The Beachwood girls track team competes at the State Tournament in Columbus this weekend.

Preliminaries are held today and final rounds Saturday.

The team took first place at the Div. II Regional Championship in Youngstown on Saturday, May 27.

“Coming out of the meet I was extremely proud of the team,” junior Mia Knight said. “The last thing on our mind was winning the region, and at the end of Leah’s 3,200 our coach told us we had scored enough points to win, and we were ecstatic.”

“We competed against teams that have 15-20 kids, and we outscored them with only six athletes,” Knight added.

This is the first Regional Championship in program history.

Knight took first place in the 100-meter dash.

Junior Leah Roter took first place in the 3,200 and third in the 1,600.

The 4×100 relay team of Ashley Perryman, Ashaunti Griffin and Ayla Gambrell and Mia Knight also took first place.

“In two-mile, I wasn’t aiming to break any of my records or anything like that,” Roter told The News Herald of her performance at Youngstown. “It’s just another day of practice for me. I’m saving it all for state. That’s my goal.”

“We have the ability to win the state; whether that happens or not we will have to see, but regardless, I am extremely proud of the girls and especially the freshman,” Knight said. “They have really stepped up to the plate and performed at a high level without cracking under pressure.”

“We have no seniors, so we will all be back next year,” she added.