The Olentangy Orange boys cross country team punched a ticket to regionals and a handful of other area standouts qualified as individuals thanks to solid showings at Saturday’s Division I, section 1 district championship race at Hilliard Darby.
The Pioneers earned runner-up honors as a team, finishing second to Hilliard Davidson’s 39 points with 78 of their own. New Albany smoothed out the top three with a team score of 117.
Brant Yocum led Orange, finishing fifth overall with an effort of 16:23.3. Jake Ethridge, Cole Benishek and Alex Kenish also had solid showings, crossing the finish line 16th, 17th and 18th, respectively. Ethridge and Benishek both finished in 16:39.6 while Kenish closed in 16:41.7.
Delaware Hayes’ Brian Frisch, a senior competing in the sport for the first season, has already made quite a name for himself. He finished eighth among individuals with a time of 16:27.9, moving up to eighth place on the school’s all-time list in the process.
Other individual qualifiers included Olentangy Berlin’s Corey Rinehart, who finished fourth among individuals in 16:23.3; and Olentangy’s Mike Worboy, who was 12th in 16:35.8.
Division I, section 2
Jack Humenay, R.J. LaRosa and Caleb Ogle all earned top-10 finishes to lead Olentangy Liberty to runner-up honors as Saturday’s Division I, section 2 district championship race in Hilliard.
Humenay was fourth overall in 16:10.1 while LaRosa finished ninth in 16:34.6 and Ogle closed 10th in 16:35.7.
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY
Olentangy Liberty won a district title and Olentangy Orange finished second to highlight Saturday’s Division I, section 1 district championship race Saturday in Hilliard.
The Patriots, led by Audrey Piero’s fifth-place effort of 19:26.3, closed with a team score of 63 while the Pioneers were close behind with 71.
Elizabeth Okonak and Linnea Kunesh were also solid for Liberty, finishing 10th and 12th in respective times of 19:48 and 20:06.8.
The Pioneers, meanwhile, were powered by Paige Benecke and Abby Schroff. Benecke was sixth in 19:33.3 and Schroff was seventh in 19:39.2.
Division I, section 3
Big Walnut finished fourth and Olentangy Berlin closed fifth — efforts good enough to qualify both for the upcoming regional championships — at Saturday’s Division I, section 3 district championship race in Hilliard.
Colbi Borland led the Golden Eagles, and almost every runner in action, too. She finished second among in the 115 individuals in 18:30.3. Hilliard Davidson’s Lindsay Still won in 18:00.5.
The Bears, meanwhile, got a top-15 showing from Meghan Boggess, who finished 12th in 19:38.8.
Division II
Bailey Kreft and Ashley Beatty finished 11th and 12th with respective times of 19:50.1 and 19:55.4 to lead Buckeye Valley at Saturday’s Division II district championship race in Hilliard.
Jia Radlof also played a key part in the Barons’ fourth-place finish. The junior finished 18th among individuals in 20:16.3.
The regional championships are slated for Saturday at Pickerington North. The Division II girls race is set for 11:45 a.m. with the Division I girls race scheduled for 12:30 p.m. The D-II boys race will start around 2:15 with the D-I boys race to follow at 3 p.m.
