With central Ohio high school boys cross-country runners starting their push for state, The Dispatch asked readers to choose the one who had the most impressive regular season.
The poll featured 11 runners who will compete at regionals. The votes are in, and the winner is Canal Winchester’s Grant Hamilton.
The senior prepared for the Division II regional Oct. 25 at Pickerington North by winning a district meet in 15:59.15 on Oct. 18 at Hilliard Darby.
Hamilton also won the Mechanicsburg William B. Saxbe Invitational (16:18.9) on Oct. 4, the Tiger Invitational at Pickerington Central (15:59.33) on Sept. 20, the Newark Invitational (15:53.21) on Sept. 13 and the Canal Winchester Invitational (season-best 15:38.2) on Aug. 26.
“Grant has carried his momentum (from the regular season) into the postseason,” coach Michelle Snider said. “His season has been a testament to his drive and consistency at the highest level of competition. Grant’s leadership is like no other.”
Hamilton pulled away on the final day of voting to finish with 48.2% of the vote, ahead of runner-up Holden Gray (39.23%) of Westerville North.
They were followed by New Albany’s Austin Benedict (5.53%), Westerville North’s Casey Carlos (2.86%), Darby’s Kole Hyer (1.65%), Watterson’s Jack Hangen (0.9%), Pickerington North’s Mick Temple (0.74%), Fairfield Union’s Connor Runkle (0.49%), Lancaster’s Brock Jarrett (0.26%) and Dublin Scioto’s Michael Kinzer and Hilliard Bradley’s Anton Shishlo (both 0.07%).
All of these athletes are candidates to make our All-Metro boys cross-country team, which will be revealed in November and honored during the Central Ohio High School Sports Awards in 2026.
High school sports reporter Frank DiRenna can be reached at fdirenna@dispatch.com and at @DispatchFrank on X.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Canal Winchester’s Grant Hamilton is Dispatch regular-season boys runner of the year
Reporting by Frank DiRenna, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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