OHSAA State Championship: Preview

David Nguyen


Division 1: Girls

It's going to be quite the show this weekend on the girl's side for Division 1, both individually and on the team side.

Starting with the individuals, it could be anyone's race right now, and frankly, this might be the deepest field we have seen in Ohio history at the state championships, as all but one athlete who have dipped under the 17:30 mark at some point this season are slated to toe the line.

The list goes as follows:

Daniela Scheffler (Uniont. Lake 2025)
Evelyn Prodoehl (Lak. West 2025)
Brooke Chapman (Olen. Orange 2026)
Natalie Fouts (Dub. Jerome 2026)
Marisa Heil (Lancaster 2025)

Based off of season/personal bests, current state leader Daniela Scheffler leads the charge by a huge margin right now after clocking a scorching 16:41.90 at the Federal League Championships earlier this month; one of the fastest times in Ohio history.

The senior from Uniontown Lake made herself not just known in the state, but in the entire country as well, remaining undefeated throughout the entire fall along with notching the title of 'National Athlete of The Week' back in September following a breakout performance of 17:09.10 at Wooster XC Invitational.

While she may be hunting for her first state championship title, Evelyn Prodoehl (Lak. West 2025) has made it known that she will be looking to defend that title, as she just took two wins at OHSAA Division 1 District - Voice of America and OHSAA Division 1 Region 4 - Troy after not having partaken in any prior competitions this fall.

Reflecting on the group set for this weekend, 13 out of the 20 athletes who set foot on that podium will be returning to the championships this weekend, 6 of which were previously underclassmen (now juniors).

Speaking of underclassmen, Bella Conforti (Olen. Orange 2027), who is currently the top underclassman in the state, has found consistency throwing down solid performances this season, putting up numerous races under 18:10, following up with two sub-18 performances at Berlin Bear Den Dash (17:54.24) and OHSAA Division 1 District - Hilliard Darby (17:59.65).

Joining Conforti will be her teammate, Brooke Chapman (Olen. Orange 2026), who currently leads the charge for Olentangy Orange and has only put up finishes within the Top 3 all fall. To top it off, she set her personal best of 17:18.80 enroute to winning OHSAA Division 1 Region 3 - Pickerington. She will be looking to improve upon her fourth-place finish from last year.

Now onto the team side, currently the top ranked team on the Coaches Poll and second on the MileSplit XC Team Scores, we could see Hilliard Davidson continue their generational season with a team state championship title leading into the post-season competitions. 

While the wildcats have notched some big victories this season, their most notable finish came from an out-of-state competition at the Peoria Notre Dame Richard Spring Invite in Illinois, where they finished second while taking down (at the time), nationally ranked #13 Barrington and #16 Downers Grove North.


They aren't completely in the clear however, as we will once again see them duke it out with Mason, who are just right behind them on the polls, with Efa Paschka (Mason 2026) leading the group once again. We will also see last year's champions, Perrysburg (#4), return to defend their title after nearly running a perfect score at OHSAA Division 1 Region 2 - Tiffin with just a mere 20 points. From the yellow jackets, Ava Beeks (Perrysburg 2025) put up her first ever sub-18 performance of 17:41.60 with freshman Lexi Schultz (Perrysburg 2028) just behind her, who seems to now have filled that gap from the graduation of Hannah Kersten (Perrysburg 2024).

One final note to top off this preview will be Lancaster, who were ranked #6 on the Coaches' Poll but they are currently the top team based off the MileSplit Ohio list by a few points. As previously mentioned, Marisa Heil (Lancaster 2025) will be one of the names to look out for, but the 2 - 5 for the Lady Gales have all put up sub-19 efforts this season.