Chelsea Girls’ Cross Country Claims Regional Title

Team photo courtesy of Jeremy Hodges and Megan Angus

The old saying is that every point matters and that was exactly the case at the Division 2 girls’ cross country regional at Lake Erie Metropark Saturday.

The top three spots at the regional were decided by just two points with Chelsea coming out on top with 81 points. Adrian was just one point back with 82 and Monroe Jefferson third with 83.

The key to the race was six of the top runners had season best races with Natalia DeMea leading the charge with a second-place finish and personal best time of 18:39.3. The PR put DeMea fourth on the Chelsea girls fastest all-time list.

Zora Ziolkowski also had a personal best time of 20:32.7 and finished 19th.

Samantha Bieber ran a season best time of 20:09.5 and finished 14th, while Lauren Thompson had a season best of 21:06.1 to finish 27th.

Seren Angus placed 28th with a season best of 21:11, Clara Fredenberg a PR of 21:54.2 in 41st, and Marah Putnam just missed a season best with a 22:47.5 to finish 53rd.

DeMea and Bieber both earned All-Region honors with their finishes.

“As a team of runners, you couldn’t ask for more!” coach Laura Lutz said. “The success of this team has come from their ability to work hard and have fun together, both of which were on display today.”

The Bulldogs will run at the Division 2 state finals at MIS in Brooklyn at 1:30 PM Saturday.