Cross Country Team Wins First State Championship In
School History

Ten Crescents made OLA history this past Saturday at Choctaw Trails in Clinton as they won our first 2A State Cross Country championship.  Lindsay Raybourn, in a field of 42 runners, finished first in 17:14.6.  Seventh grader Sofia Taconi finished second in 17:27.5. Denise Powell finished third in 17:39.8.  Anna Taconi was fourth in 17:43.3.  Brittany Laurent was 10th in 19:00.7.  Savannah Matthews was 15th in 19:28.8 and seventh grader Emma Welch was 17th in 19:39.7.  Lindsay, Sofia, Denise, Anna and Brittany all made the State 2A team and Lindsay, Sofia, and Denise received the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place medals.  The weather was lovely and a number of parents were on hand.  Team members Emma Holland, Abi Simpson, and Jenny Byrne got to run the course also and finished with respective times of 19:38, 20:44 and 21:18.   Coach Darren Raybourn, who has brought new life to our program, was baptized with a water cooler splashing by certain anonymous aliens.  OLA began its cross-country program back in 1987 or 1988 when a bunch of OLA immortals, including the mother of Balius Lee, accompanied by Coach Hull and some parents, competed for the first time at State and finished fourth.  Since that time the Crescents have finished second about a dozen times, but first place always seemed to evade them.   This year's team, however, was a close, talented and spirited bunch who trained very hard and finally brought us our first State trophy.   Great job, ladies!