Submitted photos Trevor George cruised to his second individual win this season on Saturday in Ohio.

BOARDMAN, OH–After an uncharacteristically fast first 400 meters, Elkins High School’s Trevor George outpaced a field of 330 competitors at the Boardman Spartan Cross-Country Invitational on Saturday. After passing the 400-meter checkpoint in second place in 1:07, George took charge of the field and cruised to victory in 16:04.5. He finished more than 12 seconds ahead of runner-up Andrew Peigh (16:16.7) from North Allegheny.

George’s Tiger teammates Josh Bodkins (10th, 16:54) and Ben Tenney (20th, 17:17) also earned individual recognition by placing in the top 40 after getting out to a faster-than-usual start.

“We wanted to see how the kids would respond to a big-race situation where they had to get out fast,” said EHS coach Scott Biola. “We were really pleased with how they performed.”

Treven Schaefer (53rd, 18:13) and Bobby Valentine (55th, 18:16) rounded out the scoring for EHS, who placed fourth out of 13 teams in the large school division. Perrysburg won the meet with 59 points with West Springfield (60) and North Allegheny (71) also placing ahead of Elkins (115).

Julia Biola led the way for the Tiger girls and established a new personal best of 19:06.2 en route to a seventh place individual finish. Teammate Emilia Tenney also finished in the top ten, placing ninth in 19:56.0.

Other scorers for the Tiger girls included Molly McFadden (63rd, 22:24), Mya Mendelson (115th, 23:58), and Emma Gilbert (135th, 24:39).

Elkins tallied 220 points to place eighth out of 14 schools in the girls’ large school division. West Springfield (52) took top honors as a team and Strongsville’s Hannah Jicha (18:00.3) captured the individual crown.

“Our runners represented Elkins and our state with pride,” said EHS assistant coach Todd Price. “They rose to the challenge of out-of-state competition.”

The EHS cross-country teams return to action closer to home this Saturday at the Bearcat Invitational. The girls step off at 9 a.m. and the boys at 9:45. Grafton High School plays host at the West Taylor Elementary School course in Flemington.

Julia Biola on her way to a seventh-place individual finish on Saturday.