By Brad Morris
SportingPumpkin.com
COMMERCIAL POINT — Maddux Bigam had already blazed a successful path coming into the Mid-State League Buckeye Division championships on Saturday, setting a personal-record earlier this month that yielded the Circleville sophomore the fifth fastest time in program history.
“I’ve ran in some big races this season against some good competition and have done well, so that’s helped my confidence a lot coming into the league meet,” Bigam said. “I was a little nervous for this race, because I really wanted to win it.”
Bigam passed Fairfield Union junior Anna Conrad with approximately a mile left in the race to win her first league championship with a time of 19:02.00 on the campus of Teays Valley West Middle School.
“My strategy was to stay with Anna for the first two miles of the race and then for the last mile to do a lot of surges and try to not leave it down to the kick at the end,” Bigam revealed. “When I passed Anna, I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure what she would do to stay with me or not. She’s a very good runner.
“When I won the race, it felt awesome because I’ve put in a lot of work this summer with a goal like this in mind. I have to thank my teammates and coaches for their support and helping me.”
Conrad came in second in the 49-runner race in 19:26.20.
Fairfield Union edged Teays Valley to win the girls championship.
The Falcons placed their top five runners in the top 14 to top the eight-school field with a team score of 40. The Vikings placed their top five runners in the top 16 to finish second with a team tally of 45.
Leading runners for the Vikings included Lindsey Triplett (third, 20:25.80); Evie Layton (sixth, 21:05.40); Jenna Lathem (ninth, 21:29.50); Kate Charter (11th, 21:50.80) and Katy Zang (16th, 22:33.50).
Logan Elm finished in third with a team score of 89.
Top runners for the Braves included Vera Henderly (10th, 21:37.40); Kinley Whited (13rd, 22:04.70); Chloe Anderson (19th, 22:49.60); Ella Borland (23rd, 23:17.50) and Maggie Wilson (24th, 23:30.80).
Circleville finished fifth with a team tally of 143.
Following Bigam for the Tigers were Meg Warner (20th, 22:52.60); Ava Justice (39th, 24:59.20); Kaylyn Milliron (40th, 24:59.50) and Aly Hatfield (43rd 26:06.80).
Amanda-Clearcreek finished seventh with a team score of 173.
Running for the Aces were Karlee Parry (21st, 23:01.00); Autumn Parry (29th, 23:51.70); Audrey Meyer (32nd, 23:59.70); Addy Pugh (45th, 26:50.80) and Elaina Van Gundy (46th, 26:51.90).
Fairfield Union placed five runners in the top 10 to also win the eight-school boys race with a team score of 25, followed by Liberty Union (51) and Teays Valley (73).
Top runners for the Vikings included Thomas McPeek (seventh, 17:28.20); Jerry O’Dell (ninth, 17:31.30); Rueger Shrewsberry (15th, 17:59.40); Conner Davis (20th, 18:44.60) and Connor Dean (22nd, 18:51.70).
Logan Elm came in fifth with a team tally of 157.
Leading runners for the Braves were Drew Tomlinson (14th, 17:58.30); Keegan Kidd (30th, 19:33.10); Jude Schaal (35th, 19:55.90); Dane Liggins (36th, 20:04.20) and Scott Gaskin (42nd, 20:56.70).
View a photo gallery of the league championship boys race.
Circleville followed in sixth with 180.
Top runners for the Tigers were Sterlin Mullins (27th, 19:16.00); Preston Hulse (33rd, 19:52.20); Zach Buitendorp (34th, 19:52.90); Brandon Patrick (41st, 20:35.50) and Chip Stanley (45th, 21:46.00).
Amanda-Clearcreek came in eighth with 232.
Running for the Aces were Cole Reynolds (38th, 20:11.50); Travis Spence (40th, 20:30.80); Peyton Hill (49th, 23:02.10); Coleman Kochender (52nd, 26:18.10) and Henry Poor (53rd, 31:37.40).
Circleville and Logan Elm travel to Rio Grande next Saturday for the Southeast District championships, while Amanda-Clearcreek and Teays Valley head to Hilliard Darby for the Central District championships.
View complete results of the Mid-State League Buckeye Division boys and girls races
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