Norwalk's Immel becomes four-time state qualifier

TIFFIN — Norwalk senior Zuri Immel is among three area runners who qualified for the OHSAA state cross country championships on Saturday. Immel was 16th overall among 109 runners to grab the last qualifying spot in the Division II regional meet held at Hedges-Boyer Park in Tiffin. Immel, now a four-time state qualifier, ran a season-best 19:26.49 to finish comfortably 10 seconds ahead of the 17th-place runner. "Zuri had a fantastic race today," Norwalk head coach Stephanie Pope said. "She was 27th at the one-mile mark and never looked back from there. Coming up the hill, she was in 20th and managed to more than make up ground in the last 800 meters." "Zuri has had such an impact on Norwalk cross country the past four years, and it is so rewarding to see all of her hard work pay off in the best way possible. We are so incredibly proud of her." Norwalk's team had qualified for the regional and placed 10th among 13 teams with 220 points. Other notable finishes for the Truckers included Grace Norris (20:46) in 36th and Saige Konik (21:03) in 43rd. Also from the area, Edison's Kellen McDonnell was 27th with a time of 16:58.25 in the Div. II boys race, where the top 16 also moved on. His teammates Jackson Michaelis (17:23.01) and Everett Gfell (17:23.24) finished in 40th and 41st, respectively, among 91 runners. In Div. III, New London's Carter Hicks also advanced to state by placing 24th in a time of 16:28.67. "Carter earned the opportunity to continue a pretty special season," NL head coach Tyler Cawrse said. "Being a freshman and competing against some very seasoned and talented runners has been a challenge for him this fall." Cawrse said Hicks accepted that challenge on Saturday and understood those top-flight competitors couldn't dictate the way he ran. "It's hard to know what to expect from a freshman in any race, but he showed a higher level of maturity as a runner today," Cawrse said. "I'm really proud of the work he's put in to earn that." Teammates Ryan Twining (17:50.17) and Fritz McCully (17:54.13) placed 97th and 100th, respectively, out of 177 runners. "We were really proud of how all of our athletes ran today," Cawrse said. "They saved their best for the end of the season and that's all you can ask for." Hicks joins his father, New London Police Chief Joe Hicks (in 1995), as one of just a handful of freshmen from New London to qualify for the state meet. He is also the first freshman to do so sice Carson Coey in 2016. "Having a freshman qualify for state is pretty rare and incredibly exciting for the future," Cawrse said. In the Div. III girls race, six area runners finished among the top 80 runners out of 182 total competitors. New London's Valery Henry (20:32.65) was 38th and teammate Hailey Crockett (20:51.29) was 55th. Edison's Grace Anderson (20:48.48) placed 52nd and teammate Zoey Corfman (21:23.59) was 79th. St. Paul sophomore Kate Ware (20:59.11) was 64th and Plymouth's Morgan Follett (21:08.64) finished in 68th.