Liberty Center rolls to dual titles cross country titles

Published: 10/27/2013 - Updated: 1 minute ago DIVISION III

BY DONALD EMMONS BLADE SPORTS WRITER

TIFFIN Liberty Center made a clean sweep of the Division III regional cross country titles on Saturday at Hedges Boyer Park.

The Tigers defending state champion girls team claimed a regional for the first time in three seasons before the boys came through and won the regional for the first time in school history.

Frankly, it was an all-around unforgettable day for the Tigers.

"It's the first boys regional championship in our school's history, so it's extra special today," said Tim Atkinson, who serves as coach for both teams.

The LC girls won by posting 47 points, edging a strong Coldwater team that ran second with 52. Minster finished third with 60, followed by St. Henry with 146 to clinch a team berth to the state championships along with the top 16 individual runners.

Liberty Center's Brittany Atkinson led the way for the Tigers, who placed four runners in the top 10. She crossed the finish line third with a time of 18:16.94, followed by teammate Paige Chamberlain in fourth at 19:19.35. Olivia Kundo ran sixth (19:24.76) and Jenna Vollmar was 10th (19:40.15). LC's fifth runner, Rachael Pinson, came in at 33rd (20:47.10).

Winning the regional championship is what the Tigers had hoped for.

"Coming into a regional and you score 47 points and you barely win the regional, that tells you the caliber of teams that are in this regional," Tim Atkinson said. "Coldwater and Minster have tremendous programs.

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Liberty Center rolls to dual titles cross country titles