Big Walnut High School cross country coach Gary Brandon may have been hoping rain was in the forecast for the Division II state meet last Saturday at Scioto Downs given how his team has performed in recent weeks.

Despite having to compete in cold, windy and rainy conditions and on a muddy course, the girls team scored 131 points in the 15-team regional meet Oct. 31 at Pickerington North to secure the fourth and final state-qualifying spot, behind St. Clairsville (29), Minerva (83) and Granville (85). Carrollton (170) finished fifth.

The only other time the girls team qualified for state was in 1979.

"It's just the second time in school history that the girls have made it to state, and the first time happened 30 years ago," Brandon said. "And it's been 28 years since a girl from Big Walnut has qualified for state. That puts what the girls did in perspective."

Lincoln Green paced Big Walnut, finishing 13th (21 minutes, 12.8 seconds), behind the champion, Minerva's Kaele Lightfoot (20:07.6).

Also competing for the Golden Eagles were Carrie Borchers (29th, 22:08.9), Esther Armbrust (31st, 22:11.7), Kayti Kintner (50th, 22:43), Lydia Seabrook (53rd, 22:46.6), Bailey Schnurr (67th, 23:16.3) and Morgan Dronsfield (107th, 23:16.1).

"It was cold and there was mud everywhere and it rained during our race," Brandon said. "The conditions were as bad as I've seen in a long, long time, but the girls didn't miss a beat. They love the bad weather. That's three weeks in a row that they've done that. We run very, very well in the mud and slop."

The conditions were similar when Big Walnut finished first (42) in the 12-team district 2 meet Oct. 24 at Watkins Memorial, capturing its first district title since 2006, and when the Golden Eagles finished third (81) in the OCC-Capital Division meet Oct. 17, behind host Watkins Memorial (48) and Mount Vernon (56) and ahead of Olentangy Orange (90), New Albany (113), Hilliard Bradley (125) and Delaware (174).

"I don't think the girls have run a bad race all year," Brandon said. "They've been getting better all year."

The boys team was represented at the Division I regional meet Oct. 31 at Pickerington North by Micah Armbrust and Nolan Leber.

Armbrust, a junior, placed sixth (17:24.7) to qualify for state for a third time. His first two state appearances were in Division II. He placed 30th (16:31.26) last season after finishing 45th (16:46.5) in 2007.

"It felt awesome (to qualify for state)," Armbrust said. "I was kind of nervous leading up to (regional) this year, because Division I is a lot deeper field. But coach Brandon told me, 'They're human just like you. There's just a lot more of them.'"

Pickerington North's Daniel Garleb won the individual regional title in 17:04.6. Rounding out the top five were Westerville North's Jeff Hannaford (17:11.6), Pickerington North's Nick Hissrich (17:12.7), Dublin Scioto's Luis Carbajal (17:22.6) and New Albany's Blake Taneff (17:23.3).

The top 16 finishers advanced to state.

"Those were the worst running conditions in my three years running cross country," Armbrust said. "It was pretty muddy and it was cold, and I usually don't run well in the cold."

"I don't know what to tell you that I haven't already told you about Micah," Brandon said. "He's the first runner at Big Walnut to qualify for state three straight times. He ran a gutsy race and was extremely intelligent; he made all the right moves. He beat some kids that he hadn't beaten this year."

Leber did not advance to state. He finished 40th (18:26.6) out of 126 runners.

"He had a good solid race," Brandon said. "He probably ran 10, 15 positions better than he was seeded."