“There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” – Amanda Gorman The Teays Valley Girls XC team took to Westerville North to compete in the OCC Buckeye Championship. The competition was fierce as the Vikings were set to take on #4 state ranked (D2) Canal Winchester team and the #15 ranked (D1) Lancaster team along with the rest of the competitive OCC Buckeye division teams. The depth of Canal Winchester and Lancaster would provide too much for the Vikings to overcome during the race as Canal would win the OCC Championship with 40 points, Lancaster would finish as OCC Runner-Up with 51 points, and the Vikings would finish in 3rd place with 64 points. The Vikings competed hard from the start of the race matching with the tough competition. The Vikings would be led by Reese Galinger, who ran side by with her several competitors before opening up the last mile as she has been doing over the last several weeks and becoming an OCC Individual XC Champion by winning the race with a time of 18:03. Addie Keplar showed grit and toughness as she battled a slew of girls over the last mile and finished 6th with a time of 19:16. Completing the trio of seniors leading the way for the Vikings, Grace Thanasack battled the whole race to finish 13th with a time of 20:11. Next two freshman stepped up to finish 4th and 5th for the Vikings and close out the scoring as Kyleigh Cradlebaugh ran a great race with an outstanding finish as she finished 20th with a time of 20:56 and Lauren Charter ran a complete race as she finished 24th with a time of 21:22. To complete the top 7, two juniors, Khloe Maxwell (30th-21:47), returning from injury for her first race in 4 weeks and Julie Charter (39th-22:29), finding her form after missing most of the season, ran with a lot of heart, passion, and just plain toughness. Overall the Vikings had 14 girls compete. Others competing for the Vikings: Iris Ardrey-22:47 (41st) Hannah Daniels 24:31 (59th) Scarlett Mets 26:48 (72nd) Aubrey McKibben 27:24 (76th) Mikaela Frabott 27:24 (77th) Ellie Smith 28:08 (79th) Evie Hix 28:11 (80th) Several Vikings earned OCC based on the league results: Reese Galinger-OCC-Buckeye Runner of the Year, 1st Team OCC Addie Keplar-1st Team OCC Grace Thanasack-2nd Team OCC Kyleigh Cradlebaugh-Honorable Mention OCC Overall, the Vikings have a lot to be proud of. The effort and attitude were great and they were a light that not only shined on this day, but can be a light that shines in the future as well.