Ava Beeks 4th individually as Perrysburg girls cross country places 2nd at Obetz

OBETZ, Ohio — Perrysburg’s Ava Beeks opened the 2024 cross country season Saturday with a fourth-place finish on the course that will host the state championship meet.

Competing in the OHSAA Early Season Cross Country Invitational at Fortress Obetz, Beeks finished the 5,000-meter course in the Division I team race in 19 minutes, 8.16 seconds.

Avon’s Kaitlyn Reese won the D-I girls team race in 18:00.05. Joining Beeks in the top 25 were Perrysburg’s Kaelyn Becken in 14th (19:37.66) and Whitmer’s Lily Good in 16th (19:41.44).

As a team, Perrysburg finished second with 165 points, trailing only Avon’s 147 total.

In the Division II-III girls race, Delta’s Josilyn Welch placed ninth in 19:58.41. Athens’ Sophia Szolosi was the first-place individual in 18:31.16, while Athens also won the team race with 86 points.

Otsego’s Nathan Strahm took 18th in 17:18.51 and teammate Wesley Kellermeier took 19th in 17:22.49 in the boys Division II-III race. The Knights finished eighth as a team with 298 points, with Lexington winning with 68. Whiteoak’s Landen Eyre was the top finisher in 16:05.33.

No Toledo-area runners finished in the top 25 of the Division I boys race, which New Philadelphia’s Marcus Adelman won in 15:49.07. Little Miami won the team race with 68 points.