BY SARAH CARPENTER (‘20)

The girls’ cross country team placed third overall in the Division I State Championship with 142 points at National Trails Raceway on Nov.  10, with one runner earning an All-Ohio status.

“I didn’t expect us to get third in Division I, I thought we would be placed lower,” freshman cross country runner Avery Golomb commented.  

The state qualifiers included Reilly Zink, Dylan Kretchmar, Alyssa Christian, Tori Bergstrom, Avery Golomb, Jenna Unkefer, Regina Rose and Emma Calvert. The team competed against considerably larger schools such as Centerville, Beavercreek, Mason, Medina, Hilliard Davidson, and many more.

“The rest of my team and I were definitely ready for the meet,” Golomb stated. “We had been preparing for this meet since the early weeks in June. We were also a bit nervous to go up against the biggest, strongest schools in Ohio.”

Originally, the team planned to compete on Nov. 3, but could not due to the flooded racetrack.

“It rained for three days straight,” junior Tori Bergstrom commented. “The course was so flooded that they would’ve had better luck having a swim meet instead!”

Junior Reilly Zink placed within the top 20 girls with a time of 18:57. This time earned her All-Ohio status and she became the first Granville girl to earn this title.

“I was astounded by some of the finishers in the race, especially Reilly Zink,” Golomb stated. “Overall, I think we did a pretty good job. We placed third and beat some pretty huge schools.”