×

Bellaire’s Defibaugh, St. C.’s Evonek run to OVCCL titles

Martins Ferry boys, St. C. girls claim team championships

Bellaire’s Jacob Defibaugh runs to the boys championship at the Ohio Valley Cross Country League Opening Day meet at Buckeye Local High School Tuesday.

CONNORVILLE — When Bellaire’s Jacob Defibaugh received All-Ohio honors a season ago, there was no doubt there was going to be eyes on him coming into his senior campaign.

However, the Big Reds standout is used to it and wasted little time to get things going.

Defibaugh, who placed 29th at the Ohio High School state cross country meet in 2019, ran away from the pack in the first mile en route to a victory at Ohio Valley Cross Country League Opening Day meet at Buckeye Local High School Monday evening.

Clocking in at 16:55.58, Defibaugh was around 27 seconds ahead of runner-up Hunter Tomich of St. Clairsville (17:22.79).

“The weather conditions were ideal,” Defibaugh said. “So that was nice coming into it. It was good to have something to look forward to with all the corona (COVID-19) stuff going on. It really changes everything. But I tried my hardest to tune that stuff out so I can focus on what I’m here for. I think I did just that.”

The senior helped his team to a third place finish. The Big Reds won a tiebreaker with Indian Creek.

“Not necessarily,” Defibaugh said about whether there was any added pressure on him after his success last season. “After last year, I kind of got used to having high expectations on me, a lot of people from my hometown were expecting me to come out and do well in every race. So I started to get used to it.”

Martins Ferry claimed the boys title after securing five spots in the Top 10. The Purple Riders finished with 27 points. St. Clairsville came in second with 58 points.

Wyatt Wodarcyk paced the Purple Riders as he finished third (17:46.77) while teammates Francis Toohey (17:48.38) and Trent Lewis (17:54.48) placed fourth and fifth, respectively. Elijah Smith (eighth, 18:23.65) and CJ Anderson (ninth, 18:38.94) rounded out the Purple Riders’ scorers.

Rounding out the top five for the boys were Steubenville’s Caleb Noble (sixth, 17:56.74); Barnesville’s Tyler Jenkins (seventh, 18:18.15) and St. Clairsville’s Zack Riffle (10th, 18:48.71).

On the girls’ side, St. Clairsville’s Allyson Evonek claimed a victory as she clocked in at 21:12.69.

She also paced the Red Devils’ to a team win securing 48 points, 17 better than runner-up Barnesville.

After waiting about 43 seconds, Evonek saw teammate Maggie Marody come in second to secure a 1-2 punch for the Red Devils. Marody crossed the finish line at 21:55.36.

Mattie Arbenz also placed in the Top 10 for St. Clairsville as she clocked in at 23:14.94.

“One of the teammates on the guys team got us all together. We meet up early in the morning to run,” Evonek said about training during the summer. “And if we couldn’t make it, we’d run on our own and keep each other updated. It was really thanks to my team.”

The Shamrocks had two runners in the Top 10 in Aubrey Johnson (sixth, 22:45.92) and Marah Bethel (seventh, 22:51.22).

River’s Mara Beard placed third (22:22.72) while Indian Creek’s Madison Conrad placed fourth (22:23.90) and Martins Ferry’s Josie Hancock crossed the finish line in fifth (22:36.75).

Bellaire’s Bethany McElfresh placed ninth (23:21.98) and Shadyside’s Kenzie Beckett finished 10th (23:33.72) to round out the Top 10.

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today