Division 2 Girls
Gilson Defends Individual Championship; Lexington Wins Third Straight Team Title
Heading into the girls Division 2 race, there were several athletes who could conceivably bring home the gold medal, most notably the reigning individual champion Hawken's Ella Gilson, the top-ranked Grace Hartman from Oakwood, and some seven others from all corners of Ohio.
With the sound of the gun, Gilson and Hartman shot out to the lead and began their ~18:00 battle around the Hebron Raceway course, coming through the first mile together in 5:37. Lexington's Halle Hamilton was two seconds back in 5:39 with Granville's Reilly Zink and Oakwood's Elizabeth Vaughn, rolling fourth and fifth in 5:40. Hartman made her move between that first and second mile and opened up a slight three second lead on Gilson (11:22 vs 11:25 at the 2 mile mark) and held that lead all the way to the 800-to-go 4200 meter mark. In that last 800 meters, though, the 2018 champion made a move of her own - a devastating one - and overtook Hartman en route to her second straight victory. Though she was 3 seconds back with half a mile to go, she ended up finishing 13 seconds ahead in 17:45.9, as Hartman appeared to run out of gas on her way to the finish line.
"I just wanted to be really strong in my first mile, push the second mile, and just give it my all in the last mile. I was really nervous coming into this race. ... I just wanted to leave it all on the track," Gilson remarked on her run.
Hartman finished in second for the second straight year, but will still have two more years to get that individual title of her own. Further, she posted her third sub-18:00 mark of the year after entering her sophomore campaign with an 18:03 personal best.
In third was Lexington's Hamilton, as she led her squad to their third straight victory. She improved one spot from 2018, but, much like most of the competitors on the day, improved her time significantly: 55 seconds. Her 18:10 was her third fastest time of her season and career. Oakwood's three in the top five was unprecedented considering their top three were sitting 1-9-15 in the state rankings heading into the race. Vaughn and freshman Bella Butler leap-frogged several sterling athletes en route to their top five finishes.
Oakwood scored 8 points through 3, but their numbers 4 and 5 were nowhere close enough to help them earn a team win. They would finish fifth. Lexington, though, pulled off the three-peat and won their fourth team title in the last five seasons. Lily Weeks finished seventh in 18:34.90. The junior improved upon a 20th place finish from 2018. Joanna Halfhill made it three girls under 19:00 with her 21st place finish in 18:57.00. Lexington's top five finished in the top 50 with Natalie Dininger crossing in 44th in 19:35.20 and Emma Wise taking 50th in 19:39.60. Their top 5 and No. 7 will be returning for the four-peat in 2020 and could challenge Cleveland Heights Beaumont's Division II record 33 points.
Division 2 Girls Finish Line Video: