DAYTON, Ohio (June 1, 2024) -- The Rocky River girls closed out their 2024 season with a tie for 39th place at the DI Ohio Championships Saturday. The Maroon & White registered a pair of sixth-place finishes across their five events; junior Grace Lavelle had a big meet, figuring in both three-point hauls.  [results]

Competing at the University of Dayton's Welcome Stadium, the Pirate girls tied their best team score since 2018 (6P in 2021). On Friday, the Runnin' Raiders, who earned gold in the 4x800 relay in both the Bell Invitational (May 3) and Great Lakes Conference Championships (May 9), made the most of an at-large berth on the Buckeye State stage in Dayton. Lavelle was the opener in that relay, which shaved over nine seconds off its seed time. The River quartet (Lavelle, junior Katie Stirm, senior Brianna Chaves, junior Jane Rathbun) whipped the baton around the oval and logged a final time of 9:15.54 to place sixth.  

On Saturday, Lavelle took sixth in the 800-meter run to garner the team's final points. The all-Ohio placement capped off a tremendous spring for the talented junior. Lavelle pulled off a Bell-GLC-district-region sweep of gold on her way to Dayton.

The Pirates also logged solid state races in the 100-meter hurdles (senior Mary Sollars), 3200-meter run (Chaves), and 4x400 (Sollars, Stirm, Rathbun, Lavelle). 

With six points overall, Rocky River tied with Dayton Chaminade Julienne, Hudson, and Lancaster for 39th place. Wayne (46) edged Mason (42) in a tight DI competition that saw six teams file 27 points or more. On the boys' side, Elyria (30) kept Wayne (29) from earning a sweep.

by Skip Snow

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