Minster athletes and coaches pose with the Division III state championship trophy during the state meet on Saturday at Fortress Obetz. The Wildcats won their fourth consecutive state title.
Kateri Sherman | Sidney Daily News
OBETZ — Coming into this season, longtime Minster girls’ cross country coach Jessie Magoto kept the goals simple for her young squad.
Last fall, Minster notched its third consecutive Division III state title. However, after winning last year’s state championship, Magoto lost the core of her top seven runners to graduation.
However, that did not hamper the development of this year’s team.
At Saturday’s state championship meet at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park, Minster notched its fourth consecutive Div. III state title. It was the 17th overall state team title for the Minster girls’ program.
On Saturday, Minster edged out Summit Country Day for the D-III title, 134-140. Rittman (144) and West Liberty-Salem rounded out the top four squads in a field of 20.
“I got choked up last week with just the idea (of possibly winning another state title). You never want to set anybody up for failure with expectations that you don’t think are realistic,” Magoto said. “We just want them to be the best that they can be. But somewhere along the way, I started thinking, ‘This is a little more than what we thought’.
“We had just two girls run today that ran last year. So, these were people that didn’t race last year (in the top seven). We just said, ‘Love the moment. If you love it, then you will be ferocious. And we’re going to love whatever happens, no matter what’. You just want them to be courageous.”
Maria Niekamp led the pack of Minster runners on Saturday with a seventh-place finish in 18 minutes, 31.99 seconds on the 5,000-meter course at Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park.
“It was like magic,” Niekamp said. “We were all just so ready and grateful for this opportunity. We were so ready to compete today. It was awesome.”
Niekamp admitted that her personal performance on Saturday exceeded her own expectations.
“I honestly was surprised. Like going down that hill (late in the race), I passed a girl and that gave me the energy to keep going, and to see how many girls I could catch,” she said with a grin.
Rounding out the scorers (top five runners) for Minster on Saturday included Claire Bohman (20th, 18:51.46), Joanna Topp (58th, 19:43.16), Adriana Kremer (88th, 20:16.55), and Ava Stammen (91st, 20:18.94). There were 183 finishers in the D-III race.
The top 30 placers in each race on Saturday earned all-Ohio status.
