The Worthington Kilbourne High School girls cross country team had a mediocre season, finishing near the middle of the pack in most meets.

But considering the Wolves' lack of a lead runner and experience, coach Melanie Williams said they surpassed many of her expectations.

"This wasn't one of our best seasons, but we had a lot of fun and we had a great season for the talent that we had," Williams said. "We had eight seniors, but only half of them were four-year runners and some of our girls were new to the sport. I think our girls ran about as well as they could in most meets, and that's all you can ask for."

The Wolves scored 154 points to finish last in the OCC-Central Division meet on Oct. 17 at Westerville North, behind Upper Arlington (40), Hilliard Davidson (64), Thomas Worthington (64), Dublin Coffman (88) and Hilliard Darby (112). Junior Dani Kaufman (17th, 20 minutes, 52.5 seconds), senior Meredith Lapp (18th, 20:53.1), senior Christine Miller (35th, 21:50.8), senior Rachel Colby (47th, 22:39.5) and senior Maeve Beyer (51st, 22:47.2) scored for Kilbourne.

"We knew the OCC meet was going to be difficult, because the competition level was very high," Williams said.

Kilbourne finished eighth (207) in the 12-team Division I district 3 meet on Oct. 24 at Watkins Memorial, behind champion Canal Winchester (59), as Kaufman (20th, 21:23.1), Lapp (38th, 22:21.29), Miller (46th, 22:52.88), Colby (49th, 23:12.7) and Beyers (54th, 23:30.84) scored.

Only the top four teams and those individuals not on a qualifying team who finished in the top 16 at district advanced to regional and the Wolves failed to the make the cut for a second consecutive year.

"Dani injured her ankle before the race or she probably would have made it to regional as an individual, but she still finished in the top 20, which is impressive," Williams said. " We're looking forward to Dani having an excellent senior season, and some of the young girls look promising, so our prospects for next year are good."

•With two of its top runners hobbled in senior Eric Clemens (pulled hamstring) and junior Wyatt Allread (shin splints), the boys team scored 157 points to finish last in the OCC-Central meet, behind Coffman (42), Upper Arlington (60), Darby (67), Davidson (74) and Thomas (105).

Junior Ethan Dixius (31st, 18:01.3), sophomore Scott Weiss (39th, 18:14.1), senior Tom Green (43rd, 18:20.5), senior Stan Lange (45th, 18:21.3) and senior Tyler Hooley (46th, 18:23.1) all scored for the Wolves.

Kilbourne finished ninth (231) in the Division I district 3 meet on Oct. 24 at Westerville North, behind champion New Albany (67). Clemens (36th, 18:37.15), Weiss (47th, 19:00.66), Green (48th, 19:03.05), Allread (51st, 19:05.11) and senior Chris Coury (54th, 19:09.25) all scored.

Only the top six teams and those individuals not on a qualifying team who finished in the top 24 at district qualified for the regional meet and the Wolves failed to make the cut for a second consecutive year.

"We're in a very competitive division of the OCC, and we were the only team from our division that didn't make it to regional," coach Dave Strausbaugh said. "We're losing a lot of seniors, but we have some folks returning who scored for our varsity team this year.

"So, I think we've got the potential to improve next season."