Last season, the Jonathan Alder Boys Cross Country team qualified for the State Championship for the first time since 1989. This season, the new goal was to win the district.

    Although the team is looking forward to the state meet, prioritizing the race and hoped to add ‘2018’ to the Cross Country banner in the gymnasium.

    For a second straight week, a Jonathan Alder athlete won, but this time, it was Junior Luke Malone coming out on top, winning the section 2 District Championship. Juniors Gavin Frick and Michael Gray and freshman Colyn McDaniel also finished in the Top 16, all being named to the District’s First Team.

    Despite reaching 50 miles on the week, the boys team still managed to win their first District Championship since 1993, doing so in dominating fashion.

    The team will now begin to taper, which will decrease the teams mileage significantly for the final two weeks of the season, hoping to improve on their impressive 12th place finish at States last season.

    Sophomore Maddie Davis ran to a dominating District Championship performance, beating the field by 28 seconds. Sophomore Morgan Hicks and senior Ashlyn McDaniel were also named to the District’s First Team.

    Despite the impressive performances, the girls came up short of winning the District Championship for a second straight season, losing to Buckeye Valley by 3 points and placing second.

    The girls will join the boys team in tapering for the end of the season, lowering their miles in preparation for the final two weeks of the season.

     Next week, the teams will compete at the Regional Championships, where the girls look to run at their first state championship in school history, whereas the boys will look to become the first team in Alder history to qualify for back to back State meets.