PICKERINGTON, Ohio — For the first time in Belpre history, the boys cross country team has earned a berth at the state tournament.

The Golden Eagles placed fourth as a team in Saturday’s Division III regional meet to advance.

Eli Fullerton, who qualified for state as an individual the first three years of his prep career, now will be joined by his teammates. He finished second overall, missing out on the regional championship by one-tenth of a second. He clocked in at 16 minutes, 18.9 seconds, right behind Fredericktown’s Thomas Caputo (16:18.8).

Two spots behind Fullerton was Belpre freshman Blake Rodgers, who timed in at 16:40 and will be making his first trip to state as a high schooler.

Davis Leach had a big race, coming in 31st with a time of 17:46. In 63rd was Nick Diaz (18:41), Evan Wells was 85th (19:26), Kayden Wright was 108th (20:34) and Cy Varner was 111th (20:55).

Caldwell placed 11th in the team standings, led by Andrew Sheanshang’s 33rd place finish (17:49).

Also advancing to state as a team was the Caldwell girls. The Redskins place fourth in the D3 girls standings. Sage Speck has their best finish, placing 26th with a time of 20:59. She was followed by Calli Hesson in 55th (22:18), Emma Lowe in 56th (22:21), Teagan Secrest in 67th (22:38), Katie Franklin in 77th (22:59), Brynn Block in 80th (23:11) and Emalee Laswell in 95th (23:54).

Competing individually in Division III, Federal Hocking’s Rosemary Stephens advanced to state with a 14th place finish. She produced a time of 20:23.

Waterford’s Kaylor Offenberger came in 57th (22:21) while teammate Averi Schwendeman was 75th (22:50). Shenandoah’s Kendall Mackie followed in 7th place with a time of 22:57.

In Division II, Warren’s Bryson Angelo punched his ticket to state, placing 26th with a time of 17:13. However, he won’t be joined by his teammates as Warren placed seventh as a team to miss out on advancing by one spot.

Matthew Rauch placed 40th (17:34), Brennan Perdue was 48th (17:45), Justin Pate came in 81st (18:16), Andrew Vincent finished 110th (18:41), Aiden Westerman crossed in 148th (19:43) and Cole Coleman rounded out the group in 158th (20:16).

The Warren girls finished 17th in the team standings and were led by Allison Werry, who placed 64th with a time of 21:45.