Two weeks before the state meet, Bennett Lehman stood at Cedarville University and made a claim about his district. The Ansonia senior told the Daily Advocate that "we are the toughest in Division IV."
On Saturday at Fortress Obetz, the results backed him up.
Lehman won the Division IV boys title for the second year in a row. Legacy Christian's Stephen Wojtowicz, who chased him at that district meet, finished second. And the three teams that went 1-2-3 at Cedarville on Oct. 24, Russia, Botkins and Legacy Christian, finished second, third and fourth at state.
Only one team got in their way. Mount Gilead won the title by 15 points without a single runner in the top 14.
Mount Gilead's pack
Mount Gilead wasn't in the preseason coaches' poll. It entered at No. 8 in Week 1, reached No. 1 in Week 6 and stayed there through the Pre-State poll.
On Saturday it scored 84 points with five runners who finished 15th, 28th, 37th, 39th and 45th. Junior Brycen Gabriel led the way in 16:16.5, a year after finishing 147th at the Division III state meet. Mount Gilead's fifth scorer crossed 26.8 seconds after him, the tightest top five in the race.
It is Mount Gilead's third state title in five seasons, after Division III titles in 2022 and 2024.
A Shelby County takeover
The Shelby County Athletic League took two of the top three team spots. Russia was second with 99 points. Botkins was third with 155.
The league's runners were all over the medal stand, too. Russia's Paxson Bixler (4th) and Samuel Phlipot (8th), Botkins' Liam Schumann (9th), Fort Loramie's Ean Grillot (13th) and Anna's Titus Young (14th) gave the league five of the top 14 finishers. In the girls race, Fort Loramie sophomore Elaina Borchers was fifth and led her team to fifth place.
Russia's first podium
Saturday's runner-up trophy is the first state podium finish in Russia program history.
Russia was the only team with two runners in the top 10. Bixler, a sophomore, ran 15:39.0 for fourth. Phlipot, a senior, ran 16:00.6 for eighth, 10 places better than he finished as a junior. Junior Evan Smith was 25th after placing 110th a year ago.
For most of the race, Russia was the team in front. By Podium Watch's count from the timing splits, Russia led the team race at both the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter marks and was 15 points clear of Mount Gilead at 3,200 meters. Mount Gilead's pack closed over the final 1,800 meters and won by 15.
The coaches had Russia pegged. It sat at No. 2 in eight of the season's 11 polls, spent one week at No. 1 in September and entered the meet at No. 2 with five of the 12 first-place votes. It finished exactly there.
Botkins edges Legacy Christian by three
Botkins entered the Pre-State poll at No. 7 and finished third, the biggest climb of any team in the top 10. Schumann, a sophomore, led the way in ninth after placing 97th last fall. The margin over Legacy Christian was three points, 155 to 158.
Legacy Christian had the individual runner-up in Wojtowicz and finished fourth, one spot better than its Pre-State ranking.
Lehman goes back to back
The individual race stayed a pack until the final 1,800 meters.
At the 1,600-meter mark, 10 runners were within 0.8 seconds of each other, led by Grand Valley senior Sam Steimle in 4:58.1. At 3,200 meters, seven were within 1.6 seconds. McDonald sophomore Owen Cappuzzello and Convoy Crestview junior Derek Young shared the front at 10:00.2. Lehman was 0.9 seconds back, in the middle of that pack.
Then Lehman went. He covered the last 1,800 meters in 5:29.6, seven seconds faster than anyone else in the top six, and won in 15:30.7.
Wojtowicz started conservatively, about six seconds off the front after 450 meters. He was 1.1 seconds back at 1,600 meters and in the lead pack at 3,200. He finished second in 15:37.6, 0.4 seconds ahead of Cappuzzello. Bixler was fourth, one second behind Cappuzzello, which put two sophomores in the top four.
Lehman won the first Division IV title as a junior in 2025. He has now won both Division IV boys races ever held.
Liberty Center finishes the climb
Liberty Center finished third at the first Division IV state meet in 2025. It opened this season at No. 4 in the coaches' poll. On Saturday it won the girls title with 112 points, 33 ahead of Minster.
By Podium Watch's count from the timing splits, Liberty Center led the team race at 1,600 and 3,200 meters. It didn't need a front-runner to do it. Senior Colbie Strayer was its first finisher, seventh in 18:28.7. Then came sophomore Castyn Miller (27th), sophomore Mya Stark (41st), junior Ryley Miller (51st) and freshman Brynn Gyurasics (67th). Strayer to Gyurasics: 1:27.6.
Four of those five scorers can come back next fall.
The poll got there before the meet did, barely. Liberty Center spent one week at No. 1 in September, ranked between No. 2 and No. 6 the rest of the way, then took nine of the 12 first-place votes in the Pre-State poll.
Minster, runner-up again
Minster won four straight Division III titles from 2021 to 2024. In both Division IV state meets, it has finished second.
This one came from No. 4 in the Pre-State poll. Junior Joanna Topp (8th, 18:37.0), freshman Elizabeth Niekamp (9th, 18:40.4) and senior Claire Bohman (12th, 18:48.0) were three of the top 12 finishers. Their 19 team points were the best top three in the race. Minster held off Grandview Heights for second by four points, 145 to 149.
