School District of Washington

November 10, 2024

Washington Crowns Five All-State Runners at MSHSAA Cross Country Championships

Competing at the MSHSAA Cross Country Championships at Gans Creek Recreational Area in Columbia on Saturday, Nov. 9, Washington High School had five medalists while competing in the Class 4 ranks.

The top 30 finishers in each race earned all-state medalist honors.

The Class 4 girls and boys were the final two races of the state meet on Saturday afternoon. Rain in the Columbia area on Saturday morning made for slick and muddy conditions. Previous races that day really chewed up parts of the course.

All-state runners for Washington were junior Steven Broadbent, sophomore Gable Ohm, freshman Grace Owenby, junior Josie Keiser and sophomore Olivia Mahon.

“We’ve had higher placers, we’ve had a state champion, we’ve had multiple medalists, we’ve had a team trophy, but I don’t think we’ve ever had five all-state medalists,” said Washington Head Cross Country Coach Mike Olszowka. “What a great day for what these kids have worked for all year long. When you eliminate our five medalists, and you look at what our other five kids did, we had an all-around great day from top to bottom.

“There’s just so many things that the kids in our program do, and we’ve done it so many times,” Olszowka continued. “They expect to get better at this race. They’re ready for it. They’re excited for it. The rain was something they were looking forward to. They’re not afraid of anything. It says a lot about the mental toughness these kids have. I’m really proud of all of them.”

Washington’s top performer was Owenby, who notched a fourth place finish in the girls race in a time of 19:41. Owenby had a better finish at the state meet (fourth place) than she did at the district meet (fifth place.

“You really don’t know with Grace if she understands what just happened,” Olszowka said. “If you yell at her to smile at you in the middle of the race, she’ll look at you and smile. She’s a great kid with a great work ethic. She’s a tremendous athlete who’s not afraid of competition of any form.

Also in the girls race, Keiser and Mahon both secured their second straight all-state medal. Keiser finished in 18^th place in 20:27 and Mahon placed 20^th in 20:30.

“Josie and Olivia were on the podium last year, so they had an idea of what to expect,” Olszowka said. “What a horrible year those two have gone through between Josie finishing track season two months early with a stress fracture. Olivia had pneumonia at the beginning of the year and then later got attacked by a pit bull while we were running the roads in town and had to get stitches and missed a week of practice. Once you get out here in front of all of these people here, you do everything you can to get on that podium again and that’s what they did.”

Mahon got attacked by a pit bull dog while the team was running in town during a practice in September. The dog briefly had a hold of her wrist. With the help of Washington Assistant Coach Josh Ohm, who was running with the team, they were able to fend off the dog and avoid serious injury, although she did receive stitches and had to get a tetanus shot.

Also running at the state meet for the Lady Jays were Isabella Von Behren (99^th place in 22:23), Lindsey Mueller (118^th place in 22:50), Ava Staples (139^th place in 24:55) and Grace Gargrave (143rd place in 25:27).

The Lady Jays finished in sixth place in the Class 4 team standings with a score of 183. It was quite an improvement from their fourth-place finish at the Class 4 District 2 meet last week.

In the boys state state race, Broadbent led the Blue Jays with a 25^th place finish in a time of 16:59.

“Steven is still nowhere near his potential. That kid has so much raw talent and he’s finding it. He’s just going to get better and better,” Olszowka said. “He’ll be like a (former Blue Jay runner) Clayton Duchatschek where he’s going to go to a college and they’ll have a diamond in the rough where they can develop him into something special.”

Ohm put himself on the all-state podium with a strong finish, passing nine runners during the closing stages to finish 30^th in 17:06.

“The one thing about Gable is he’s a warrior. He’s going to battle. He’s going to scratch. He’s going to dig in and get every single ounce of his ability out of him every day. That’s one of those things that pays off on a day like today,” Olszowka said. “He wasn’t where he should have been and he just decided that he wanted to be on that podium. I guarantee he’s not the fastest kid in this field, but when it comes to courage, guts and determination, I’m going to war with him.”

Also running for the Blue Jays was Mason Bliss, who placed 41^st in 17:18.

“Mason is a sophomore, but technically it’s really his first year of cross country at this level, and it’s a learning experience,” Olszowka said. “That’s what everybody has to understand. Learning is how we’re going to get better. He had a great race for his first experience here. He ran a great time.”

Photos of Washington runners at the state cross country meet in Columbia are below.