ATTICA — He may be just a freshman, but Colonel Crawford runner Shawn Auck is already among the leaders on his team, according to coach Jordan Studer.

“Shawn did awesome, he’s ran so strong,” Studer said. “He has worked so hard every day in practice and every day at meets. He puts in the work. It’s outside of practice time, too, and he leads the boys well. He’s very motivated out there.”

Well, Auck can add one more thing to his list of accomplishments in his young career: Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion.

It was a Colonel Crawford day at the N10 cross country meet Saturday morning.

Not only did Auck take the boys crown, but junior Cece Chase rolled to a championship on the girls side with an unofficial 18:54 clocking.

What’s more, the Eagles dominated the girls race, scoring just 22 points, well ahead of second place Upper Sandusky, which finished with 82 and third-place Seneca East, at 83.

Wynford placed fourth with 95, Carey was fifth with 108 and Buckeye Central sixth with 141. Neither Bucyrus nor Mohawk had enough runners to field a team.

On the boys side, Upper Sandusky narrowly won the title, finishing with 62 points, while Seneca East placed second with 63.

Carey finished fifth with 84, Colonel Crawford was fourth with 99, Bucyrus placed fifth with 106, Mohawk finished sixth with 133 and Buckeye Central was seven with 154. Wynford did not field a team.

On a cold, windy and blustery day, Auck and Chase said that the wind played a factor in their races.

“There was a nice, cold temperature,” Auck said. “I prefer the cold to the heat. I just don’t like the heat.

“My best time was 16:34. It was my second first place.”

Chase felt differently about the day.

“It wasn’t my best; it was very, very nasty,” she said. “But it was super windy. There’s a few places where that hits you and it was uphill sometimes, it feels like you are barely running.

“But I went out pretty fast, more than usual, because I was training with someone, that will help me,” Chase added.

Studer said that Auck, despite his youthful age, runs like a high school veteran.

“He has such a passion for running,” Studer said. “And he places his heart and soul into everything that he does. I tell him all the time, when you run with heart, like he does, your passion is what you need. It drives him forward every time.

“That helps him push forward,” she added. “On hard days, he digs in and he goes because his heart is in it. A lot of runners have that. But he doesn’t ever let up. That’s the biggest thing for him.”

Chase said that, despite her fast start she wasn’t in first right away.

“I was fifth until we got into the woods,” Chase said. “Then I was going back and forth for a while. I was first about a half an hour in.”

Studer felt that her prize runner was bothered with the strong winds.

“She did awesome; she has done 18:32 but that was with less wind,” Studer added. “It definitely makes a difference, but she works hard, pushes forward, has goals. She holds our school record with that new time, so she works very hard.

The Colonel Crawford girls dominated the race, placing five runners in the top 10.

“They did a great job, and they have a lot of goals,” Studer said. “They always set new goals, new goals for the next meet, the next meet, and the next meet. They set goals amongst themselves, too. It’s not just me driven. I go into the locker room and the girls have the board filled with stats that they’re talking about. It’s one meet at a time.

“They work very hard, and God has blessed us a lot with health and being able to have a team where they just feel able to connect with each other, which helps the pushing. When they have a passion together and they’re running for something bigger than themselves it definitely can help,” she added.