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| Runnin Down a Dream and Catching It....Regional Champs and State Bound! |
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The Johnstown girls team made dreams come true on Saturday as they qualified to the State Cross Country Meet at Scioto Downs. Back in August the team heard their coach say that they had the potential to make it to the State Meet if they worked hard. "They heard it, but I am not sure how much they believed it," says Coach Hamner. "Throughout the season, we progressed and got better and the dream became even more real and their focus became even more intense. Around the week before conference, we just started running well and we hadn't even started backing off yet and that is when we could start to taste the dream." The competition was tough Saturday as 20 teams and another 20 qualified individuals toed the line in hopes of making their own dreams come true. As they all lined up, you could just feel the tension in the air which exploded into adrenaline when the gun sounded. Top ranked Canal Winchester placed 2nd and 3rd in the race setting the tone for their team along with Gallia Academy's top girl who won the race. Johnstown's Freshman standout Stephanie Loshbough(16th) was a little further back than expected and their number two runner Erin Radigan(30th) seemed to be struggling as well. When times get tough the tough get going and that is exactly what the pair did as they ran with pure heart throughout the race and that kept the team in it. Kaila Cramer(24th) and Karlee Michel(31st) were told their teamate (Erin) was struggling and without the slightest of hesitation they surged toward her to lend their support. They knew that their team needed them to step up and that is exactly what they did. Cramer caught Radigan and pulled her along for awhile and then at Erin's cue left her. "Erin is the type of teamate that every coach would want when it comes to racing. She always puts herself last and encourages her teamates, even when she is struggling," says proud coach Eric Hamner. Karlee Michel caught Erin as well nearing the end of the race and the two fought their hearts out for eachother. Coming in as the 5th girl and last scorer for the Johnnies was Senior Emily Johnson(50th) as she undoubtedly ran the race of her life with the hopes of keeping her teams dream alive. However, as the race was unfolding, there were many teams in the mix and the Johnnies were unsure as to whether they were going to see their dream of making it to the state meet come true. Running 6th and 7th for Johnstown were Senior Ashley Mast(63rd) and Sophmore Kaitlyn Sapp(92nd). The team gathered around after the race hoping what they had done was enough to qualify them for one more week. Coach Eric Hamner ran around frantically with worry on his face, but told his girls, "no matter what happens I am very proud of how you raced today and this season." A few nerve racking minutes later, the Canal Winchester coach told Coach Hamner, "we got third and I think you won." Coach Hamner got excited and saw the results being handed to the announcers table so he ran that way only to meet his Assistant, Ashley Thompson, there. They both saw that they had won and couldn't believe it. Coach Hamner took off running toward his team with one finger raised in the air, shouting, "We won, we won!" Their dream had come true and the team broke down in tears of joy as the all hugged one another. Stephanie Loshbough on the other hand was no where to be found so when the team found her, they all congratulated her on qualifying as an individual. She replied, "how did the team do?" The team responded by shaking their heads as if disappointed. Stephanie looked as if she wear going to cry out of sadness when they told her, "oh yeah! We won!" Stephanie got a huge smile on her face and said, "oh my gosh!" The team once again hugged eachother and screamed as they headed into the football stadium for the awards ceremony. Coach Hamner, almost in tears, says, "I'm so proud of this team and how hard they work and how much heart and dedication they have for eachother. This is a day we will never forget and we will be bonded by it forever." The team of girls were awarded medal and the regional championship trophy minutes later. They will run at Scioto Down on Saturday November 1st at 2:05pm.
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| Hornick Heats up in the Postseason.....State Qualified!! |
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Johnstown Senior Jeremy Hornick toed the line at the Regional Cross Country Meet on Saturday at Pickerington North. He qualified to the meet by placing 2nd in the District the week before while setting a new school record of 16:18. Jeremy roared through the mile at 5:03 on the wet course in the windy conditions and was sitting about 7th place. The race began to spread out a little at that point. The runners were headed around the woods and up the back hill as Jeremy new he had to hold position and stay in the top 16 to make it to the Div. III State Cross Country meet. The senior appeared to be in pain the 2nd mile but kept pushing harder and harder. "Entering the third mile Jeremy was in 9th place" says Coach Eric Hamner. " There was a huge pack of quality runners behind him and I told him had to gut it out and make a move; he responded but so did the other racers." Jeremy remained tough as they rentered the woods for the final half mile of the race and he came out in 11th but holding strong. His kick into the finish was enough to hold off anymore racers. "Tough times call for tough people and that is just what Jeremy Hornick was today," says Coach Hamner. Despite hurting and not feeling as well as he could of, he pressed through the pain to grab hold of his goal and dream of making it to the State Meet. "I can run better than that but just not today; I gave it all I had and it was enough," Says Jeremy. "Coach and I talked and we are happy that we made it another week but we are going to have make some changes if I am going to reach my goal of being All-Ohio next week." Jeremy recieved his State Qualifying medal along with the other 15 fellow competitors inside the stadium. Jeremy and Coach Hamner have been talkind about this day and making it to the State meet since the first week of the season back in August. "We knew it could happen and Jeremy made it happen with his hard work and dedication, not only this season but during the summer as well." The runner logged many miles this summer as he trained with his brother and now all that work has paid off. Jeremy will run at 11:05am at Scioto Downs on Saturday November 1st.
