TROY – For the first time in school history, the West Liberty-Salem girls and boys cross country teams both won a regional title on Saturday.

For the girls, it was the 8th Division III regional title in the program’s history and its 8th consecutive state meet berth. It is the 13th state meet berth overall for the WL-S girls cross country program.

WL-S had 64 points followed by Fort Loramie and Maderia, which each had 76.

Sophomores Malia Miller and Breece Gullet led the Big Orange attack with top 10 finishes. Miller placed second (19:09.65) and Gullett 9th (19:40.21). Both times were career bests for the runners.

The Big Orange went on to place four other runners in the top 35 with Ashley Yoder placing 19th (20:08.21), Gwen McCullough 23rd (20:33.25), Addison McAuley 26th (20:33.85) and Hattie Jacobs 32nd (20:56.17). Mallory Bostick rounded out the Big Orange placers by finishing 44th (21:32.10).

“I’m so proud of our Big Orange girls. They put it on the line and went for the win against some of the top teams in the state,” said WL-S Coach Ann Vogel. “We established ourselves well at the beginning of the race, allowing us to maintain our composure and stay focused to the finish. Coach Louden and the boys team also winning a Regional title made it a special day to wear the Big Orange uniform.”

The Division III regional title for the WL-S boys cross country team was the school’s first since 1989.

This will be the program’s 6th straight trip to state and the program’s 22nd overall.

At the regional, WL-S had 61 points followed by Versailles with 102.

Results for the Tigers were Asher Knox 6th 16:18.45, Caleb Larson 14th 16:55.25, Dylan King 17th 17:01.95, Troy Bradley 19th 17:06.85, Garrett Wallen 20th 17:07.35, Quentin Rudolph 25th 17:21.05 and Joey LaRoche 27th 17:24.97.

“I’m beyond words on how I’m feeling about our program’s first regional title since 1989,” said WL-S Coach Mike Louden. “These young men have worked so hard, so to have this special group bring home a title that has eluded our program for 34 years is satisfying. We set some very big goals back in the middle of June, and winning our first regional title in 34 years was near the top of the list. Placing our top 5 in the top 20 and all 7 in the top 30 speaks volumes to the team depth this season. We’re appreciative and grateful for the opportunity to compete at the state meet and we will go into that meet with the same approach and mindset that we’ve had at the first eight meets of the season.”

The WL-S girls will race at 10 a.m. next Saturday at The Fortress in Obetz while the boys will race at 10:45 a.m.

M’burg qualifiers

PICKERINGTON – At the Division III Central District regional cross country meet on Saturday, four Mechanicsburg runners qualified for state.

For the girls, Clair Rodgers placed 18th in 20:00.46 and Isabelle Rodgers was 23rd in 20:09.55.

For the boys, Will Negley was ninth in 16:16.53 and Beck Negley was 10th in 16:24.78.