WOOSTER — Mount Vernon junior Sophie Zoldak placed first at the Ohio Cardinal Conference cross country championship race on Saturday at Wooster High School.
She won the varsity girls race with a time of 18:25 – nine seconds ahead of Lexington’s Emma Wise – and was named OCC Girls Runners of the Year as a result.
Zoldak had placed 12th at the conference race her freshman year, posting a time of 21:35, then sixth last year with a time of 19:40. Her time Saturday was nearly two minutes faster than her time at the OHSAA Division I state race last fall, and would have ranked ninth overall.
Zoldak was flanked Saturday by strong finishes from several teammates, including sophomore Hannah Hofferberth, who finished 19th with a time of 21:43. Freshmen Ainsley Bonaudi and Lily Mayville placed 25th and 32nd, respectively, recording times of 22:25 and 23:34.
Senior Joy Neighbarger finished 34th for the Jackets at 24:01, while senior Jozlyn Burky finished 35th at 24:32.
Lexington took home the team trophy Saturday in Wooster, with three runners placing in the top four overall. Lady Lex finished with 33 points, ahead of Wooster (62), West Holmes (73), Ashland (96), Mount Vernon (111) and Madison Comprehensive (150). Head coach Denise Benson was named OCC Girls Coach of the Year.
Wooster won the boys team title. The Generals tallied 37 points, ahead of Lexington (51), Ashland (74), Mount Vernon (81), West Holmes (135) and Madison Comprehensive (161).
Wooster head coach Doug Bennett was tabbed as the OCC Boys Coach of the Year. The team’s top runner, senior Ashton Dunlap, was named OCC Boys Runner of the Year. He placed first overall Saturday with a time of 16:15.
Two Mount Vernon runners finished in the top 10 Saturday: sophomore Logan Eggert (seventh with a time of 16:59) and junior Eric Marofsky (eighth with a time of 16:59). Just two-one-hundredths of a second separated the two runners.
Junior Matt Salvucci placed 15th overall with a time of 17:23, while senior Logan Moore came in 23rd at 18:12. Senior Jonathan Hamman finished 28th with a time of 18:36, junior Jonathan Rutter placed 31st at 18:47, and freshman Brady Wiles finished 35th with a time of 19:44.
The Mount Vernon boys and girls cross country teams will now shift their focus to the postseason, which begins next Saturday with districts at Hilliard Darby High School.
The girls will run at 2:30 p.m., with the top six teams and 24 individuals advancing to regionals at Pickerington North on Oct. 30 (Mount Vernon is currently seeded eighth). The boys will run at 3:30 p.m., with the top five teams and 20 individuals advancing to regionals (Mount Vernon is currently seeded 14th).
Complete results from today’s OCC races are listed below in the attached PDFs:
OCC Overall Results
OCC Team Results
