Highland County runners set to make mark at 2023 OHSAA State Cross-Country Championships this Saturday

This Saturday on Nov. 4 at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park, three Highland County runners will be competing at the 2023 OHSAA State Cross-Country Championships.

For Whiteoak, one of the favorites in the Division III race – if not the favorite to finish first – is junior Landen Eyre, who hasn’t lost a race the entire regular season. This will be his third time racing at the state championships, and it is his second time running as an individual state qualifier.

Also returning to state for Whiteoak as an individual, for a second time, is senior Weston Blair. Running in the Division II race and making his state championship race debut is Hillsboro junior Corbin Winkle.

Starting with Eyre, the decorated runner raced over 800 runners in 2023 and defeated each and every one of them, winning a Southern Hills Athletic Conference championship, a district championship and a regional championship. Eyre won the SHAC title with a time of 15:47.20, followed by a district time of 16:15 and a regional race time of 15:38.08.

Eyre is a three-time SHAC champion, a two-time consecutive district champion, and the regional first-place finish was his first time at the top of the podium at regionals.

Eyre talked about the season and his very high expectations for the state championship race.

“The season has gone, I’d say, pretty well for both of us [Eyre and Blair]. In probably three to five races, we’ve went one and two,” Eyre said. “I think one meet in particular that stands out to me is regionals last Saturday. We went one and 15, so I don’t think that’s ever happened in WHS cross-country before, with two runners going to state. I’d say that’s pretty impressive.

“I’d say they’re pretty high (his expectations at state). For me, the only reasonable answer is to either win or come close to winning, hopefully.”

Eyre – who is also a three-time Highland County champion and a three-time SE District Runner of the Year –  in 2023 was first place at the Unioto Invitational (15:28), as in that race he beat 277 runners. He was first place at Southeastern’s Aaron Reed Memorial (15:55), and he also won at Pickerington North in their Cross-Country Classic with a time of 16:22.5.

As a sophomore last year, Eyre was fifth in the state race with a time of 16:04.1, and when he raced at state with the WHS team, Eyre was 50th place his freshman season with a 16:54.90 finishing time.

Whiteoak head coach Doug Hughes spoke about the work, toughness and determination Eyre has shown all season, battling injuries and still putting in the work necessary to be a top runner headed into the state championship this Saturday.

“Landen is a special, special talent. He’s a naturally great runner, but his commitment and work ethic are even farther off the chart than his long-distance running ability,” Whiteoak cross-country head coach Doug Hughes said. “I get the privilege to watch it. It’s hard to fathom the stuff he’s doing in a weekly workout. For example: near the end of the season he raced at Unioto and was badly spiked by another runner and ran most of the race with just one shoe, and he won, but his feet were a mess that evening with huge blisters and very sore.

“The very next day, he jogged 13 miles, then on Monday ran nine miles. On Tuesday, he jogged a three-mile warm-up, then did one of the craziest workouts. He ran a five-minute mile, took a two-minute break and then ran a 9:34 for two miles. After that, he then took a three-minute break and ran a 4:55 mile.

“The next day on Wednesday he ran nine miles, Thursday he did a 15-minute warmup jog then ran a 4:48 mile, then did it again, then a 2:20 half-mile, then did three more of those,” Hughes continued. “Once he did all that, Landen ran a 65-second 400-meter, then more of those…..each one only had a 90-second break.”

Hughes continued to talk about the weekly preparation of Eyre and all the work he puts in to be one of the very best runners in the state of Ohio.

“On Friday, Landen then jogged seven miles, and Saturday he dominated the league meet. The week after that was similar, but instead of getting a 90-second break he had to just jog slowly for 90 seconds before the next run,” Hughes said.

“It just makes you shake your head. He’s come such a long way. The talent and ability was always there, but if there was a state champion for hard work, he’d already have that award. He’s set the example for others, and he’ll never be able to look back and wonder “what if I worked harder?”

Blair in 2023 has returned from an injury suffered last spring which was suffered during track and field season. Getting to this point of his final race for his high school career has been full of hard work and determination as well.

For the 2023 season, Blair was seventh place at the Pickerington North Cross-Country Classic with a time of 17:17, and at the Aaron Reed Memorial Invitational he was second place (16:27). Blair had a Top 10 finish at the Unioto Invitational with a sixth-place finish and a time of 16:06.

