For this week's edition of 'Ohio Future Stars, we took a look at a pair of star distance underclassman girls, both of whom are enroute to take the reins of their respective teams once they become upperclassmen and their current upperclassmen graduate.
Bella Conforti (Olen. Orange 2027) and Andie Corrigan (Athens 2028)
Being someone that we have brought up before on a previous 'Ohio Future Stars' piece back in September during the cross-country season, Olentangy Orange junior Bella Conforti has had quite a few last months on the grass and oval since then, having set a personal best and earned All-Ohio honors at the OHSAA Division 1 State Championship back in November and followed that up in the post-season with representing Olentangy Orange and #TeamOhio at the Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional and Foot Locker Midwest Regional competitions.
Coming into indoor, despite the limited racing schedule, Conforti made huge jumps across the board in the distance events, setting personal bests in the 800m (2:24.69), 1600m (5:09.10), and lead the state for the sophomore class in the 3200m (10:43.91). For this current outdoor season, she is currently OH #5 in the 3200m.
For Andie Corrigan, the freshman from Athens has been finding her place in the high school running scene this year, starting in the fall with not just a 17th place All-Ohio finish at the OHSAA Division 2 State Championship, but it was also a third-place team finish for Athens and solidifying herself as the #2 on her team only as a freshman, with fellow upperclassman Sophia Szolosi just a spot ahead.
During the indoor season, Corrigan anchored the Athens 4x800m relay team to a second-place finish at the OATCCC D2 Indoor State Championships, and seemingly has established herself as one to look out for in the middle-distance events, being the top freshman in the state so far, this outdoor season with a huge personal best set of 2:20.94 in the 800m earlier this month.