Olentangy Liberty's boys cross country team scored 44 points to win the OCC Central Division championship Saturday, Oct. 17, at Hilliard Bradley, beating Olentangy Orange by 28 points.
The victory marked the program's first OCC title since 2017 and only the third in school history, according to the Olentangy Liberty athletics website.
Aarush Talekar led the Patriots in fifth place. Tommy Strunck finished sixth and Connor Zimmerman seventh, giving Liberty three runners in the top seven. Brandon Craig placed 11th and Will Bushbaker 15th to complete the scoring five.
The depth ran even deeper. Eliot Tully finished 16th and Ishaan Chandakkar 17th, but neither score counted toward the team total because only the top five factor into the points.
Olentangy Orange placed second with 72 points.
On the girls side, the Liberty girls finished third behind Upper Arlington and Davidson. Quinn Cachat paced the group in eighth place, followed by Dasha Gogoleva in 11th, Addy Miller in 16th, Chloe Pope in 19th and Leah Berger in 25th.
The OCC title highlighted a strong fall for the boys program this fall. At the Celtic Clash at Dublin Jerome earlier in the season, Liberty finished fifth out of 22 teams with 136 points, with Talekar placing 11th overall, according to the school's athletics website. Talekar, a junior, also ran a 15:41 at the Bear Den Bash hosted by Olentangy Berlin, finishing 23rd in a 25-team field loaded with top programs from across the state. That time ranked as the fourth-fastest in Liberty school history, according to the school's athletics website.
Both teams now enter two weeks without competition before the OHSAA Division I regional meet Oct. 31 at Pickerington North High School, 7800 Refugee Road in Pickerington. The girls race starts at 10 a.m. and the boys follow at 10:40 a.m., according to the OHSAA.
Liberty will face a 32-team boys field and a 31-team girls field at regionals. All four Olentangy high schools are entered in both races.
The state championships are scheduled for Nov. 7 at Fortress Obetz.
