The Gahanna Lincoln High School girls cross country team won the OCC-Ohio Division championship after capturing its first league title a year ago.

The Lions scored 40 points on Oct. 13 at Lancaster to finish ahead of Pickerington North (59), Pickerington Central (77), Lancaster (105), Reynoldsburg (143), Grove City (155) and Newark (163).

Kelsey Sandlin led with a fifth-place finish in 20 minutes, 13.1 seconds, followed by Rylee Tanner (sixth, 20:17.3), Kelsey Thompson (seventh, 20:20.2), Kearstin Turner (eighth, 20:27.8), Heather Kincaid (14th, 21:25.8), Katie Baker (20th, 21:49.7) and Allison Holohan (21st, 21:52.1).

"We prepared really well for this and have been looking forward to (the league meet)," Sandlin said. "We've been running better than we have been all year."

The boys team was fourth (82) in the league behind Pickerington North (47), Lancaster (52) and Newark (53) and ahead of Pickerington Central (142), Reynoldsburg (164) and Grove City (196).

Matt Ridinger led with a ninth-place finish (17:14.5), followed by Trent Champlin (14th, 17:29.1), Aaron Schaller (16th, 17:30.3), Kieffer Whiteman (19th, 17:45), Chris Blakely (29th, 17:54.8), Ryan Leppert (35th, 18:16.7) and Bryce Redmond (39th, 18:22.1).

"Our top five I thought did really well," coach Larry Schwade said. "Our next goal is to qualify on to the regional."

The fifth-seeded girls team will run in the Division I, district 2 meet Saturday, Oct. 20, at Watkins Memorial. The top five teams and top 20 individuals advance to the regional Oct. 27 at Pickerington North.

The boys are seeded 11th and will compete in the Division I, district 3 meet Saturday, Oct. 20, at Watkins Memorial. The top six teams and top 24 individuals qualify for the regional Oct. 27 at Pickerington North.

Golf seasons end at district

Sophomore Emily Hughes of the girls golf team and freshman Alex Vegh of the boys squad each had their seasons end in a Division I district tournament.

Hughes shot 79 on Oct. 9 at Cooks Creek but missed moving on to state by five strokes.

Gahanna placed fourth (374) on Oct. 2 in the Mentel Memorial sectional behind champion Dublin Coffman (309) as the top three teams advanced to district. Hughes shot 79, and also competing for the Lions were seniors Natalie Nix (96), Rachel Russ (97) and Svitlana Yakim (124) and freshman Alyson Johnson (102).

The Lions finished fifth (12-16) in the OCC-Ohio behind Pickerington North (28-0), Upper Arlington (24-4), Watkins Memorial (20-8) and Thomas Worthington (13-15) and ahead of Hilliard Davidson (11-17), Lancaster (4-24) and Hilliard Darby (0-28).

"(Hughes) was striking the ball well (at district) but had a couple tee shots that weren't the best and came up short on a couple of putts," coach Patty McQuirt said. "I'm thrilled for her that she played as well as she did."

The boys team was fifth (325) in the sectional Oct. 2 at Granville Golf Course behind champion Pickerington North (294) as Vegh shot 74 to advance. Vegh then carded 85 at district Oct. 9 at Apple Valley.

The Lions will lose two seniors in Kenny Gaither and Alex McCarter. At sectional, Vegh was followed by junior Aaron Byas with 83, Gaither and sophomore Ryan Beach with 84 apiece and junior Lucas Pottorf with 86.

Gahanna finished third (17-7) in the OCC-Ohio behind Pickerington North (24-0) and Lancaster (18-6) and ahead of Grove City (12-12), Reynoldsburg (9-15) and Newark and Pickerington Central (2-22 each).

"We have had a very productive and exciting season," said Judy Ratzenberger, who co-coaches the team with Lori Scott. "They all worked very hard this year on short game, course management and the mental aspect of the game. They were very coachable."