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St. Thomas Aquinas Sr. Athena Welsh is the defending D3 girls champion.
(photo Dushan Bouchek)
Below is a list of the current Top 10 D3 girls. It shows their school, their grade, their finish and time in last years 2014 State meet, if they participated, and their finish and time in their respective 2015 Regional. The defending State champion is Sr. Athena Welsh of St. Thomas Aquinas. She won in 2014 with a time of 18:07.12. She won the Boardman Regional in a time of 18:20.99 and is currently ranked just behind her teamate, Jr. Kalee Soehnlen, in the #2 spot in the Ohio D3 Girls rankings. In the Boardman Regional, Soehnlen ran second to Welsh with an 18:46.18.
(photo Dushan Boucek)
They are Aquinas' 1-2 punch. If they run 1-2 at State, the Aquinas girls should be on the podium in the # 2 or 3 spot. Welsh should win and Soehnlen will battle several girls for the #2-5 spots.
(photo Mark Stonecipher)
Jr. Kyleigh Edwards of Fairfield Christian Academy is the # 3 ranked girl in the D3 division, and she will contend for one of the top 5 spots. At the Pickerington Regionals however, she was 3rd behind the winner, Sr. Rachel Wentworth of Garaway, who was 5th last year at State, and
(photo Mark Stonecipher)
(photo Mark Stonecipher)
Fr. Jenny Seas of Peebles who was 2nd. For both Edwards and Seas, it will be their first runs at State. Also vying for a top spot on the podium will be the #4 ranked D3 girl in the State,
(Photo Chris Greene)
Sr. Chloe Flora from Botkins, the Troy Regional Winner, and Lima Central Catholic So. Emily Sreenan who won the Tiffin Regional. Flora was 13th last year and Sreenan was 9th. It should be a very competitive race.
(Photo Shawn Conlon)
Top Ten State Ranked Individuals
| RANK | NAME | SCHOOL | YR. | 2104 FINISH | REGIONAL | FINISH |
| 1 | Kalee Soehnlen | St. Thomas Aquinas | 11 | 6th 19:10.90 | Boardman | 2nd 18:46.18 |
| 2 | Athena Welsh | St. Thomas Aquinas | 12 | 1st 18:07.12 | Boardman | 1st 18:20.99 |
| 3 | Kyleigh Edwards | Fairfield Christian Academy | 11 | DNQ | Pickerington | 3rd 18:47.80 |
| 4 | Chloe Flora | Botkins | 12 | 13th 19:27.35 | Troy | 1st 18:50.20 |
| 5 | Jenny Seas | Peebles | 9 | DNQ | Pickerington | 2nd 18:45.00 |
| 6 | Rachel Wentworth | Garaway | 12 | 5th 18:58.06 | Pickerington | 1st 18:40.30 |
| 7 | Olivia Kundo | Liberty Center | 12 | 17th 19:30.82 | Tiffin | 2nd 18:46.90 |
| 8 | Malina Mitchell | McDonald | 11 | 11th 19:25.20 | Boardman | 5th 19:23.95 |
| 9 | Taylor Clarkson | Adena | 12 | DNQ | Pickerington | 9th 20:08.10 |
| 10 | Emily Sreenan | Lima Cent. Catholic | 10 | 9th 19:24.40 | Tiffin | 1st 18:37.50 |
Other Top Ten Returners from 2014 State meet: None
DIII Girls Team Race
A virtual look at the Team race has the #1 ranked Minster girls taking the Team title by 51 points. That just may happen. They were 4th last year and won the Tiffin Regional over #6 ranked Liberty Center by 43 points. The Minster girls team is : Sr. Olivia Kundo, Sr. Kaci Barnhorst, Jr. Alexa Lepplemeier, Fr. Madeline Magoto and Sr. Margaret Meiring. the 6 and 7 runnes are Fr. Kaitlynn Albers and Sr. Julia Slonkosky.
The #2 ranked D3 girls team is McDonald and they ran 2nd at the Youngstown Regional to the #3 ranked, St. Thomas Aquinas girls. Aquinas scored 45 to McDonald's 65. The #2 spot just may be determined on how the Aquinas girls run, but Jr. Malina Mitchel, McDonald's #1 runner and the #8 ranked D3 girl in the State will defintely be a part of how the McDonald team fares against the Aquinas team for the # 2 or 3 spot. The virtual meet shows the Garaway and Covington girls in the 4 and 5 spots, just two points apart. Russia and Liberty Center will also be in the mix for one of the podium spots.
NOTE: Individual qualifiers are not included in the Team Virtual Meets| Place | Athlete | Yr | Team | Time | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kalee Soehnlen | 11 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 18:01 | 1 | |
| 2 | Athena Welsh | 12 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 18:01.48 | 2 | |
| 3 | Kyleigh Edwards | 11 | Fairfield Christian Academy | 18:01.70 | 3 | |
| 4 | Rachel Wentworth | 12 | Garaway | 18:21.00 | 4 | |
| 5 | Olivia Kundo | 12 | Liberty Center | 18:23.11 | 5 | |
| 6 | Malina Mitchell | 10 | McDonald | 18:29.20 | 6 | |
| 7 | Rachel Reolfi | 12 | Canton Central Catholic | 18:38.70 | 7 | |
| 8 | Carly Shell | 12 | Covington | 18:39.00 | 8 | |
| 9 | Holly Miller | 12 | Canton Central Catholic | 18:46.60 | 9 | |
| 10 | Lorenza Savini | 11 | Miami East | 18:50.00 | 10 | |
| 11 | Kaci Bornhorst | 12 | Minster | 18:50.70 | 11 | |
| 12 | Heidi Hoffman | 12 | McDonald | 18:53.40 | 12 | |
| 13 | Morgan Pohl | 11 | Minster | 19:01.20 | 13 | |
| 14 | Ariel Wentworth | 11 | Garaway | 19:09.00 | 14 | |
| 15 | Jocelyn Miller | 10 | Garaway | 19:15 | 15 |
Championship Meet - 16 Teams Team Scores
| # | Team | Score | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minster | 79 | 11 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 20 | - | - |
| 2 | McDonald | 130 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 35 | 53 | - | - |
| 3 | St. Thomas Aquinas | 131 | 1 | 2 | 30 | 38 | 60 | - | - |
| 4 | Garaway | 165 | 4 | 14 | 15 | 50 | 82 | - | - |
| 5 | Covington | 167 | 8 | 21 | 28 | 45 | 65 | - | - |