Centerville sophomore Grace Kilroy won last year's girl's Section A of the OHSAA Early Season Cross Country Invitational. She was one of the leading freshman girl's in the State and helped Centerville win the D1 Girls' Team title in November.
The Ohio 2016 Cross Country season gets underway on Saturday with the OHSAA Early Season Cross Country Invitational at National Trails. Saturday we can throw out all the subjective Preseason rankings for both the individuals and the teams. At the end of the day, we will begin to see the new 2016 rankings. The meet is an early test of some of the best individuals and teams in the State, but is not a true indicator of where these individuals or teams will be come November. Many teams run some freshman and do not compete with all of their top runners, allowing them to rest and some of the younger and perhaps less experienced runners, to run on the course where the State meet is held in November. Never the less, here is a quick preview of tomorrows season kickoff. (Note: The Sections roughly correspond to State Divsions, but teams can run out of their division.)
Section A Girls (D1)
Centerville and Mason are two of the top ranked, if not the #1 and 2 ranked PreSeason teams. Centerville won last year but will be challenged by Hilliard Davidson, Olentangy Liberty, Pickerington Central and Upper Arlington, who are all expected to have strong teams this year.
On the individual side, Centerville's Grace Kilroy is the defending champion. Kilrory should be back. We may see an early season match up between Hilliard Davidson's India Johnson and Olentangy Liberty's Emma Bower. Johnson is the PreSeason #2 ranked girl in the State and Bower, the #3 ranked.
Section B Boys (D1)
Three of the top Preseason ranked teams are scheduled to run, including Louisville who some have picked to be the best in the State. Joining Louisville are Hilliard Davidson and Thomas Worthington.
Lakota East junior, Dustin Horter, the #1 Preseason ranked boy in the State, is running. He was 4th last year. Watch for Thomas Worthington's Arjun Jha and Andy Payne to challenge Horter, along with Newark's Owen Keith.
Section G Girls (D2)
Lexington returns with two of the top individual girl's in the State, Whitney Wendling and Mackenna Curtis-Collins. The girls ran 6th & 7th last year as the #2 & 3 runners behind graduated Dominique Clairmonte who was the winner.
Section H Boys (D2)
Louisville was dominant last year, but they are in the D1 race. Lexington is back. They were 2nd and bring two of the States leading D2 returners, including one of the top runners in the State, Ryan Johnston. Johnston was 2nd last year to his teammate, Nick Stricklen. Johnston ran 4th at the State meet. Along with Johnston, Lexington is counting on Jr. Forest Volz.
Section I,K Girls (D2,3)
Two of the top Preseason ranked D2 girl's teams are in this section; Beachwood and Unioto, along with D3 Fairfield Christian Academy and Columbus School for Girls. Unioto is the defending champion and they are led by the Preseason #1 ranked D2 girl in the State, Haley Wright. Leah Roter of Beachwood, should challenge Wright. Roter was 7th last year in the D2 race.
Section K features one of the best, if not the best D3 girl's runners in the State, Fairfield Christian Sr. Kyleigh Edwards. She was 3rd at State last year, Seh si the Preseason #2 ranked D3 girl in the State.
Watch for D3 Maplewood, the defending D3 State champions, and won of the Preseason favorite teams to defend its title. They are in Section L. Sr. Wyatt Harmon of Fredericktown is in the Section J race. Harmon was 14th in the State D3 race last year and is one of the top returning boy's in D3 this season.
