Pickerington North's girls cross country head coach, Jim Langenderfer, offered Lauren Kachel's name almost immediately.
John Bender, Canal Winchester's cross country coach, had a hard time picking the most valuable runner on a team that finished second in the state.
"The team chose Tim Williard as the MVP," Bender said.
"We were blessed with depth, it could have been any of the kids: Cory Irwin, Nick Meidl or Tim."
The trio of juniors finished 22nd (Meidl), 41st (Irwin) and 61st (Williard) overall to lead the Indians at Scioto Downs. Meidl set a personal record at the state meet finishing in 16:27, 20 seconds faster than his previous best.
Meidl's strong performance on the biggest stage earned him the Eagle-Gazette's Male Cross Country Runner of the Year honor while Kachel was chosen as the top female.
"All I wanted to do was set a personal record," Meidl said. "It was my best race ever. Coming into the season my goal was to break 17 minutes, I'd never done that before (the 2006 season)."
According to Meidl, he broke the 17-minute mark four or five times this season, and according to Irwin, Meidl wanted to do more than set a personal record at the state meet.
"He told me he wanted to beat me," Irwin said laughing. "Meidl always comes through. When we need him he comes through ... he gets it done."
Meidl did more than get it done. According to Bender, with his finish in the top 25 overall, Meidl became the first All-Ohio cross-country runner in Canal Winchester's history. Meidl and Irwin don't plan to stop at personal records and second place finishes.
"We are all psyched (about next year). We have the top five guys coming back," Irwin said, talking about the Indians being even better next year. "We're going to have to get our heads together and work a little harder to win (state)."
To win state next year, Meidl said the Indians will need their fifth man to run 16:30.
Canal's fifth man this year, senior Adam Wheeler, finished in 17:23.
That is a tall order, but considering the overall improvement of the team - the Indians placed seventh at the state meet in 2005 - it might just be possible.
As for Pickerington North's Kachel, she led the Panthers to an 11th place finish at state with a time of 19:27, good for 42nd overall.
"(Kachel) helped us get a great showing at the state meet," Langenderfer said. "She set a personal record at state. She also set a personal record at the district meet."
Running isn't Kachel's sole sport. The junior plays on the girls' golf team and is a member of the marching band. Kachel has earned back-to-back OCC-Ohio honorable mention selections as a golfer. In 2005 Kachel was a first-team OCC selection for cross country, an award she will likely pick up again this season.
"(Kachel) has a ton of energy," Langenderfer said.
"She just wants to know what's next."
