Entering Saturday, no Jonathan Alder girls cross country team had ever made it to the State Championship at National Trails Raceway.

In addition, no Jonathan Alder team had ever made it to the state meet in back to back seasons–the only times a team has ever qualified were in 1989 and 2017. The boys looked to do just that on Saturday.

The boys ran first and soundly qualified for the State Championship, becoming the first team to ever qualify for the meet in back to back years.

Juniors Luke Malone and Gavin Frick led the way for the boys, both individually qualifying for the State Championship for a second straight season.

The boys team placed 4th, finishing behind three Top 8 teams, and will look to better their 12th place finish from 2017 at the state meet on Saturday November, 3rd.

Sophomores Maddie Davis and Morgan Hicks had strong performances for the girls team, each qualifying individually for the State Championship for a second straight year.

The girls team placed 5th, qualifying for their first state championship in school history.

The two teams will continue to train for one more week in preparation for the State Championship, the first time that they’ll compete there together.  The meet will take place at National Trails Raceway in Hebron.

UPDATE: OHSAA released a statement Thursday November 1st that the State Championship will be moved to Saturday November 10th.