Editor's Note:
The way Ohio funds its schools has been found unconstitutional by the Ohio Supreme Court, not once, but twice in recent years. Even with these rulings, Ohio still funds its schools by using an archaic system that relies on both state funding and local funding. The state funds schools based on a per pupil basis, so each school receives a set amount of money for each student that attend their district schools, the state may also raise the per pupil basis for some school districts in urban or rural areas. Local funds for Ohio schools come from property tax levies that local residents vote upon to either accept or deny the levy. Levies can be used to pay for school improvements, building upkeep, new construction or staffing (administration, teachers, and support staff) and can be for different amounts depending on the district in which one resides. Obviously, this type of funding allows more affluent school districts to receive more funds to be used in schools, while less affluent districts keep struggling to make ends meet when not being able to pass a levy.
In some races, runners for Grove City High and Central Crossing High, two neighboring rivals in Ohio, sweated and gutted their way through the five-kilometer trails, but when it came down to the end, neither could “officially” cross the finish line.
There was another time in mid-September when the boys’ team of Central Crossing won a meet convincingly, but weren’t allowed to collect the hardware.
The obstacles were evident, clear as the morning sun for these dedicated programs in the Southwestern City School district. Nonetheless, it still didn’t stop them from achieving their own margin of success this past fall.
Not at all.
With sports and extra-curricular activities given the ax for the upcoming season after a levy was denied for the second time in early August, volunteer coaches Erin Reeb of Grove City, nicknamed the Rebels (Runners Empowered By Every Levy Supporter) (boys team pictured on right), and Christy Boggs of Central Crossing, or ROAM (Runners On A Mission), and their runners felt it was a no-brainer to continue despite the budget cuts. (Photo provided by Erin Reeb,)
“It started off being a challenge,” Reeb said. “But once we got our feet wet and were put in the right direction, it all came together.”
Considering they were not funded by their respective schools, and essentially were not a school team, Grove City and Central Crossing were not recognized by the Ohio Athletic Association. In other words, there were no league competitions this season and the upcoming state championship meets will not be in their future.
That didn’t make a difference for these schools, who despite the often adverse circumstances, would not let the voters determine their fate.
And it took two very committed moms to get the ball rolling. (Photo by Dan Gardner, photo of Club Roam girls team)
When it was determined that the levy would not pass, Boggs approached her son, Luke, one of seven varsity runners for Central Crossing.
“(My husband and I) asked him if he wanted to leave the school,” she recalled. “He said he didn’t want to leave, but he wanted to run. Him and his friend, (senior varsity runner) Lance Gardner wanted to finish their high school careers (at Central Crossing), but they needed a contact person.”
The elder Boggs became that contact person. Although she didn’t have a running background, she had the resources. She had her husband, Craig, a track and cross-country coach for a local private school to confer with and she also had Kathy Bohanan, whose daughter Brooke starred at the school a few years ago.
While Boggs worked her full-time job as a florist, Bohanan conducted all the practices, which were held primarily at a Darby Creek Park, a short 10 minutes from the school.
Boggs took care of making sure there were meets to attend.
“I just started calling around different invitationals - some would let us run, some wouldn’t,” she said. “I kind of went on previous years and found seven meets.”.
One of 12 children, Reeb is “from a whole family of runners.” She even had a brother and sister earn track scholarships to Ohio State. Following in the family footsteps, her son, Corey, (pictured on left) is one of the top runners from Grove City. He, too, didn’t want to see the season end. (Photo provided by Erin Reeb)
Nor did his mom, who held the coaching duties.
“Once it was decided that the levy wasn’t going to pass,” Erin Reeb said. “That’s when we decided to give it a try and see what happens.”
Purely by coincidence the two schools, a mere 15-minutes apart, didn’t know about each other’s plans to continue with their programs.
“I had no idea they were doing it,” Reeb said. “I mean, cross country’s not like football. It’s not that everyone knows about it.”
Both schools, which had about 20 boys and girls on their teams, had parents help out in defraying the cost. At Central Crossing, they each gave $65 to assist with the purchase of uniforms and entry fees for invitationals.
“We only had to pay for three invitationals,” Boggs said. “The other invitationals allowed us to run for free.”
“There were a lot of athletic directors that were wonderful,” Reeb stated. “In some cases, they even waived our fees. We were very grateful. For the most part, there were no entry fees.”
According to Boggs, her squads collected about seven or eight trophies during the season. There were a few meets that Grove City and Central Crossing weren’t able to be included in the scoring and were essentially just running to be part of the competition. (Photo by Dan Gardner)
There was another meet, the annual Cedarville Christian College Friendship Invitational on Sept. 19, where the boys of Central Crossing were more than 30 points ahead of their closes pursuer, only to be told later they weren’t eligible for post-race awards.
“I went to that race assuming we could win, but they never e-mailed me back and told me we couldn’t place,” Boggs recalled. “After the meet when we won, they told me we couldn’t win the meet. I think that was the worst for them.”
One of the best meets for Team ROAM came a week earlier when the boys and girls each earned the team plaque at the Zane Trace Invitational in Chillicothe on Sept. 12. The Rebels took third in the boys’ competition. (Photo by Dan Gardner, photo of Club ROAM boys team)
Grove City even had their chance to glow in the spotlight when the boys placed first in the open division of the Erin L. Nance Invitational at London High Oct. 3. The Rebels had a 1-2-4 finish, led by an individual victory from Corey Reeb, who finished the 5K race with a personal best of 17:21.63.
“That was an awesome meet,” Erin Reeb said. “It was the highlight of the whole season and not just because my son won. We also got second and fourth.”
The cross-country season has ended for Grove City and Central Crossing. When the championship meets take place in the coming weeks, the members of the two teams will either be spectators or resting at home.
That’s no problem, though. A season that wasn’t suppose to be turned out just fine for these two schools.
“It all came together,” Reeb said. “It was worth it. The kids just wanted to compete. They were able to participate, get some PR’s and have a successful season. It made it all worth it.” (Photo provided by Erin Reeb, photo of REBELS girls team)
“I am very proud of the kids,” Boggs said. “I could not be any more proud of my son and the other kids. I’m sad for the seniors because it’s their last year, but I’m also happy for them. They still got to run even though the district said they couldn’t.”