Grandview Heights finished third after entering the meet at No. 2, with senior Julia Albright leading it in 13th. Rittman was fourth for the second year in a row. Fort Loramie was fifth after entering the meet at No. 8.
Natalie Nixon owned the day
Ottawa Hills junior Natalie Nixon ran 17:33.9, the fastest girls time at Fortress Obetz on Saturday in any division. Her 39.5-second winning margin was the largest in any of the eight state races.
She led at every split. Nixon was 9.2 seconds clear at 1,600 meters and 25.0 seconds clear at 3,200 meters, and the gap kept growing. A year ago, she finished fifth.
McDonald junior Naomi Sheesley was second in 18:13.4. Shenandoah senior Ida Estadt was third in a personal-best 18:14.4, one second out of second place. Seneca East sophomore Aubrey Ritzler (18:20.1) and Borchers (18:23.4) were fourth and fifth, both in personal bests.
Ottawa Hills, the defending champion, opened the season as the unanimous preseason No. 1 and held the top spot in eight of the 11 polls. It finished sixth with 226 points. Cross country is still scored by five.
What the polls got right, and what they didn't
| Boys | Preseason | Pre-State | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Gilead | NR | 1 | 1 |
| Russia | 5 | 2 | 2 |
| Botkins | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Legacy Christian | 10 | 5 | 4 |
| Tinora | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| Convoy Crestview | 4 | 4 | 6 |
| Columbus Grove | 1 | 11 | 12 |
| Girls | Preseason | Pre-State | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liberty Center | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Minster | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Grandview Heights | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Rittman | 5 | 5 | 4 |
| Fort Loramie | 6 | 8 | 5 |
| Ottawa Hills | 1 | 3 | 6 |
The Pre-State poll nailed the top of the boys race: Mount Gilead No. 1, Russia No. 2, and that's how they finished. August was another story. Columbus Grove opened at No. 1 and finished 12th, and Mount Gilead wasn't ranked at all. Tinora was No. 1 in four polls in September and early October and finished fifth. Defending champion Convoy Crestview was sixth.
On the girls side, the Pre-State No. 1 won too. Below Liberty Center, Minster, Rittman and Fort Loramie beat their Pre-State rankings, while Grandview Heights and Ottawa Hills finished below theirs.
The last race
For a lot of seniors, Saturday was the final cross country race of their careers, and many of them made it count.
Lehman leaves with both Division IV titles. Wojtowicz finished second. Phlipot moved up 10 places from last year to eighth. Steimle was at the front of a 10-runner pack at 1,600 meters and held on for 10th. Grillot (13th) and Titus Young (14th) both medaled as individual qualifiers.
On the girls side, Estadt ran a personal best for third, Shadyside's Chloe Meholovitch ran one for sixth, Strayer led the state champion, and Bohman was 12th to help Minster to its second straight runner-up finish.
Who's back
Seven of the top 10 girls were underclassmen, including Nixon and Sheesley, the top two. In the boys race, Cappuzzello and Bixler (sophomores), Derek Young (fifth, junior), Smithville's Nigel Wenger (seventh, junior) and Schumann (ninth, sophomore) all return.
Liberty Center and Minster each bring back four of their five scorers.
Division IV results
Boys teams: 1. Mount Gilead 84, 2. Russia 99, 3. Botkins 155, 4. Legacy Christian 158, 5. Tinora 214, 6. Convoy Crestview 231, 7. Cedarville 241, 8. Maplewood 260, 9. Independence 268, 10. St. Henry 268 (Independence won the tiebreaker).
Boys individuals: 1. Bennett Lehman (Ansonia) 15:30.7, 2. Stephen Wojtowicz (Legacy Christian) 15:37.6, 3. Owen Cappuzzello (McDonald) 15:38.0, 4. Paxson Bixler (Russia) 15:39.0, 5. Derek Young (Convoy Crestview) 15:45.6, 6. Malaki Neilson (Sherwood Fairview) 15:47.7, 7. Nigel Wenger (Smithville) 15:59.7, 8. Samuel Phlipot (Russia) 16:00.6, 9. Liam Schumann (Botkins) 16:05.7, 10. Sam Steimle (Grand Valley) 16:05.9.
Girls teams: 1. Liberty Center 112, 2. Minster 145, 3. Grandview Heights 149, 4. Rittman 185, 5. Fort Loramie 214, 6. Ottawa Hills 226, 7. Maplewood 232, 8. Kirtland 243, 9. McDonald 259, 10. Archbold 305.
Girls individuals: 1. Natalie Nixon (Ottawa Hills) 17:33.9, 2. Naomi Sheesley (McDonald) 18:13.4, 3. Ida Estadt (Shenandoah) 18:14.4, 4. Aubrey Ritzler (Seneca East) 18:20.1, 5. Elaina Borchers (Fort Loramie) 18:23.4, 6. Chloe Meholovitch (Shadyside) 18:25.5, 7. Colbie Strayer (Liberty Center) 18:28.7, 8. Joanna Topp (Minster) 18:37.0, 9. Elizabeth Niekamp (Minster) 18:40.4, 10. Anna Wiltshire (Summit Country Day) 18:42.1.
Results: official 2026 OHSAA Division IV state championship results, Nov. 7, 2026, Fortress Obetz. Splits from the SEO Timing feed. Rankings: OATCCC coaches' poll. Photos: Wyatt Richardson (@richardsonphotography_rp).
More info at podiumwatch.org
