RVHS hosts county invite and senior day

River View High School cross country seniors and their parents posed for a photo before the start of the county invite held Aug. 28 at River View High School. Josie Sellers | Beacon

WARSAW – The cross country county invite was a chance for area runners to compete with familiar faces and River View’s seniors to reflect on their careers.

The annual invite, which was held Aug. 28 at River View High School, served as the Black Bear’s senior day.

Senior Alicia Lonsinger has run cross country for two years and said it’s a way to become stronger physically and mentally.

“You learn to overcome problems and adversity,” she said.

Holly Surdyk also has run cross country for two years.

“We are more than a team,” she said. “We are family. We are really close. We trust each other and can tell each other anything.”

Rachel Allen started running cross country in seventh grade.

“It’s not easy,” she said. “It’s really hard to do, but we sweat and bleed together. We work hard together and that makes us stronger.”

This is Alaina Seiler’s first and last year running cross country.

“I ran track with a lot of the girls last year and heard them talk about how awesome cross country is,” she said. “I started going to summer practices and am glad I chose to do this. It’s been worth it.”

Also on the team is German exchange student Sara Lindemann.

“I wanted to try something new,” she said.

Lindemann, however, isn’t the only foreign exchange student on the team.

The boys have Kevin Lobo from Bolivia running for them.

“I’ve only been practicing for two weeks so this is my first actual meet,” he said. “I just got to the United States on Aug. 12. So far I really like cross country.”

Joshua Tate has been running cross country since seventh grade.

“With this meet we get to run against people we might see again,” he said. “A lot of these guys we’ve known since our freshman year.”

Nicholas Grashel agreed with Tate.

“It’s the least amount of runners we have on the start line,” Grashel said. “Usually there are hundreds of kids on the start line. With this one though the runners are ones we see around.”

He and Patrick Stanton have run cross country for four years.

“I’ve enjoyed the friendships I’ve formed with my teammates,” Stanton said. “The guys are real close and we hang out on weekends and after meets.”

River View competed at its county meet with runners from Newcomerstown, Ridgewood and Cambridge high schools and their junior high teams. Results from the invite were: Boys – River View 18, Ridgewood 67, Cambridge 68, and Newcomerstown 85; girls – River View 36, Newcomerstown 37 and Cambridge 49. Ridgewood did not have enough girls to score as a team, but freshman Alana Shroyer finished fourth with a time of 25:03. Champs of the invite were River View’s Nathaniel Stamper – 18:07:45 and Cambridge’s Savanaugh Anderson – 23:07. Ridgewood’s seniors who ran in the event included: Luke Bucher, Justin Conner and Kenzie Loomer.

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