Cross Country Roundup: Lancaster’s Marisa Heil breaks school record that stood since 1984

Here’s a look at local high school cross country results and highlights.

CROSS COUNTRY

Lancaster girls: On Saturday, the Lady Gales competed at the Fairfield Union Falcon Invitational. While dealing with some illness the Gales were still able to pull out the victory.

Leading the way was senior Marisa Heil. Heil was the individual champion of the race, breaking the school 5k record (set in 1984) in a time of 17:55. Pushing the Gales to victory was Harper Allen in 3rd, Ava Parrett in 4th, Amelia Fries in 5th, Hadley Allen in 29th, and Ava Zeiders in 30th.

In a race of 198 athletes Alia Hopple placed in 43rd, Lily Carpico in 54th, Katie Coy in 62nd, Callie Kretzmann in 101st, Brenna Jarrett in 104th, Evelyn Hill in 107th, Annabelle Walter in 108th, Alayna Knoch in 117th, Chelsey Hunt in 118th, My'Tayia Lucus in 137th, Zoe Fullen in 151st, Emma Loudon in 161st, Annabelle Whitacre in 176th, and Luna Safreed in 194th.

More: High school roundup: Lancaster girls tennis team wins four straight matches

Lancaster boys: Brock Jarrett led the Gales to their second invitational win of the season at the 21-team Belpre Invitational.

Jarrett placed ninth and was followed by Hunter McFarland in 13 ^th) , Joe Strigle (15 ^th ), Charlie Cooperrider (16 ^th ) and Talan Carter (27 ^th ).  With 74 team points, the Gales narrowly defeated Vincent Warren, Wheeling Park and Parkersburg South. The Gales continue to improve and rebuild with every returning Lancaster runner improving on their 2023 performance at Belpre while four Gales posted new PRs despite the hot late morning conditions.

Fairfield Union: The Falcon boys’ team delivered an outstanding performance at the Falcon Invitational by finishing first out of 18 teams from all divisions. Fairfield Union placed five runners in the top nine out of 290 competitors.

Leading the way was Andrew Walton, who placed first overall with a time of 15:19.87. He was followed by Christian Reindle (3 ^rd , 15:49.59), Nathan Phillips (5 ^th , 16:10.82), Connor Runkle (6 ^th , 16:10.82), Cordel Runkle (9 ^th , 16:37.03), Ryan Boyer (11 ^th , 16:45), Andrew Ray (19 ^th , 17:06.02), Chase Miller (24 ^th , 17:17.06.02), Connor Myers (25 ^th , 17:21.86) and Colin Reindle (26 ^th , 17:23.44).

The Lady Falcons had a strong showing, finishing fifth out of 17 teams across all divisions. They were the second-highest-placing Division II team in the race, competing against 198 runners overall.

Leading the way was Vera Henderly (15 ^th , 20:23.85) and she was followed by Adelyn Winters (25 ^th , 21:01.30), Claire Wilkinson (34 ^th , 21:34.88), Ellen Morgan (37 ^th , 21:43.20) and Abigail Pike (41 ^st , 21:55.75).

Fisher Catholic: The Irish boys and girls participated in the Belpre Invitational. The Irish boys placed fifth out of 15 teams scoring 170 points while Lancaster won the Meet scoring 74 points.

Leading the Irish was Junior Roman Funk who placed 6th-16:29.6 and Junior Landen Funk who ran a personal best 16:54.5-12th. Other Irish runners were Reece Hagy-18:47.08-42nd, Nicholas Ristau-19:26.1-61 ^st , Noah Krile- 19:57.8-74th and Corbin Stobart- 20:09.2-81st.

The Irish Girls placed second out of 11 teams scoring 82 points. Leading the Irish was Sophomore Mary Grace Crabtree- 22:07-11th and sophomore Allie Krile- 22:27.2-13th. Other Irish runners, were Sophomore Eve Ohwoforwaraye-22:39.3-15 ^th , Maggie Murphy-23:12.3-21 ^st , and Abigail Crabtree- 23:30.6-22nd.

Liberty Union: The Lions competed at the Falcon Invitational. The girls team placed 13th and was led by Rachel Sponseller (35th, 21:37). She was followed by Taylor Jones (70th, 23:14), Elizabeth Conn (93rd, 24:06), Emma Huntwork (105th, 24:44), Caroline Endsley (114th, 25:45), and Kathleen Slaby (131st, 26:45).

The boys' team placed 16th and was led by William McCreery (31st, 17:37). He was followed by Micah Fisher (88th, 19:08), William Gonzalez (138th, 20:30), Hunter Maddux (147th, 20:46), Levi Hendershot (196th, 22:21), and Silas Kohler (241st, 24:26).

Fisher Catholic: The Irish competed at the Nelsonville-York with the girls’ team placing fourth. The Irish was led by Eve Ohwoforwaraye who placed 4th with a time of 23::35.4 and Allie Krile who placed 8th with a time of 24:09.4. The Irish girls did not field a team.

The Irish boys placed fourth out of five teams scoring 63 points. Leading the Irish Boys was Roman Funk who placed first with a time of 16:47.2 and Junior Landen Funk who placed 4th with a time of 17:44.8. Other Irish runners were Reece Hagy 19:48.66-16th, Corbin Stobart-21:334.8-28th and Noah Krile- 22:16.4-36th.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Cross Country Roundup: Lancaster’s Marisa Heil breaks school record that stood since 1984