Region 3 Regional Recap - Girls

This past weekend’s regional cross-country meet featured intense competition on both individual and team fronts, with Brooke Chapman of Olentangy Orange clinching the individual title and the Lancaster Golden Gales securing a surprising team victory over the nationally competitive Hilliard Davidson.

Individual Champion: Brooke Chapman (Olentangy Orange)

Team Champion: Lancaster Golden Gales

Team Qualifiers: Lancaster

Hilliard Davidson

Dublin Jerome

Olentangy Orange

Gahanna Lincoln

Olentangy Liberty

At first glance, the list of the six qualifying teams from this region might not come as a shock. In our predictions, we had Bishop Watterson taking the sixth and final qualifying spot, but the Olentangy Orange Pioneers "sneaking" into a qualifying position should hardly be considered a surprise.

Orange was led by their star-studded duo of Regional Champion Brooke Chapman and sophomore Bella Conforti, who finished closely behind her. Together, they combined for an impressive score of just 6 points, propelling the team not only off the bubble but to a 4th place finish overall. While their score was significantly affected by their 3-5 scorers, the front-running duo demonstrated they could carry the load. Though we don’t anticipate the Pioneers being heavily involved in the team conversation this coming weekend, if their backend scorers step up, they could sneak into the top 10.

Next, let’s examine the order of our qualifying teams, particularly the Lancaster Golden Gales’ upset over the Hilliard Davidson Wildcats, winning by a score of 83-106. Lancaster’s top duo of Marissa Heil and Harper Allen performed as expected, finishing 2nd and 7th respectively, but it was the Golden Gales’ backend scorers who secured the victory, especially freshman Amelia Fries, who delivered an impressive 28th place performance.

Analyzing the head-to-head battle between two of the best teams in the Midwest, two key factors led to this upset. The story was largely defined by standout performances from Lancaster’s Harper Allen and Amelia Fries, while Hilliard Davidson’s Celia Schulte struggled immensely. Schulte’s 50th place finish marked the first time all year she didn’t score for the Wildcats. This heavily impacted the team matchups, as each team's 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th scorers finished within 4 points of each other. The key difference lay in the placement of each team's 2nd scorer, usually Schulte's position. Lancaster's Harper Allen scored just 7 points, while Davidson's Ashley Alsko posted 22 points. This isn’t a knock on Alsko, who is technically the Wildcats’ 4th runner but stepped up in the absence of Schulte and last week's Runner of the Week, Sophia Tartaglia. On the flip side, Lancaster’s 6th runner finished 102nd, while the Wildcats’ 7th, Celia Schulte, placed 50th. Heading into the State Championships, if Schulte and Tartaglia return to form, the state title should be a runaway victory for the Wildcats. If not, the Gales of Lancaster will aim to overwhelm the Wildcats for a second consecutive week. Regardless of the outcome, we can guarantee this matchup will be thrilling to watch.

Now, let’s dive into the rest of the team battles that occurred. Just as we predicted, Dublin Jerome followed closely behind the region’s two nationally ranked teams. The Celtics finished a bit isolated, 26 points behind Hilliard Davidson and 45 points ahead of the surprising 4th place finisher, Olentangy Orange. This performance solidifies their status as the 3rd best team in the region.

The battle for the remaining three state qualifying positions came down to five teams: Olentangy Orange, Gahanna Lincoln, Olentangy Liberty, Upper Arlington, and Bishop Watterson. Four of these five teams we predicted to be solid state qualifiers, while we categorized one as a bubble team. The surprise in this group was Upper Arlington, which we will address shortly. As mentioned earlier, Orange emerged as the leaders of this group, finishing 4th overall and just 1 point ahead of Gahanna Lincoln. We anticipated the Lions would qualify comfortably, and they did, placing 5th overall. Led by individual qualifier Ruby Lewis and bolstered by a solid showing from their scoring pack, the Lions advanced to next week's State Championships with confidence. The final state qualifying team was the Patriots of Olentangy Liberty, who secured the 6th place spot, just 7 points behind Gahanna and maintaining a comfortable 30-point gap ahead of Upper Arlington. The Patriots, labeled as a "should be in" team, took care of business. They are led by one of the region's and state's top runners, Elena Aldrink, who continues to propel her team through the postseason.

Wrapping up the team analysis, let’s highlight the impressive day the Upper Arlington Golden Bears had. While they didn’t qualify for the State Championships, they earned a commendable 7th place finish after being ranked 11th in the region and not appearing on our bubble watch. We knew sophomore Josie Cox was likely to be a top-20 runner, but seeing Morgan Hamilton finish just seven scoring places behind was a huge boost for this Golden Bears squad.

Turning our attention to the individual battle, let’s start with what was arguably the biggest surprise of the meet: Katy Zang’s unfortunate DNF. Zang entered the race as a massive favorite, making this a significant blemish on an otherwise perfect season. It appears Zang’s DNF resulted from a season-ending leg injury that occurred around the 2-mile mark. This is a massive blow not only for Zang but also for the state of Ohio, as she was a frontrunner to represent Ohio at a national meet. Nevertheless, we know Zang will come back stronger, and our thoughts are with her and the Zang family.

Zang’s DNF opened the field wide open, allowing Olentangy Orange junior Brooke Chapman to cross the line first, clocking a new personal best of 17:18. Five seconds behind Chapman was Lancaster senior Marissa Heil, who also achieved a personal record in her runner-up finish. Following these two, only one other runner finished under 18 minutes: Olentangy Liberty junior Elena Aldrink, who clocked in at 17:56 for the 5000-meter course. Rounding out the top six were Erica Kaulen, Bella Conforti, and Natalie Fouts. The top six finishers matched our predictions for the chase pack behind Zang, establishing a 17-second gap between 6th and 7th place.

The secondary chase pack formed a group of five, featuring four of our predicted runners. This pack was led by Harper Allen and Kaitlyn Van Zandt, followed by three runners—Lainey Fauth, Marguerite Foust, and breakout star Lydia Price—who all clocked 18:31.

Mia Eberhardt finished 12th with an 8-second gap to the next runner on both sides. After her, the remaining 12 state qualifiers came in, all clocking times between 18:47 and 18:56. These 12 runners included Lucy Rush, Reese Galinger, Grace Heitkamp, Bailey Gross, Ruby Lewis, Helen Randolph, Kalen Goss, Josie Cox, Addison Caudill, Leigha Kay, Deana Hudson, and Brooke Derringer.

In an action-packed regional meet, Brooke Chapman’s individual victory and Lancaster’s team triumph capped off a day of fierce competition. With six teams qualifying and 20 individuals heading to state, the stage is set for an exciting State Championship next weekend.