ON THE COURSE — Catholic Central’s Cash Dobson, left, and Edison’s Josie Lesnansky, right, were among the locals competing in Saturday’s East District cross country meet in Cambridge. - Kim North

CAMBRIDGE — Although there was a crispness to the air Saturday morning, it didn’t stop several cross country teams from heating up the 5,000-meter course at the Ohio Division III and IV District Meets at Cambridge High School.

DIVISION IV

Bellaire continued to dominate in this division in boys’ and girls’ competition as they both won district titles for the first time since 2005. The boys finished with 39 points which was well ahead of Garaway’s 66. Fort Frye was third at 81, one more than Shenandoah. The girls ended up with 30 points, 21 more than second-place Shadyside. Ridgewood was third with 83 and Barnesville fourth with 99.

“It feels good. It’s been a while,” Bellaire head coach Chris Arno said. “We’ve talked about being consistent and both teams have focused on that. When someone falters, there’s someone to pick up the slack.”

The top four boys teams advance to the Regional Meet on Saturday at Pickerington North High School in suburban Columbus. The top 8 individuals not on a qualifying team also move on.

BOYS

Landen Perdue ran away from the field to win individual honors. The junior clocked out in 16-minutes, 29-seconds which was a full 30 seconds ahead of second-place Carter Travis of Garaway.

Also scoring for Bellaire were Kaijon Cerritos (5th, 17:34), Kai Brehm (7th, 17:59), Brae Schmidli (10th, 18:18) and Keyser Taylor (17th, 19:03).

The only other Ohio Valley runner to advance was Catholic Central’s Cash Dobson. The senior timed out at 18:03 for eighth overall.

GIRLS

Bellaire’s Kamdin Snider placed second overall to lead the Big Reds. The freshman ran 19:09, which was a mere 4 seconds behind Shenandoah’s Ida Estadt. Shadyside’s Chloe Meholovitch finished third in 20:04.

Also scoring for Bellaire were Kayla Edgar (3rd, 20.50), Liz Mayer (6th, 21:44), Gigi Kendle (9th, 22:17) and Lyla Blazek (22:30).

Shadyside’s other scorers included Gabby Kosky (5th, 21:04), Jaylynne Johnson (7th, 21:46), Brayden Parr (17th, 24:04) and Aylah Albright (20th), 24:40).

Barnesville was led by Addy Reed (14th, 23:30).

Other local qualifiers were the Steubenville Catholic duo of Claire Flannery (21:36) and Mary Rohde (22:01).

DIVISION III

BOYS

The top 11 teams and top 22 individuals qualified for the regional meet, also Saturday at Pickerington North High School.

The teams from Martins Ferry (6th, 215), Edison (7th, 229) and St. Clairsville (9th, 237) advanced.

Leading the Purple Riders was junior Nicholas Miller (18th, 17:59), while senior Blaine Hoobler (18:27) paced the Wildcats. George Dormas (18:06) was the first Red Devil across the line.

Union Local’s Connor Bendo placed third overall in 16:17. He was the only runner in the top 15 not on a qualifying team.

GIRLS

Martins Ferry senior Alanna Williams continued her successful season in the sport. The two-time all-Ohioan in track last spring (800, 1600) clocked out in 18:45 to finish first.

The top 13 teams and top 26 individuals advanced to regionals.

The Purple Riders were ninth in the team standings with 224 points. St. Clairsville was 12th with 303. Edison was fourth with 172.

The Wildcats were led by Josie Lenansky (21:04).

The Red Devils were paced by Taylor Tucker (21:31).

Union Local’s tandem of Ellie Greenwood (24:28) and Kelsey Mayberry (26:17) also qualified, as did Harrison Central’s Aubrie Moss (25:47).