Girls at the Start of Regionals. Photo by Chris Heermann’18

On Saturday, October 29, both the girls and boys had spectacular runs, finishing 3rd and 4th respectively  out of 17 teams that competed in regionals at Pickerington North.

Both teams qualified for states. The boys faced strong competition and managed to finish 4th. Nick Robie finished 15th overall.

The boys finished 4th out of 17 with 135 runners, but this year our region was extremely tough, so much so the judges decided that 5 teams would qualify from our region and 3 from another. The three teams that beat us are ranked top 10 in the state.

Nick Robie said, “The reason we performed so well is we ran as a team . . . our pack stuck together and trusted each other and it paid off.”

The girls finished 3rd, thanks to The Grammel sisters Audrey and Annalise who placed 16th and 3rd respectively. The girls finished 3rd out of 17 teams. They had 131 runners in their race, all of whom were very competitive.

The week before, the Vikes traveled to Watkins Memorial Saturday, October 22, for the districts.The boys were once again champions, and the girls took 3rd place. The boys had 6 top-10 finishes, with Nick Robie’18 leading the way in 1st, Liam McCann’19 in 5th, Chris Heermann’18 in 6th, Grayson Mick’17 in 7th, Nick Watson’18 in 8th, and Charlie Sabgir’20 in 10th. Annalise Grammel’20 led the girls with a 2nd place finish, and Audrey Grammel’17 finished in 4th.

At the October 15 MSL tournament at London, the boys— repeating last year’s success— finished first overall, while the girls were runners-up. For the boys team, four runners had top-10 finishes, giving Academy a 13-point margin over 2nd place team Bexley. For the girls, five placed in the top-15, leaving them just one point shy of 1st place.

With the teams’ triumphs behind them, they are looking forward to states, and Academy’s fans will be there to cheer them on. Go Vikes!

The state meet is at National Trail Raceway on Saturday, November 5.