The 2020 Central Ohio XC Invite hosted at Three Creeks Metro Park did not disappoint, as it provided some of the Central Region's top performances this season.
Starting with Section 1 we had New Albany take the win in the boys varsity by just two points over Dublin Jerome. New Albany were led by senior Victor Orsinelli's 4th place finish in a time of 15:50.15.
Individually in the boys varsity race it was Bishop Watterson's Will Garey taking the win in a time of 15:42.55. In second place was Dublin Jerome freshman Sam Ricchiuti, who ran an Ohio freshman No. 1 and US freshman No. 2 time of 15:45.62.
In the varsity girls Section 1 race freshman Aubrey Steiner took the win in 18:45.67, which helped lead her Upper Arlington girls to a team victory with 64 points. The team from Dublin Jerome were the runner-up finishers with 93 points.
In Section 2 it was a battle between Division 2 standouts Waynesville and Division 1 powerhouse Hilliard Davidson. In boys action Hilliard Davidson sophomore Conner Ackley took the individual win in a time of 15:09.68, edging out St. Charles senior Owen Karas, who ran a new school record time of 15:12.90. Ackley was able to lead his Wildcats squad to victory as they placed 5 runners in the top ten to secure first by scoring only 28 points, which was 32 points clear of second place Waynesville. Hilliard Davidson demonstrated why they're ranked second in the state at this point of the season.
In the Section 2 girls action Hilliard Davidson sophomore Caitlyn Jones took the individual win with a time of 18:28.08 and was able to lead the Wildcats to yet another victory. They placed 5 runners in the top 6 to total just 17 points and beat second place Waynesville who posted 58 points. Senior Hope Erbach out of Waynesville was able to break up the perfect sweep by Hilliard Davidson with her 4th place effort of 19:22.36.
In Junior Varsity action the New Albany boys took the Section 1 Open behind a 1st and 2nd finish by freshmen Jack Fischer and Boston Dues, beating second place Dublin Jerome by just 3 points.
Upper Arlington took the girls Section 1 open beating Dublin Jerome by 5 points, despite Dublin Jerome senior Samantha Melican winning the race with a time of 21:01.06.
The Hilliard Davidson boys took the win in the Section 2 Open by getting a perfect score of 15, and placing 6 runners in the top 7. Elsewhere, the Delaware Hayes girls walked away victorious in the Section 2 Open contest by taking the top 8 spots and also achieving a perfect score of 15.
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