Hilliard Darby senior Logan Behm won the boys varsity 5,000-meter race at the Ohio Capital Conference cross country championships Saturday, Oct. 17, clocking 15:26.4.
He beat the field by nearly two seconds.
Behm's win headlined a strong day for Hilliard runners across both OCC divisions. All three area schools competed at Hilliard Bradley HS Track, with Darby racing in the Cardinal division and Davidson and Bradley squaring off in the Central division, according to results posted on MileSplit Ohio.
In the Central boys varsity race, Bradley senior Griffin Ley placed third in 16:13.4. Teammate Connor Ley, a sophomore, finished 13th at 16:49.2, and sophomore Ammon Edwards took 18th in 17:06.6.
Davidson's boys were led by junior Michael Limperos, who placed 12th in 16:48.3. Senior David Merfeld (21st, 17:09.9) and junior Jonathan Joseph (22nd, 17:14.3) rounded out the Wildcats' top three.
Darby packed runners behind Behm. Junior Venny Kurapati placed 15th in 16:33.0, and senior Shane Mountain took 19th in 16:56.2. Junior Evan Ridgeway (23rd), senior Gus Hughes (25th) and sophomores Riley Crippen (29th) and Jeremiah Rumschlag (30th) all finished under 17:14.
On the girls side, Davidson senior Mackenzie Kline delivered the top Hilliard finish in the Central varsity race, placing third in 18:29.1. She trailed only Upper Arlington's Josie Cox (18:26.2) and Beth Baker (18:28.7). Senior Sophia Tartaglia added a 13th-place finish for the Wildcats at 19:43.8, and sophomore Olivia Tartaglia placed 15th in 20:08.9.
Bradley sophomore Mya Guzman ran 19:54.3 for 14th in the Central girls race. Junior Kenley Horne followed in 23rd at 20:38.1.
In the Cardinal girls varsity race, Darby senior Elizabeth Elsass led the Panthers with a seventh-place finish in 19:31.0. Junior Olivia Wenger placed 10th in 19:55.8, and sophomore Elizabeth Renner took 14th in 20:10.6.
The three Hilliard programs begin postseason competition Saturday, Oct. 31, at the Division I regional at Pickerington High School North. The girls race starts at 10 a.m., followed by the boys at 10:40 a.m. Qualifiers advance to the state championships Nov. 7 at Fortress Obetz.
