Three years ago, no Milford girl even qualified for the state cross-country meet. On Saturday at Fortress Obetz, the Eagles won the whole thing. Milford’s girls captured the Division I team championship at the OHSAA State Cross Country Championships with 111 points — the program’s first-ever state cross-country title — ahead of runner-up Mason’s 145, the Cincinnati Enquirer and The Clermont Sun reported.
Senior Elle Campbell, an Ohio State commit, led the way, finishing eighth in 18:20.3 to earn All-Ohio honors — her best finish in three trips to Fortress Obetz, The Clermont Sun reported. Campbell started 59th through the first 400 meters, moved up 39 spots after the first mile and stood 11th at two miles, and Milford overtook Upper Arlington in the final mile to win, The Clermont Sun reported.
“It’s all just so surreal. I don’t think it’s hit yet. This has been the goal since the beginning, so for this to all come true, it’s just amazing. Being my senior year, this is the best I could ask for,” Campbell told The Clermont Sun.
The scoring pack behind her was deep: Maren Barnett finished 28th in 19:07.3, Lauren Johnson 33rd in 19:13.2 and Katie Reckman 40th in 19:18.3, with Nora Lindley 57th and Schylar Sperl 74th, The Clermont Sun reported. The title is Milford High School’s first team state championship since 1989 and only its second all-time, The Clermont Sun reported — the payoff to a climb that ran from no qualifiers in Campbell’s freshman year, to a first state berth and seventh place in 2024, to a first regional title and fifth at state last season.
“My freshman year, no one made it to state for us; then year by year, we moved up on the podium, and everyone has also moved up. So the fact that we did this together makes it so much more fun,” Campbell told The Clermont Sun. Coach Matthew Jorden told The Clermont Sun: “These girls have been working toward this for the last three years, and seeing all their hard work pay off and perfectly execute a plan today and run amazing; it is definitely overwhelming and very satisfying to see what they were able to accomplish today.”
Milford headlined a Southwest Ohio sweep of Division I. Springboro’s boys won the Division I team title with 107 points, led by senior Nicholas Beatty’s 16th place in 15:41.6, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported, a result The Columbus Dispatch also confirmed. Little Miami went 1-2 in the boys individual race — senior Ryne Reynolds won in 15:01.4 and junior Ian Patrick was second in 15:10.7, the Enquirer and the Dispatch both reported — and Mason’s Atalia Hawkins was the girls individual runner-up in 17:59.9 as Mason took second in the team standings, the Enquirer reported.
What happens next: the state meet closes the cross-country season, so there is no next race — Milford, Springboro and Little Miami end the fall as state champions. Campbell’s prep career closes with a title before she runs at Ohio State, and the region’s champions turn next to the winter indoor and spring track seasons.
Photo: Jonathan Schilling, CC BY-SA