The boys and girls teams competed in the Columbus Grove Division II district championships on Saturday afternoon.
The Bryan boys team finished as district champions for the first time since 2013! This also marks the last time Bryan high school boys cross country advanced to Regionals as a team. The team was led by senior Xander Fackler’s season best performance of 15:54 while placing 3rd. Braydon Buchanan was the second finisher for the boys with a personal best of 16:42 (previous best of 17:03). A close group of Elijah Cummins, Spencer Woodward, and Malaki Neilson completed the scoring five for the Golden Bears while placing in 14th, 18th, and 19th respectively. Woodward improved by 19 seconds from his previous best time. Rounding out the boys varsity squad were Nye Bradbee in 42nd and Tony Foust in 56th. The boys finished with 61 points, finishing 8 points ahead of runner-up Van Wert.
Kate Thormeier crushed her previous best and the competition on her way to the first ever girls individual district championship in school history. Kate’s previous best time was 18:44 from 2 weeks ago. On Saturday afternoon, Kate shattered not only Bryan’s school record, but also the Division II Columbus Grove district record previously held by Alexa Fortman (18:24) with a time of 18:20.54. Nicolette Stickney was the finisher for the ladies in 12th place. This was her second time qualifying as an individual to Regionals. Arella Alyanakian ran a personal best while going under 21 for the first time, finishing in 17th. She was followed by twin sister Eden Alyanakian with a 41 second PR of 22:03. Kelby Knight rounded out the scoring 5 with a personal best of 22:22 while placing 32nd. This was her first time going under 23 minutes. Casey Xie ran a 24:49 season best and placed 56th. Kassi McDade was the 7th finisher for the ladies in a time of 26:55 while placing 63rd. The girls team advanced to Regionals for the first time since 2017 while placing in 3rd and just 2 points behind District Runner-Up Kenton.
Saturday marked the first time since 2005 that both boys and girls XC teams qualified for Regionals in the same year!
Times noted below with PR/SB & Individual Qualifier Distinction
Boys
3rd Xander Fackler 15:54 (SB & Individual Qualifier)
7th Braydon Buchanan 16:42 (PR & Individual Qualifier)
14th Elijah Cummins 17:13 (Individual Qualifier)
18th Spencer Woodward 17:21 (PR)
19th Malaki Neilson 17:22
42nd Nye Bradbee 18:18
56th Tony Foust 19:02
Girls
Kate Thormeier 18:20 (PR, School Record, District Record, and Individual Qualifier)
Nicolette Stickney 20:17 (Individual Qualifier)
Arella Alyanakian 20:58 (PR)
Eden Alyanakian 22:03 (PR)
Kelby Knight 22:22 (PR)
Casey Xie 24:49 (SB)
Kassi McDade 26:55 
