PARKERSBURG -For the 13th time in 14 years, an Ohio native who runs for Ohio University won the Two Mile Race on a cool Saturday morning.
Kody Wolfe, a graduate of Southern High School in Racine who is a sophomore member of the cross country team at OU, led virtually from start to finish before crossing the finish line in 10 minutes and 12 seconds.
"I wanted to break Tyler Cantley's course record (9:48 in 2010),'' said Wolfe of the two-mile course record set by the former Warren and Ohio University standout who won the race six times from 2007 to 2012. The six years prior to that, another Warren and OU runner, Jason Linton, had dominated the race.
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Photo by Jeff Baughan
Kody Wolfe, a sophomore member of the cross country team at Ohio University, breaks the tape to win the Two Mile Race on Saturday.
Saturday's race, which attracted a huge field including several local high school cross country teams, quickly developed into a two-man battle between Wolfe and Parkersburg High distance standout Nic Cheuvront. By the time they had reached the News and Sentinel office on Juliana Street, their gap over the nearest competition was so wide it was obvious one of the two would win.
"I thought I could keep up with him,'' said Cheuvront, a PHS senior. "But he just kept going faster and faster. He's a college runner and I'm a high school runner.''
Cheuvront has competed in the Two Mile Race since he was in the sixth grade. His highest finish before Saturday was fourth place last year as he keeps moving up the ladder.
"I hope next year I can win,'' said Cheuvront, who by that time will have graduated from PHS and [hopes to continue his running career in college.
Wolfe was well aware of the tradition of Ohio University runners dominating the race.
"I ran here every year when I was in high school,'' said Wolfe, who placed second ti Cantley here in 2012. "Last year, I was injured and was redshirted.''
Wolfe tries to keep up with the former Bobcat winners. He said Cantley -who didn't participate on Saturday -was helping out runners at Warren.
Cheuvront said the entire PHS cross country ran the race as is part of the Big Reds tradition.
"We're getting ready for the season,'' he said. "We've lost some runners due to transfers, but we have a good core group.''
Both of the top finishers were thankful for the cool weather that greeted Two Mile participants, who left the starting line on Juliana Street at 8:10 a.m.
"It was a perfect temperature,'' said Cheuvront, who stayed with Wolfe for the first mile before realizing the older runner had more gears than he. Cheuvront placed second in the 800 meters in the Class AAA state track meet in May and teamed with Chandler Hamilton, Evan Rhodes and Logan Wooddell to win the 4 by 400 meter title as PHS captured its first state boys track title since 1965.
"It was cool,'' said Wolfe, both regarding the temperature and of his win in an event tied to a major international race.