Senior-less Team Ready to “Grit” it out in the Central Buckeye League, Postseason
For the first time in three years, Senior Night will not be a sad affair for Worthington Christian High School cross country coach Michael Schaefer. The team graduated six runners in 2024 and four runners last year.
This year, the Warriors’ oldest runners are juniors Caden Korodi and Zach Stull.
“After losing 10 runners to graduation over the last two years, it’s going to make Senior Night a lot easier,” Schaefer said of his senior-less team. “(Not having any seniors) creates opportunities for the younger kids to take some leadership roles. We’ve got some good kids who are ready to step up and take those reins. It’s just a matter of seeing who does that.”
Worthington Christian has to replace Joel Bauman, Alex Jende, Brady Lawrence, and Michael Vargas. Bauman, who captained the team for two years, placed 19th in 18 minutes, 21.82 seconds at the Division III Central District meet at Hilliard Darby and placed 122nd (18:17.21) at the regional meet at Pickerington North. Vargas was the only other graduate to compete at the district meet, finishing 54th (23:01.32).
“There was a good bit of camaraderie on the team last year,” Schaefer said. “Those four pulled the team together and created a fun atmosphere for everybody. It hurt losing four of them at once.
“Joel always led by example. He had strong character; I never had any doubt he was going to get through to the kids. He kept everybody Christ-focused and made sure God was heard in everything we did. Joel left some pretty big shoes to fill.”
Junior Caden Korodi is sliding his feet into the size 14 spikes of leadership that Bauman left behind. The regional qualifier was unanimously chosen as team captain this year.
“People are drawn toward Caden,” Schaefer said. “He keeps everything entertaining, lighthearted, and positive, and he makes sure the team has fun.”
“This is my first year without a senior boy to look up to,” Korodi said. “It’s kind of just me and the other juniors, paving the way for the people behind us.”
To bring the team together, Korodi organized fishing and hiking trips, as well as many other activities outside of running. His favorite offseason activity was having the team chase after rabbits in an open field. The Warriors caught one and named him “Conejo,” which is Spanish for “rabbit.”
“Having fun comes naturally to us,” Korodi said. “If we see something funny, we’ll make it an inside joke. If we want to do something, everybody’s like, ‘Yeah, let’s go for it.’ We’ll just meet up and do whatever.
“My version of success is probably very different from the rest of the team, but I feel like just enjoying the season is the key for us. We’ll win every now and then or have a great race, but at the end of the day, it’s all about having fun with your team.”
Korodi is one of two returning regional qualifiers. At the district meet last fall, Worthington Christian finished seventh overall with 171 points, well behind champion Highland (49) and district qualifiers Utica (57), Columbus Academy (71), Fredericktown (80), and Fairbanks (144). However, Bauman, Korodi (35th, 19:47.07), and sophomore Gavin Wooten (32nd, 19:33.82) secured individual berths to the regional championship.
Korodi finished 222nd (19:31.2), and Wooten placed 258th (20:17.56) at the regional meet.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten that many boys out of the district meet,” Schaefer said.
The team also returns district participants Stull (47th, 21:21.82) and sophomore Asher Ward (51st, 21:47.32) from last year. Sophomore Kaleb Farver (38th, 19:58.57) also competed at the district meet last year but didn’t return this season.
The addition of freshmen Lucas Jolliff and Pierce Dennis could strengthen the Warriors.
“Lucas is a natural runner, and he’s been fired up about high school cross country for a while now,” Schaefer said. “He came off a good cross country season and ran a 4:56 in the 1,600 in track last year.
“He and Wooten (his training partner) are close friends and close in skill level. Hopefully, that will bring out the best times from those two.”
Worthington Christian will try to improve its perch in the Central Buckeye League this year. In 2025, Worthington Christian placed fifth (120) behind Bexley (24), Columbus Academy (58), Buckeye Valley (60), and Grandview (93).
“Our league is typically more challenging than our district meet,” Schaefer said. “It really feels like a regional meet with the bigger schools there. There are schools that have really deeply established running programs. That gives us a good idea of how well we’ll do (in the postseason).”
“It’s a pretty tough workout for us, but I have faith our team can keep up with the others,” Korodi said.
While the Warriors can train for big races and work on their endurance, Schaefer said there are some things runners have to discover for themselves.
“There’s always that difficult factor of teaching grit in cross country,” he said. “Once they get enough races under their belt, each runner finds his pain limit, pushes through it, and comes out stronger. It’s going to come down to who’s willing to work.”