2002outprevnwd1

I mean the following, in utter sympathy: If you are a good runner and you're in the Amherst regional, I feel for you with all my heart. Thanks to the decision making body we've all come to love (lol), the OHSAA, the following dominant NEO teams will head west this spring: Beaumont, Lakewood, Magnificat, SJA, Medina, Amherst, and Strongsville. Meaning that if you are lucky enough to stay in the NEO and go to Boardman, if you have any running ability at all, you should qualify out as all the power is out West.
      In the 4x800 you can write in Beaumont for sure. They went 9:13 at state last year and faster at Nationals. With Carrie Gladstone, Aimee Dobrowski, Nora Sennett, and Maggie Infeld all returning and still all underclassman, I see them dominating for years to come. You can probably pencil in Lakewood to make it out as well. They return their full team of Clare Roche, Rachel Zubricky, Michelle Sikes, and Julie Scheinkerman (3rd in 9:25 last year) and should make it out. After that, forget it. Mags and SJA will make it out of the Lakewood District with Beaumont and Lakewood. (Wait, Beaumont, Lakewood, SJA and Mags are all in the same district?! Of course, why not. (lol))But then they will meet up with Medina, Amherst, Strongsville, Avon Lake, Sylvania Southview, Ashland, and Anthony Wayne at the regional. If you're keeping track, that's 11 really quality teams going for 4 spots. Best wishes to all. (lol)
       In the open 800, look for two Beaumont runners to get out. I just can't tell you which two. Last year, Nora Sennett and Carrie Gladstone made it out, but I like Maggie Infeld's chances if she goes with the 800 over the 3200, which would be a better double for her. Stephanie Willets of Anthony Wayne and teammate, Freshman, Rachel Beakas will have good runs as well. Not to be ruled out would be the likes of Roche (Lakewood), Scheinkerman (Lakewood), Megan McGuire (Avon Lake), and Bridget Dalic (Strongsville).
        The 1600 will be a shoot out. Infeld, Sikes, McGuire, Beakas, Scheinkerman, Dobrowski, Kim Jendre (Medina), Kaitlyn Chambers (Magnificat), Jama Bernard (Strongsville), Lindsay Wolf (SJA Frosh coming off a good swim season) and more I am sure. It will get quite interesting. With only four qualifying out, I like Infeld and Chambers to get back to state. After that it depends on who else runs. If all of the above compete, Sikes and Jendre would be next in line based strictly on PRs. But McGuire could run well and Beakas is only a freshman, so it's too early to tell what her best event will eventually be.
        The 3200 will be more of the same. I would ink in Sikes and Kris Roth of Celina (last year's state champ in 10:46.78 and coming off a tremendous postseason XC run. Ardelean and Infeld were the other two qualifiers from last year. I like Ardelean's chances if she focuses on the 3200 and the 4x800 only and skips the 1600. There is also little doubt in my mind that Infeld would make it out in the 3200 if she runs, but she would be better off in the wide-open 800 ths year. Now it gets even more crowded. Freshman Alli McMaster of St. Ursula ran 18:23 in XC and was only getting better as the year went on. She could definitely be a factor. If Britnee Barris of Amherst can get some luck on her side for a change, she has a good chance at getting out. Ashland will be a huge factor as well. Erin Stauffer and Lisa Nell, both seniors and both coming off a great XC season will likely push hard to make it to state in either the 1600 or the 3200. If they were smart, they would split, with one doing one and the other, well, the other. Then they could at least eliminate a bit of the competition amongst themselves. Same goes for SJA. Rachel Mistur, Lindsay Wolff, Mary Maloney, Miranda Forgac, et. al could all possibly contend.
        Overall, this regional will be a total fight. If I was one of the runners or a coach here I would try to focus in on a couple of events per runner. It is unlikely that many of these girls could make it out in the 1600 and the 3200 with the depth of talent that will likely be there. If they pick their battles and run in just one event, they will increase there odds of making it out. Only the likes of an Infeld or a Sikes or Roth could make it in both. Now, if those three do decide to run the 16/32 double, then all of these other immensely talented runners will be fighting for one spot. That would be insane.
         Once again, best of luck.