The Lancaster High School boys’ and girls’ cross-country team ended their seasons on a high note. The girls team placed 2nd in the OCC, 7th at regional, and 11th at the state meet. The boys’ team are Ohio Capital Conference Buckeye Division champions for the sixth year in a row. Brock Jarrett and Gabe McNeil qualified for the Ohio Division 1 State.
LHS Girls’:
LHS girls’ XC head coach Tersea Tripp highlighted their season after making it to states for the second year in a row.
“The highlight of the season was qualifying for the state meet. This is only the second time in the program’s history that the girls’ team has qualified as a team in back-to-back years. The last time was in ’81 and ’82,” said Tripp.
LHS senior Harper Allen (Indiana University commit) competed in the state championship for the third year in a row this year, placing 19th overall with a time of 18:33.32 and said her highlight was making it to states as a team.
“This season was super good. I finished strong and helped my team succeed. And one of the biggest things is that we made it to states as a team and competed well there,” said Allen.
LHS senior Lillian Carpico (Capital University commit) also competed in the state championship, placing 160th overall with a time of 21:04.67 and said her senior season highlights are getting to do the sport she loves and competing against the best in the state.
“The highlight of my senior season was ultimately just getting to do what I love with my team. As for performance, the highlight was getting to compete at the highest level, the state meet, for the second year as a team,” said Carpico.
LHS sophomore Hadley Allen said her season had its highs and lows but she kept a hard fight to the end and she said she learned a lot along the way.
“I kept getting stronger throughout the season. My goal for this season was to be better than I was last year and compete with everyone in front of me, and I would say I did the best I could. I have learned from the seniors that once the title senior is your name, you are given a job. The job of making sure that everyone feels welcomed. Supporting one another through hard workouts and leading the team with good examples,” said Allen.
LHS coach Tripp said that the triumphs the girls had this season were the past alumni leaving.
“We lost two of our top five runners to graduation last year. We had big shoes to fill and every girl on the team stepped up. They all worked hard to fill those spots,” she said.
LHS Boys’:
LHS boys XC coach Jeff Koksal said that their team highlight was that they had a good year with many athletes who raced and bettered their personal times with past times.
“This year we had thirty-one guys race for the Gales this season. Everyone worked hard and everyone improved; upperclassmen compared to their bests times to previous years and first-year runners compared their first HS races,” he said.
LHS junior Gabriel McNeil competed in the boys XC state championship and placed 80th overall with a time of 16:28.73 and he said the season overall was good but there’s always room for improvement.
“The season this year went really well; it could’ve gone better but overall, it was a pretty good season,” said McNeil.
LHS XC coach Koksal said the challenges the boys faced this season were staying healthy during the sick season.
“Illness impacted many of the guys during the course of the season. Otherwise, it was a good season with generally fine course and weather conditions and very few, mostly minor aches and pains,” said boys coach Koksal.
Coach Koksal said the season is coming to an end and what they will be focusing on for the upcoming season.
“Like every year, our goals are to promote a strong work ethic, positive life choices, a supportive team environment, the value of kindness … and to confirm the value of this approach to life by winning at the highest possible level,” he said.
