Tuscarawas Valley 2025/2026 Season
Tusky Valley Program
The Tusky Valley Trojans are no strangers to success on the course and track, and the 2025 cross country and 2026 track seasons only solidified that reputation. The girls' XC team boasted 12 runners, with 5 seniors: Katie Armstrong, Maleah Dillon, Trista Lieser, Jenna Ramser, and Sami Ward. This group of seniors were the backbone of the program. All four years of their high school career, the Lady Trojans qualified for the state meet as a team. This in itself is a mighty achievement for a district that has a high school enrollment of 505 students. But their biggest achievement came in their final season: a third place finish at the D3 State Meet.
A small school based in Zoarville, Ohio, just 20 minutes south of Canton, the Tusky Valley distance team is coached by Sandy DeBos, former All-Ohioan and NAIA All-American runner for Malone College. DeBos was assisted by Tyler Rippel and Jesse Willis throughout the 2025 XC season. The other 7 girls on the team were Hayden Huffman (11), Aleah Wozniak (11), Josie Eick (10), Natalie Rennicker (10), Sara Whitlach (10), Jillian Sponaugle (9), and Natalie Stokes (9).
2025 Cross Country Season
The Leadup
Coming off of the '24 cross country season, the team had high expectations. They had lost no runners to graduation, and only expected improvement from the last season. Throughout the 2025 regular season, the team went nearly undefeated, picking up only one loss at Boardman Invitational to the Minerva High School Lions. Otherwise, the team dominated, taking first at every single invitational, including the Tuscarawas County Meet and the Inter-Valley Conference Championships.
The team was supported both by talented front runners and incredible team depth. Josie Eick, Trista Lieser, and Sami Ward were the team's regular top three, and they all saw success throughout the season. At the Tuslaw Invitational, many of the team's typical top 7 took the weekend off. The team still took first, beating out all the other teams once again, this time with their strong numbers showing through. At the Conference meet, all 7 runners were presented with 1st team, 2nd team, or honorable mention.
Post-Season Rivalries
Heading into the post-season, TVHS went head-to-head with the only team that had beaten them all season long: Minerva. The teams were nearly evenly matched at Districts in Cambridge, but the Trojans suffered a close loss (Minerva 64 Tuscar. Valley 80), taking second once again to the Lions. This loss only fueled the Trojans though, and they came back even stronger at the regional meet at Pickerington.
The Trojans surged ahead, and their roster strength once again took the stage. While Minerva's top 4 beat Tusky's top 4, the Trojans had a far more consistent 1-5 spread (1:10), with the TV 5th runner placing nearly 30 places ahead of the Minerva 5th runner. The 6th and 7th runners also came into play, with TV's 6th runner also coming in ahead of Minerva's 5th, playing defense to help the team secure their championship. The team saw several PRs at the regional meet: Josie Eick with 18:58, Hayden Huffman with 20:04, Natalie Rennicker with 20:10, and Natalie Stokes with 20:58. The regional meet ended with team scores of Tusky Valley 114 and Minerva 121.
Fortress Obetz
In the previous 3 years, the team had never performed particularly well at the state meet (with team placements of 20th, 17th, and 19th), but they had always dominated regular season meets, Districts, and Regionals. This year provided a similar beginning, but with a new goal for the ending: top three. The team had lost no athletes, instead improving on their existing times and gaining a couple new runners. As for individual goals, the runners were looking for two things in particular: PRs, and All-Ohioan. The State Meet served the D3 girls with gorgeous weather (quite the opposite to its pre-season equivalent, which got cancelled part way through due to extreme heat), reaching the 50s with sunny weather. The Lady Trojans certainly left it all on the course, bringing home the third place they were hoping for. The race was hard-fought, and they (188) just narrowly beat out Minerva (192) and Woodridge (198). As an individual, Josie Eick showed up and earned herself 2nd-team All-Ohioan.
This state run was historic in Tusky Valley. The best team had only placed 7th at the State Meet, and the 2025 team beat that by 4 places! It was a culmination of hard work, dedication, and strong racing abilities, but most importantly, it was brought home by the strong depth and bond within the team. Without a close team connection, it is near impossible to show up at the highest level. Finishing the season, the team's seniors got to close out their high school cross country careers in such a special way: a new school record.
