In a season defined by grit and exceeding expectations, the boys cross country team capped off their year with a strong 6th-place team finish at the regional meet. Falling just 14 points behind 5th-place Bellefontaine for the final team qualifying spot for the State Championships, the squad narrowly missed making the trip together. However, individual stars Everett Muhlenkamp and Eli Ramos both punched their ticket to the State meet with career-best performances.

Coming into the season after losing a heavily decorated senior class last year, external expectations were modest. Instead, this year’s varsity squad put together a breakout campaign, consistently outrunning projections and climbing the regional ranks.

"To say I’m not disappointed would be a lie, when a group works as hard and gives as much of themselves as this varsity team did, you want nothing more than to see them get that ultimate reward. Missing State by just one spot and 14 places stings, there's no getting around that. But context is everything. After what we lost to graduation, this team didn't just step up; they completely over performed every expectation set for them." says head coach Matt Lieber.

At the front of the pack, Everett Muhlenkamp posted an elite performance, pacing the field to finish 2nd overall in a blistering personal-record time of 15:42. Joining him at State will be Eli Ramos, who delivered a clutch performance of his own, placing 8th overall while setting a PR of 16:05.

"Everett laid it all on the line to take second overall, and Eli ran a tremendous race to finish top eight," said Lieber. "Both earned their spots at State through pure determination, and seeing them both PR on the biggest stage so far is a massive win for our program."

The rest of the varsity roster fought through a tightly contested field to keep the team in contention until the final sprint:
-Seth Shroyer crossed the line as the team's third runner, placing 45th overall in 17:18.
-Noah Heisey took 66th place with a time of 17:50.
-Oliver Ranly rounded out the five scoring runners, taking 80th place in 18:17.
-Luke Ranly (89th, 18:26) and Lukas Heitbrink (101st, 18:54) rounded out the varsity lineup.

While the team outcome brings a sting of disappointment, the foundation built this season sets a high standard for the future. Muhlenkamp and Ramos will represent the program at the State meet next week, carrying the momentum of a season where the team proved just how far hard work and belief can go.