Olentangy Liberty senior standout Gracie Sprankle picked up an individual conference crown while Olentangy Orange won the team title at Saturday’s OCC-Buckeye Division girls cross country championship at Hilliard Davidson High School.
Sprankle, who recently announced she’ll be continuing her athletic and academic careers at Indiana University, crossed the finish line first in 17:59.1.
The next five finishers were Olentangy-area athletes as well. Orange’s Allison Guagenti closed second in 18:38.6, Olentangy’s Lex Brookshire smoothed out the top three with an effort of 18:39.9, Liberty’s Linnea Kunesh finished fourth in 19:02.2, Orange’s Lindsay Ott was fifth in 19:14.3 and Liberty’s Audrey Piero finished sixth in 19:29.7.
The dominance didn’t stop there, either. After Westerville Central’s Tara Will, who closed seventh in 19:32.8, the next three finishers were from Olentangy schools. The Braves’ Alice Pozzi finished eighth in 19:40.2 and the Pioneers’ Abby Schroff and Paige Benecke crossed the line ninth and 10th with respective times of 19:54.7 and 19:55.1.
Orange won the team title with a score of 38. Liberty and Olentangy, meanwhile, smoothed out the top three with respective scores of 44 and 93. Westerville Central (108), Westerville North (109) and Westerville South (133) rounded out the scoring summary.
OCC-Capital Championship
Colbi Borland won her third OCC title in as many years and Grace Grunewald finished sixth to lead Big Walnut to a second-place finish at Saturday’s OCC-Capital championship in Lancaster.
Borland took top honors with an effort of 20:00. Grunewald, just a freshman, wasn’t far behind, crossing the line in 21:24.4.
OCC-Cardinal Championship
Meghan Boggess finished in the top 10 (sixth in 19:28.7) to lead Olentangy Berlin to a second-place finish at Saturday’s league championship in Hilliard.
Delaware Hayes was also in action, finishing seventh. Lauren English led the Pacers, closing 12th in 20.06.5.
MOAC Championship
Bailey Kreft (sixth in 19:50.5), Madelyn Zindars (eighth in 20:09.1) and Chayse Arnhold (10th in 20:33.1) finished in the top 10 to lead Buckeye Valley to runner-up honors at Saturday’s conference championship in Marion.
Ontario won the event with a score of 27 while the Barons closed with a team score of 43.
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY
As was the case in the girls’ race, Olentangy-area runners dominated Saturday’s OCC-Buckeye Division cross country championship in Hilliard.
Orange’s Andrew Schroff won the individual conference title with an effort of 15:45.5.
Other Pioneers in the top 10 included Alex Kenish (third in 16:13.2), Cole Benishek (eighth in 16:41.3) and Lincoln Weber (ninth in 16:50.9). Orange won the team title with 34 points.
Second-place Liberty, which finished with a score of 47, had three runners in the top 10 — Jack Humenay (fifth in 16:14.1), Joseph Johnson III (16:29.1) and Jacob Feldmaier (10th in 16:52.8).
Olentangy, finally, finished third with a score of 57 thanks in part to solid showings from Sam Holt (runner-up in 15:58.9), Carter Schaefer (fourth in 16:14.1) and Mikey Worboy (seventh in 16:40.8).
OCC-Capital Championship
Christopher Lee finished 14th in 18:24.3 to highlight Big Walnut’s fifth-place showing at Saturday’s conference championship in Lancaster.
The Golden Eagles’ Jacob Krous also finished in the top 25, closing 23rd in 18:49.6.
OCC-Cardinal Championship
Olentangy Berlin finished seventh and Delaware Hayes closed eighth at Saturday’s conference championship meet in Hilliard.
Corey Rinehart (23rd in 17:09.9) led the Bears while Avery Latta (42nd in 17:44) was the Pacers’ top finisher.
MOAC Championship
Dylan Herbert finished ninth (17:41.3) and Ben Johns crossed the line 19th (18:13.6) to lead Buckeye Valley to a second-place finish at Saturday’s conference championship in Marion.
Only Shelby finished with a better score (18) than Buckeye Valley (91).