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| Johnstown Runners Dial it Up a Notch at Districts |
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At Watkins Memorial on the Saturday past, the number 5 seed Johnstown Johnnies turned some heads as they flew into the 2nd place spot. The team nearly eclipsed the number one seed, Canal Winchester (ranked in the top 10 in the state), as they ran personal bests across the board. After Canal took the first 3 spots in the race, the Johnnies placed seven in front of their 5th runner, just missing the Disrtict title by one point. Freshman Stephanie Loshbough stepped it up in a big way, as she proved that she is a top contender in Central Ohio. She ran a school record performance while placing 5th in a blazing time of 19:35. That set the tone for the rest of the team that followed suit. Junior Erin Radigan also ran a PR, placing 7th, with a time of 20:01 while feeling a bit under the the weather with a cold. Nipping at her heels was Junior Kaila Cramer in 8th place, running a lifetime best by over 20 seconds clocking a 20:11; she continues to improve every week. Senior Karlee Michel ran her lifetime best as well, placing 15th with a time of 20:24, over 2 minutes faster than she has run in the past two years. The pack of Senior Ashley Mast (22nd, 20:53), Sophmore Kaitlyn Sapp (24th, 20:56), and Senior Emily Johnson (25th, 20:57) all ran lifetime bests by over 30 seconds as they rounded out the Johnnies Varsity team. It was an emotional moment at the finish line as they waited and watched each other come in, knowing that they had run well and gave everything they had for each other. Tears of joy came strolling down some faces as they had finally just done what their coach had been telling them all year they could do. Erin Radigan explains, "We just weren't sure we could do what he (Coach Hamner) has been telling us, although our confidence has been building as the season has progressed. Today, we found out for sure and all that hard work became well worth it." Coach Hamner was found nearly speechless by how well they ran. "I am exteremly blessed to have the group of athletes I have. Its really not a suprise that they ran so well today, because that is what I have been telling them they could do all year. This is the first meet we backed off for all year. I am just overwhelmed by the fact that they all did it on the same day and they showed tremendous heart out on that course today. I cannot wait to do it again next week," Hamner explains. Also, running well in the reserve race for the team were Senior Brenna Hosey with a time of 21:35, her second fastest time of the year, and Sophmore Brittany Lynch running strong despite her Knees being in extreme pain. "Both of those girls worked extremely hard this year to overcome extreme adversity and I could not be more proud of either of them. I wish I had Brenna for another season(she graduates this spring)," says Coach Hamner. The lady Johnnies will run at 2:05PM on Saturday at the Regional Cross Country Meet at Pickerington North.
On the boys side, Jeremy Hornick led the team to a fourth place finish, clinching the final regional qualifying spot. Hornick placed 2nd in a school record time and a lifetime PR of 16:18. Matt Wall came in 7th with a lifetime best of 16:45 which puts him into contention for a state qualifying spot next week. Both Hornick and Wall were individual regional qualifiers as well. Sophmore James Platt ran his season best with a time of 18:08 and placed 31st. Drew Jenney(36th) had the race of his life as he dropped over 30 seconds from last weeks performance, running a 18:34. Wrapping up the scorers for the Johnnies was Senior David Harper as he ran his season best of 19:19 while placing 45th in the race. David made a strong return back late in the season as he gave blood early on and spent most of the season recovering. Keith Wilbur(21:01, 56th) ran the race of his career, dropping another 40 seconds off his time and over 7 minutes off on the season. "This team has worked so hard to accomplish what they have and I don't think there is a person out there that would have guessed, at the beginning of the season, that this boys' team would make it to regionals," Says Coach Hamner. "Around the middle of the season the guys started dropping minutes off their times. When I told them they might be a regional qualifying team, their eyes just got real big and they got grins on their faces. They believed it and they made it happen." The boys will run at 11:05am at the Regional Cross Country Meet at Pickerington North.
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| Middle School Johnnies Finish Year Running Well |
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William "wild bill" Orr placed second in the boys race running a 12:26, a mere 22 seconds faster than he's ever ran for the 2 mile course. J.D. Arnold also ran a great race finishing 10th receiving the last individual award in a PR time of 13:09, nearly 40 seconds faster than he has run this season. Gary Harper made his return from injury to run his best race as well, finishing in 28th with a time of 14:39. "I am very pleased with how the boys have performed this year and I couldn't be more proud of how they finished their year," says Coach Eric Hamner
In the girls race, the Johnnies finished a respectable 2nd place overall. Kendall Colvin led the team once again in PR time of 13:24 placing 6th against some very tough competition. Lauren Baldwin ran a big PR of 13:47 to place 9th followed closely by McCalah Mast who placed 11th in her fastest time of the year, 14:02. The race of the day would definitely go to Jessica Turner who ran a 14:16, nearly 30 seconds faster than she has run all year, to place 14th.
Samantha Hicks ran a very solid race as well, placing 16th with a time of 14:23, as she ran approximately 3 minutes faster than she did last year and a few seconds faster than she ran all year. 31st in the race was Julia Nixon in a PR time of 16:33 to outkick her own teamate, Tessa Epifanio, who ran 16:35 and placed 32nd. "We were two runners short on the girls side due to the quad injury of Ayli Laroche and the illness of Brooklyn Smith and we missed them greatly. I don't think I have one middle school athlete that didn't run a PR today at the last meet of the year. I couldn't have expected anything more than what I got from them, thier best," says Coach Eric Hamner
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| Johnnies show great heart at Hartford Fairgrounds for MBC meet |
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Erin Radigan rolls into her second consecutive individual championship at Saturday's Mid-Buckeye Conference meet at Hartford Fairgrounds. She dominately won the 5k race in a time of 20:05 as she again ran in memory of her uncle, who passed away just before last years conference meet. Freshman Stephanie Loshbough(20:16) placed second as she struggled with her shin splints. "She has been playing boys soccer all year and that season just finished up so she should rest and heal just fine for the District Meet next week,"Says Coach Eric Hamner. Also, running a great race for the Johnnies was Kaila Cramer who placed third in a time of 20:31 which was about 14 seconds faster than she has run in her running career. Following closely behind her in 6th place was Karlee Michel who got out a little hard but maintained a strong pace finishing in a PR time of 20:53. Without doubt, the race of the day goes to Senior Brenna Hosey(8th, 21:27) who placed 8th and ran over a minute and half faster than she has all year. Hosey has been battling a knee injury all season long and has shown great strength and perserverance and leadership that has brought her back to the varsity squad this past saturday. Emily Johnson also ran her fastest race of her career in route to placing 11th in 21:48 Kaitlyn Sapp(21:53) who also ran her PR placed 13th was just behind her. The team dominated the competitition scoring just 21 points. The next 5 placers, not on Johnstown's team, would have scored 34 points combined. Also, Senior Ashley Mast who has been on the varsity squad all year has been struggling with hip injury ran as the 8th girl but hopes to be recovered by Districts on Saturday. Brittany Lynch struggling with knee injuries ran the best race of her season as well. "We didn't back off for this meet at all so we are still tired and a little banged up but we have a lot of rest ahead of us and some sharpening up for District next Saturday," says Head Coach Eric Hamner. "The way these girls ran as tired and banged up as they are is amazing to me and I am so proud of them for the heart and desire to push their bodies to their limits for eachother."
The boys' team ran a tough race as well to place 2nd in the meet behind Fredericktown, who is ranked in the state. Senior Jeremy Hornick(16:49) ran his 2nd fastest race of the year while he placed second in the race. Senior Matt Wall(17:12) ran his PR in route to his 5th place finish. Matt made a strong move in the middle of the race to regroup with the front pack, managing to beat a couple of them in the end. James Platt(17th, 18:22) ran a PR race by a few seconds as he made a similar move during the 2nd mile of the course. The race of the day belongs to Drew Jenney who ran nearly 30 seconds faster than he ever has finishing 26th in a time of 19:07. Senior David Harper(35th, 20:00) took a risk and went for it in the middle of the race, but unfortunately the outcome was not the same for this young man that showed a lot of heart on the course. "The surges that these guys made in the middle of the race is what placed them second and not third or fourth in the meet; it was gutsy and and courageous and I loved it," says Coach Eric Hamner. Joe Carter ran as 6th man on the team placing 46th and Keith Wilbur ran another PR placing 49th.
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| Thu Apr 18, 2024 |
| No events are scheduled. |
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