Division 2 Boys
Brown, Bronson Battle It Out For Individual State Title
It was a heavyweight matchup in the Division 2 boys race with Shelby's Caleb Brown going toe-to-toe with Defiance's Mhalicki Bronson.
In one corner, the inimitable Brown whose consistency in 2019 has been historic and unprecedented. He has gone sub-15:00 three times this fall and averaged 15:02.94 over his six races. In the other corner, the challenger Bronson, hoping to post one of the biggest upsets the state has ever seen. Bronson, to his credit, entered with a 15:00.30 season best and season average of 15:26.64. After hanging tough with Brown in Region 6, there was at least a glimmer of hope that Bronson may make the state championship race interesting.
His 15:13.20 posting was very interesting, but not as interesting as Brown's 15:05.00.
Brown shot out to the lead early in a blistering 4:44 first mile with Bronson trailing not too far behind in 4:46, but as they continued to move through the race, the gap grew and grew until Brown was comfortably in the lead. After a 4:49 second mile, Brown rolled through the 3200 meter mark 9 seconds ahead of Bronson and 25 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. On state record pace, Brown slowed it down and "cruised" a third mile right around 5:00 to hold off his Defiance-native challenger. While Bronson's 8 second deficit does not seem like such a large gap in the grand scheme of things, Brown's victory was never really in doubt.
"It means a lot more than track," Brown said after his run. "Cross is always something I've wanted to win... [I] came up a little short last year... It's kind of a big redemption for me."
Brown's state championship on Saturday was his fourth since taking second at the Division 2 championships in 2018. He now has eyes on the national qualifying meets and should have no problem getting through Nike Cross Regionals to the NXN meet based on what he has been able to do this year.
Following the Brown-Bronson dynamic duo was quite the gap. Galion's Braxton Tate grabbed third on the day, improving 6 spots and 48 seconds from 2018. His 15:45.80 was three seconds ahead of Heath's Xavier Foehl.
A flood of runners from Woodridge started with a fifth place finish by Micah Blair (15:50.0), followed by teammates Ryan Champa (15:54.0) and Zayd Elkurd (15:59.10). Salem's Hunter Christopher was the eighth athlete under 16:00 with his 15:59.50 mark.
Woodridge Makes History In Team Victory
The Woodridge trio helped their squad accomplish something truly historic. Since OHSAA began running cross country tournaments in 1928, 191 teams have been crowned state champion. Of those 191 champions, only 10 have ever scored under 40 points. Saturday, we crowned champions number 192, 193, and 194, and Woodridge became the 11th team to pull off that feat, scoring 37 in their victory. It was also the lowest point total in Division II/Class AA in state history.
The win was never in doubt for the Bulldogs. At the mile mark, they held a 57 point advantage, at the 2 mile mark, they sat at 28 points and held a 65 point advantage. But the end of it, they had scored 37 points, put their top 5 in the top 18, and grown their advantage over second place Unioto to a staggering 78 points. Woodridge further impressed with a 16:05 team average, second best on the day to St. Xavier's 16:02, and 31.7 second spread. Champa, Elkurd, #4 Andrew Lauck (17th overall), and #5 Aaron Dutt (18th overall) will all be back for 2020 which should terrify Division II coaches and athletes across the state, frankly.
Division 2 Boys Finish Line Video: