CLAYTON — Wilmington High School freshman Simon Heys became just the fifth WHS boys cross country runner in the past 28 years to qualify for the regional meet.

Running Saturday in the Div. I Dayton Sectional at the Miami Valley Career and Technical Center, Heys finished 27th overall but was one of the top individual runners and earned a spot in this week’s Div. I Troy Regional meet. The regional race for Heys begins at 3 p.m.

“This will be a tremendous experience for Simon as a freshman,” said WHS coach Eileen Grosse. “Coach (Brad) Heys and I thought it might be possible to qualify a couple runners. They just had to get into the top 20-25 and stay there. Time was not as important as place. That’s exactly what Simon did.”

Heys finished in 17:24.22.

For the WHS boys, Allister Brausch was next in line, finishing 56th in 18:06.8. Also, Ty Snarr was 108th in 19:20.38, Bayden Stephens was 109th in 19:23.26, Ricky Dungan was 116th in 19:39.3 and Ian Holmes was 119th in 19:45.11.

As a team, WHS was 11th overall. There were 24 complete teams and 171 runners in the boys race.

For the Lady Hurricane, Tristin Vail was 79th in 23:03.43, Lori Hensley was 89th in 23:41, Ali Dooley was 98th in 24:05.51, Hailey Fugate was 102nd in 24:19.64, Sarah Wright was 108th in 24:41.7, Jessica Angst was 129th in 26:16.94 and Mary Putman was 130th in 26:21.11.

As a team, the WHS girls were 14th overall.

There was 21 complete teams and 150 runners in the girls race.

The top four teams and the top 16 runners not on a top four team advance to the regional meet.