Moments after crossing the finish line at the Division I state cross country meet on Nov. 7 at Scioto Downs, Big Walnut High School junior Micah Armbrust fell to the ground and spent several minutes lying on his back, staring at the sky.

"I collapsed. I had no energy left," Armbrust said. "I just laid on the ground for awhile, sucking for air. I went into it with the mindset that this is the last high school race of the year, so I might as well leave it all on the course. It was the hardest I've ever pushed myself."

Armbrust's effort paid off. He finished 13th out of 150 runners in 16 minutes, 13.17 seconds. He earned all-state honors for finishing in the top 25 and stood on the podium during the awards ceremony for finishing in the top 15.

Mason's Zach Wills won the state title in 15:45.11.

"It's pretty awesome," Armbrust said. "I was at a loss for words. I woke up (the next day) and said, 'Wow, I can't believe I made the podium.' I think I shocked a lot of people, even myself. Going in, I was ranked 30th or 40th."

Armbrust is the first Big Walnut runner to qualify for state three consecutive years. His first two state appearances were in Division II, placing 30th (16:31.26) last season and 45th (16:46.5) in 2007.

"That was a fantastic race that he ran," coach Gary Brandon said. "Before the race, he came up to me really confident and ready to go. He ran a smart race, a very strategic race. He was 35th after the first mile and 21st at the second mile and kept moving up. It was his second-best time of the year. His time would've been faster if not for the wind. The wind was 30, 35 mph at times, which slowed him down by 25 to 30 seconds.

"His goal was to finish in the top 25. I was optimistic putting him 35th going in, based on the competition there and how he's run against other runners there. But people have a tendency to start a little quick there, and he ran an exceptional race. If you combine all three divisions, he was in the top 20 overall and I think 15 of the 20 were seniors. It's a very big confidence builder. He now knows he's one of the big boys in the state."

The girls team scored 379 points in the Division II state meet to finish last out of 16 teams. Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary (98) won the title, with St. Clairsville (105) and Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy (115) rounding out the top three. Bellbrook (302) was 15th.

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

"Two (girls) ran a little better (time) than expected, three were on par and two were off a little bit," Brandon said. "We were just a little outclassed. If we would've beaten a team, it would've been a heck of an accomplishment. On paper, I thought we were the 19th, 20th best team in the state.

"The kids met their expectations. I think they were so relieved after regional. I think it drained them. I think they felt they gave it their best shot."

Leading the Golden Eagles was junior Lincoln Green, who finished 83rd (20:59.42) out of 148 runners. Also competing were freshman Esther Armbrust (107th, 21:33.3), junior Carrie Borchers (108th, 21:34.52), junior Lydia Seabrook (118th, 21:50.89), senior Kayti Kintner (138th, 22:35.5), senior Bailey Schnurr (143rd, 22:57.8) and freshman Morgan Dronsfield (146th, 23:39.86).

Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Christina Blair won the state title in 18:39.71.

"We were kind of happy," Borchers said. "Even though we came in last place, we're still the 16th fastest team in the state in Division II. And it was the first time in 30 years that the girls cross country team made it to state."

The girls team scored 131 points in the 15-team regional meet on Oct. 31 at Pickerington North to secure the fourth and final qualifying spot, behind St. Clairsville (29), Minerva (83) and Granville (85). Green paced the Golden Eagles, finishing 13th (21:12.8).

The girls team won the 12-team district 2 meet Oct. 24 at Watkins Memorial with 42 points, capturing its first district title since 2006 and securing one of the four regional qualifying spots. Green placed second (20:51.4), behind River Valley's Kierstin Lathrop (20:16.4) and Borchers was fifth (21:08.5).

At the OCC-Capital Division meet Oct. 17, the girls team finished third (81), behind host Watkins Memorial (48) and Mount Vernon (56) and ahead of Olentangy Orange (90), New Albany (113), Hilliard Bradley (125) and Delaware (174). Green led the Golden Eagles, finishing eighth (20:05.4).

The girls team loses four seniors in Kintner, Schnurr, Chelsea Dronsfield and Lauren Ustaszewski, but expects to return five of its top seven runners in Armbrust, Borchers, Morgan Dronsfield, Green and Seabrook as well as junior Savannah Bever and freshmen Elizabeth Finnegan, Becca Ryan and Elizabeth Thirlkel.

"I don't think the girls ran a poor race all year," Brandon said. "There was a lot of inexperience when the season started, but they kept getting better and better. I thought we were one of the top three (Division II) teams in the area, behind Granville and DeSales."

The boys team failed to advance out of the 12-team Division I district 2 meet.

It scored 169 points to finish sixth, behind regional qualifiers Westerville North (68), Dublin Coffman (73), Upper Arlington (87), Westerville South (97) and Teays Valley (113).

The Golden Eagles qualified for regional last season in Division II.

Armbrust led Big Walnut, placing fourth (17:02.8) behind champion Jeff Hannaford of Westerville North (16:39.9). Also advancing out of district was junior Nolan Leber, who finished 20th (18:01.3) to secure the final regional qualifying spot.

At regional, Armbrust placed sixth (17:24.7), behind champion Daniel Garleb of Pickerington North (17:04.6) and Leber finished 40th (18:26.6) out of 126 runners. The top 16 runners qualified for state.

At the OCC-Capital meet, the boys team scored 105 points to finish fifth behind New Albany (38), Bradley (66), Mount Vernon (82) and Watkins Memorial (97) and ahead of Orange (148) and Delaware (158). Armbrust led the Golden Eagles, placing third (16:51.5), behind New Albany's Blake Taneff (16:21.3) and New Albany's Sebastian Matt (16:51.1). Armbrust had won the league title last season in 16:33.7.

The boys team loses four seniors in Anthony George, Gerrod Schirtzinger, Josh Sparks and Mitchell Stith but expects to return five of its top seven runners in Armbrust, Leber, junior Tucker Hartman, sophomore Nathan Randall and freshman Cameron Ahmed as well as juniors Jon Beckett and Scott Trainer and freshman A.J. Barber.

"We have our No. 1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 runners coming back, and a lot of the better teams in the area were senior-heavy this year," Brandon said.