2026 On the Track
4x800m - All Throughout The Season
The 4x800m has also seen considerable success in TV history, with just the previous season making podium and earning All-Ohio. In the early and mid season, the team mainly focused on getting times down and seeing where they would be for post-season. However, the girls still saw success very early, taking 1st at the Newcomerstown Relays by about a minute and a half, and continuing this trend through many invites in the season.
The relay saw several different combinations of runners, featuring Trista Lieser, Sami Ward, Hayden Huffman, Josie Eick, Natalie Rennicker, and Natalie Stokes in rotation. Competing at Districts were Lieser, Ward, Huffman, and Eick. The girls took first by 7 seconds, advancing to Regionals in Austintown. However, when Lieser fell ill the week of Regionals, Rennicker stepped in and helped the team earn their 1st place medals, winning by 10 seconds with a time of 9:43. Heading to state for the 3rd year in a row, the 4x800 felt the pressure of living up to last year's podium. But even despite temperatures in the 80s, the girls did it again, taking eighth with 9:41.84.
1600m - Regional Podium
Just about every distance girl ran the 1600m here and there, but during the regular season, two girls ran it semi-regularly: Sami Ward and Josie Eick. Heading into post season though, they both focused on other events and Natalie Rennicker took over in the mile. She placed 3rd and advanced to Regionals, where she podiumed at eighth place with a new PR of 5:27.12.
800m - Two State Runners
Tusky Valley had quite a few talented 800 runners, but two stand out when discussing the 2026 season. Sami Ward and Josie Eick competed in the 800m regularly during the season. Ward took 1st at their home invitational, the Thrilla in Zoarvilla, and Josie Eick took 2nd at significant meets such as Lidderdale Invitational, Tuscarawas County Meet, and the district meet.
Moving into the post-season, they both ran the 800 very well, advancing to Regionals where they both ran sub 2:20 in order to make it out to State. At Jesse Owens, the girls ran their hardest, coming in at 9th (Ward) and 11th (Eick).
3200m - Three Sub-12
A problem any coach would kill to have: 3 runners all running the two mile very well. Trista Lieser, Natalie Rennicker, and Natalie Stokes competed in the 3200m throughout the season, and all three eventually dipped down in the 11:50s or 40s. Freshman Stokes saw success beginning at the West Holmes Invitational, placing 2nd. At the Lidderdale Invite, she took 1st, and at the Thrilla in Zoarvilla, she and Rennicker PR'd, taking 1st (11:44) and 5th (11:55) in a tight race, only 11 seconds apart. Trista Lieser ran to a 2nd place finish at the County meet in 11:50, meaning three girls all willing and able to race the 2 mile into the post-season.
At Districts, Lieser and Stokes ran under the lights, coming to 5th and 2nd respectively, with a new PR for Stokes of 11:40.23. Stokes moved onto Regionals, where she placed 6th, missing the automatic qualification. But, hope was not lost, as the Austintown region featured some of the best distance runners in the state. All 8 athletes on the Austintown podium advanced onto the State meet, with all three at-large bids earned by runners at that meet. Stokes ran at the State meet in her individual event.
4x1600m - New Record
While the 6400m relay is not common, the girls of Tusky Valley still managed to set a school record here, too. The team of Ward, Lieser, Stokes, and Eick beat both the JD Milburn Relays record, and the TV school record for the event. They ran a 22:21, averaging about 5:35 per runner. The team beat 2nd place by over a minute.
A Brand New Season
While the Trojans are losing quite a few runners, their upcoming cross season will still be one to keep an eye on. Riding off the wave of success from the previous year, the girls are not afraid to make a stand and fight for a fantastic season again. Already, they have placed second at the Pickerington Classic and Northwest Invite, signalling great things to come. The team is looking for another state qualification, particularly in the way of district and regional champs.
With Eick gunning for 1st-team All-Ohioan, and the next three girls following up with goals of sub-20, look out for individual improvement in these girls. The team is pretty young, featuring 3 new freshmen (Ezri Capuano, Victoria Peffer, and Brooklyn Sponaugle), bringing the underclassmen:upperclassmen ratio to 5:4. Under the coaching of Sandy DeBos and the leadership from the upperclassmen, the girls are sure to make a mark.
