OBETZ, Ohio – Saturday, November 7, 2020 marked the Ohio High School Athletic Association’s 92nd annual boys and 43rd annual girls state cross country championships. It marked the first year that Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park hosted the Cross Country Championships.
In the Division III boys race, the first one of the day, Thomas Caputo of Fredericktown took home first place with a time of 15:31.5. East Canton took the championship with 126 points, giving them their third state title. Summit Country Day earned 131 points on the day, earning themselves runners up honors.
The Division III girls race that followed was decided by less than two seconds as Caleigh Richards of Maplewood edged out Sarah Reinhart of Carey with a final time of 18:22.3 and 18:24.0 respectively. West Liberty-Salem finished the day with 55 points to grab their first state title. Minister came in second with 83 points.
The second group of races started at noon with the Division II boys run. After placing sixth at last year’s competition, Senior Ryan Champa of Woodridge took home first place with a time of 15:42.9. This helped Woodridge secure their third championship in a row. This is their 10th championship as a team, breaking the record for the most championships in OHSAA Boys Cross Country history. Waynesville and Chillicothe Unioto both scored 149 points behind Woodridge, with Waynesville taking the runners up honors trophy through a tiebreaker.
The closest race of the afternoon was in the Division II girls race, won by Grace Hartman of Oakwood over Hawken’s Ella Gilson by the slimmest of margins, only 00:00.1 separating the girls with times of 18:04.1 and 18:04.2 respectively. Gilson was the individual state champ the last two years. Lexington scored 113 for their fourth straight state championship, giving them their fifth in their school’s history. Oakwood scored 127 points, giving them runners up honors.
The final Division to run was Division I, starting at 3 pm with the Boys race. Nathan Moore from Uniontown Lake took first place with 14:59.5. Lakota West secured this year’s state championship with a score of 73, giving them their second in school history. St. Xavier finished with 75 giving them the runners up trophy.
The final race of the afternoon, Division I girls, was won Mia Robillard of Centerville with a time of 17:58.5. Her and her teammate, Emma Bucher who finished runner up 00:01.3 seconds behind Mia, helped carry Centerville to a state title, Centerville’s fifth championship. Hilliard Davidson came in second place with a score 138.