The team was both on the road and close by home this weekend in two fantastic meets to kick off October, showing just how ready they are for the coming weeks! Eleven runners took to the skies for a quick flight to Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love, to compete in the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA. The remaining runners took a short trip just north to Kettering to compete in the Neal Charske Invitational hosted by Fairmont High School.
At the Paul Short Invitational, Centerville runners completed in one of the largest cross country meets in the nation, with nearly 6,000 athletes from 450 colleges and high schools in attendance. CGXC girls tackled a cool and muddy course, just missing the rain that moved in quickly after they crossed the finish line. Among the competition, they met up on the field with a highly competitive team from Shenendehowa High School, whom they battled with last year at the McQuaid Invitational in upstate New York for a second place finish. Despite a strong race, with three Centerville runners breaking the elusive 19 minute barrier, Centerville took a back seat again to the ladies from Shenendehowa, finishing solidly in third place. This lead pack of Centerville athletes once again delivered an exceptional performance, with 6 season best times, three of which were personal records, an exciting and incredibly rewarding accomplishment for any runner! First across the line from Centerville was sophomore Savannah Lowe with her season best time of 18:37, securing 18th place in a field of 370 elite runners. Finishing times for our team of CGXC runners were as follows:
Savannah Lowe, 18:37 (18th)
Kerri Walsh, 18:45 (26th)
Kelli Walsh, 18:46 (27th)
Rachel Whitehead, 19:01 (36th)
Dalia Einstein, 20:07 (104th)
Kylie Boggs, 20:09 (110th)
Megan Knauer, 20:13 (118th)
Drea Scofield, 20:13 (121st)
Laura Drew, 20:35 (143rd)
Megan Kafka, 21:14 (206th)
Back in Ohio at Indian Riffle Park, the remainder of the team set off to tackle a course with arguably one of the toughest hills of the season. CGXC runners were certainly fleet-footed on Saturday, showing the competition from our region that this team is most definitely hungry for more this October. An outstanding five of the first nine girls across the line in the JV race were Centerville runners! Finishing times for these athletes were as follows:
Anna Bostwick, 21:11 (2nd)
Hannah Mangen, 21:55 (5th)
Layla Emmert, 21:55 (6th)
Katie Jauch, 21:56 (7th)
Katie Lynch, 22:01 (9th)
One more race looms ahead for Centerville before GWOC championships. This coming Saturday, CGXC takes on a strong field at one of the premier high school cross country meets in the state in the Les Eisenhart Invitational at Thomas Worthington High School. Run strong, CGXC! #hungry4more