for Poland Seminary as individuals. Canal Fulton Northwest won with 72, and Canton South junior Logan Howard won the race by 40.5 seconds in 15:47.4.
Marlington's senior. Irelyn Johnson won the GlenOak girls race in 18:09.7, more than a minute ahead of the field. She led Marlington to the team title with 42.
NORTHWEST (regional: Tiffin)
Huron, 18. Our preseason No. 1 in Division III girls swept the top three spots at Galion:
- Sophomore Laney Schlessman won in 18:46.1.
- Rylie Towns was second.
- Andrea Lesnak was third.
Huron finished with 18 points, the lowest team score of the day after Mount Gilead's perfect 15.
Vermilion by one. At Galion, Vermilion took the fifth and final girls spot with 155. Perkins scored 156, and its season as a team ends there. Three Perkins girls advance as individuals: Lillie Price, Ella Mischler and Jasmine McClusky.
The Perkins boys had a similar day. Senior Joel Smelcer won the boys race by 45.2 seconds in 15:34.6, but Perkins finished sixth as a team and he advances alone. Edison (Milan) won with 54.
Van Wert's double. Van Wert won both Division III titles at Columbus Grove:
- Boys: 45 points, ahead of Elmwood (57) and Bryan (61). Bryan was second in Podium Watch's preseason poll.
- Girls: 42 points, ahead of Coldwater (58).
Both individual races were decided by little more than a second. Elmwood sophomore Henry Good beat Bryan's Colton Sheline, 15:41.1 to 15:42.1. Coldwater sophomore Abby Alig beat Van Wert's Noelle Byrum, 19:03.8 to 19:05.0.
Wauseon took the last boys spot by four points over Bluffton.
Owens CC's teams. Behind Zang, Eastwood won the boys title with 59, ahead of Margaretta (79) and Clyde (80). Behind Huddle, Ottawa-Glandorf won the girls title with 43.
SOUTHEAST -- Rio Grande (regional: Pickerington)
Goodell by one second. Wellston senior Elijah Goodell won the boys race in 15:20.4. Fairfield Union's Connor Runkle was second in 15:21.5.
Fairfield Union and Vinton County are co-champions. McClain and Dawson-Bryant tied at 287 for the last two spots, and both advance.
Portsmouth didn't score as a team, but three of its runners finished in the top 10 and advance as individuals: JJ Purcell (4th), Ian Putnam (6th) and Reid Click (10th).
Fairfield Union, both ways. Fairfield Union's girls are co-champions with Waverly. Sophomore Sadie Schultz won the girls race in 18:25.8, ahead of Ironton's Marlena McCown. That gives Fairfield Union a share of both Division III titles at Rio Grande.
SOUTHWEST (regional: Troy)
Spitzer, again. Versailles senior Jackson Spitzer ran 14:57.7 at Cedarville University, his second sub-15 of the fall, and won by 54.7 seconds.
Versailles and Oakwood are co-champions with 60 and 78 points. West Liberty-Salem missed a share of the title by three points with 81.
Milton-Union had three runners named Hinkelman in the top eight: Colin (4th), Grant (6th) and Finn (8th).
Oakwood, 30. Oakwood was second in our preseason poll. At Cedarville it scored 30 and shares the girls title with Versailles. Miami East junior Tessa Kress won the race in 18:27.3, ahead of Oakwood's Evelyn Reinoehl.
The Gockermans. At Voice of America, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy seniors Nathaniel Gockerman (15:20.8) and Wyatt Gockerman (15:40.8) finished first and second, and freshman Elliot Gockerman was 12th. CHCA placed third with 73, behind co-champions Wyoming (58) and Madeira (63).
Madeira's girls. Madeira won the girls title outright with 31, led by junior Lucy Folger's 18:35.1. Madeira took a share of the boys title too.
Up next: Regionals, Saturday, Oct. 31. The Division III state races at Fortress Obetz are Nov. 7: girls at 1:40 p.m., boys at 2:20 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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