This postseason, Blair was second at the SHAC Championships with a time of 16:50.40, sixth place at districts at 17:05.35, and last weekend at regionals qualified for state with a 15th-place finish, as he had a time for 16:33.

“It’s been a good season. I was coming off my injury. I got back into it, and it was nice and made improvement all year. I’ve been trying to stay closer to Landen, but he pulls away from me now and again,” Blair said. “I fractured my tibia and fibula during track. I wasn’t able to get the best summer in, but then I got back at it and was able to get training.

“I’m going in (Saturday) with high expectations for myself. I never want to underestimate myself. I want to finish on the podium. That’s the goal this weekend, but I’m hoping for a strong race. A podium finish is definitely the goal I’m hoping to get Saturday. This will be my last race, so I want to leave it all out there.”

Blair – who is a four-time All-SHAC selection and a two-time All-District honoree – is no stranger to the state championship race in Division III, as in 2021 he qualified as an individual with a 39th-place finish his sophomore season with a time of 16:47.00.

“Weston is ready to go. He’s always ready to go. The kid is the ultimate competitor. He’s going to bust out of the pack of the top runners in the state, and he’ll lead the entire pack into the stadium at Fortress Obetz to start the race,” Hughes said. “He might run a 4:40 first mile, and it’s incredible how he holds on in these big races. There are 190 Division III schools in Ohio and nearly 2,000 cross-country runners altogether, and Weston might very well be in the top 30 and that would get him first team all-state.

“I can’t wait to watch how he finishes out his cross-country career at Whiteoak. Weston has been such a fun kid to coach, and there is an impressive drive within that kid. He’s going to have a great meet Saturday, and then he’s going to go on to have a successful life, and I’m glad I’ve been there to see it since kindergarten.”

Both runners thanked their family, teammates and coaches for their support this year and throughout their cross-country careers.

In Division II, the Hillsboro Indians will be represented by junior Corbin Winkle, as he’s making his state debut on Saturday.

Winkle this postseason was the Frontier Athletic Conference champion with a time of 16:42.00, making him a back-to-back FAC champion as he won the race as a sophomore with a time of 16:40 in 2022.

At the Division II district race, Winkle had a time of 16:40.26 for sixth place, and at regionals last Saturday he was 22nd place to become an individual state qualifier, having a time of 16:22.43.

Winkle talked about the experience of being a state qualifier for the first time.

“It’s truly been an amazing experience to qualify for state,” Winkle said. “After all the work I’ve put in over the past few years, it’s really a special feeling for it all to pay off. I couldn’t do it alone, so I’d like to thank my parents, my coach, my teammates, and the good Lord above for making this possible.”

Hillsboro head coach Ed Letts spoke about what it has been like to coach Winkle and to watch him become a state qualifier.

“It has been an absolute privilege to coach Corbin over the past few seasons. He is extremely competitive and is willing to do whatever it takes to be successful. In my 20 years of coaching, I've had many runners tell me they want to improve, but not too many actually follow through and do the work necessary,” Letts said. “Corbin approached me at the end of last season and expressed a desire to become a state-qualifying level runner. I put together a winter and summer plan for him, and he followed every bit of it.

“Seeing him achieve his goal of qualifying for the state meet was an amazing moment. There is something special about watching someone achieve what they set out to accomplish when you know just how hard they worked for it.”     

Letts also talked about the type of improvement Winkle has made the past couple seasons.

“Since sophomore year, Corbin has really started to pick up on how to race. He's learning that he doesn't need to fly out to the lead all the time,” Letts said. “He's started to trust his training to put him where he needs to be by mid-race in order to be competitive in the last mile.

“I've told him plenty of times that you can't win the race in the first mile, but you can certainly lose it. The ability that he has to sit back a bit and run a proper pace in the first mile came from confidence in his conditioning. He knows he'll be able to make a move at the right time and put the pressure on other runners to go with him.”

The 2023 OHSAA Cross-Country State Championships will be held at the following address on Saturday, Nov. 4: Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park, 4175 Alum Creek Drive, Obetz 43207.

The Division III boys race will start at 10:45 a.m., and the Division II boys race will start at 12:45 p.m.