2002outprevnwd2

   I preface this whole preview with the fact that thanks to another lovely quirk of the OHSAA, we do not know which schools from the Hilliard District will go to Lexington and which schools will be put in a District qualifying to Dayton. That's right, they are not deciding until May 13 who will be in which district, so that makes Dayton and Lexington hard to do because we do not know who will be going where, but I will do my best.
     In the 4x800, whichever regional the Columbus School for Girls goes to, they will qualify out. They are returning evey member but one of their state championship team from last year. Lead by Darcy Copeland, with Carlesha Chambers and Hilary Leister, they will likely contend again. Granville and Heath coming out of HIlliard (maybe) could contend as well. Napoleon, behind Kathryn Huddle will form a strong 4x800 team and Pemberville Eastwood definitely has the talent to make it out as well. Canton Central Catholic lost two members of last years 10th place team, so there success will depend upon finding talent to back up Julie Bitzel and Lindsay Cooper. Same goes for Upper Sandusky, but they have it even worse as their only returning runner is Amy Oehlers. Williard and St. Mary's could also contend.
     In the 800, if Copeland goes to Lexington she will win. She was second last year at state in 2:14 and has to be the preseason favorite to take the title while battling with Pettus and Joh from the Northeast. Shelly Shneee of Milan Edison (2:17 last year) will be up front as will Madeline Singer and Sarah Henize of Byran and Bucyrus respectively. The two ran 2:21 and 2:19 last year as freshman. Kelly Langenbeck of St.Vincent St. Mary will also be back with a PR of 2:24 from last season.
      In the 1600, if Anna Hinterschied of Col. Bishop Hartley goes to Lexington, she would make it out. She ran 5:17 last year and finished 5th at state. Julie Bitzel of Canton Central Catholic ran 5:20 last year and has to be considered a contender. As should now sophomore Tausha Posani of Canal Winchester who also went 5:20 as a freshman last season. Kathryn Huddle of Napoleon stands a good shot as well as Casey Ulinski and Katie Hartman of Pemberville Eastwood.
     In the 3200 Amy Oehlers of Upper Sandusky is the top returner with a 9th place finish at state and a PR of 11:30. After that, Dani Stockmaster or Willard has gone 11:30 as well as a frosh last season and after finishing in an almost dead heat with Oehlers at the State XC meet with the two of them seconds ahead of Ulinski who will also contend. Senior Stephanie Knous of St. Mary's chould also be in the mix trying to get to state one last time.
     As I've said before, a lot of what happens in this region is very dependent on who goes where from Columbus, so we shall see.