The Gilmour Academy girls cross country team was downright dominating as the Lancers won the Spartan Invitational this past weekend on a warm, sunny day at Boardman High School.
Gilmour won the Division III race with ease, topping the field of 20 teams. The Lancers' team score of 55 was 70 points better than that of the runner-up, greater than the distance between second and seventh place.
It was the first win for Gilmour at the meet, one of the largest cross country invitationals in the Midwest, since 2014. Gilmour placed three runners in the top 10, five in the top 30 and seven in the top 50 of the team portion of the race.
Amy Weybrecht '24 led the way for Gilmour for the second straight week, posting her second consecutive individual runner-up finish. She crossed the finish line in 19:47.8.
Clare Valenza '23 was among the top two Lancers for the fourth time in four races. She finished sixth overall in 20:40.2.
Mary Lombardo '22 was the third Lancer to finish in the top 10, stopping the clock in 21:06.2 to finish ninth.
Mia Polisena '22 (22:03.5) and Gia Rosko '24 (22:49.3) rounded out the scoring contingent for Gilmour, placing 18th and 30th, respectively.
Coming off an injury, Kaitlin Rulison '23 returned to a varsity race for the first time since the season opener. She notched a top-40 finish in a time of 23:07.1.
Other Lancers to compete in the race were: Anna Grossner '23 (23:46.5), Ava Moe '22 (24:09.6), Kaleigh McNamara '22 (25:43.5), Sadie Gerber '25 (27:08.0), Savannah So '23 (28:37.7) and Edith Tomasek '23 (30:15.5).
As a result of her high finish at a premier event, Weybrecht was tabbed as a News Herald Player of the Week. She is the second Lancer in the program to claim that award this season, as Valenza won the same honor after the season's opening week.
On the strength of its Spartan Invitational title, Gilmour was ranked fourth in the state in Division III in the most recent coaches poll.
The Lancers will be back in action this weekend at the Cloverleaf High School's Todd Clark Invitational.
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