Over the fall season, the Olentangy Orange boys' cross country team performed spectacularly and planted the Pioneer’s flag across the state. They competed in seven meets during the regular season and carried that momentum into the end of the postseason tournament.
On September 6th, the boys' cross country team headed to the Watkins Memorial McGowan Invitational and placed an impressive second place. The leaders for the team at this meet were Junior, Cowen Allender, who ran for second place, and Senior, Sid Sivakumar, who placed sixth. It was a high beginning for the Neers, and they carried momentum throughout the rest of their season. Next, the boys headed to Dublin Jerome for the Dublin Jerome Invitational and achieved no less, as a team they placed third, but individually the highest place was forty-second for freshman, Artison Svonik. Following, Cowen Allender placed highest for the boys in twenty-fourth place, with senior Sahil Kandhari in thirty-second place.
After going through a rough patch, the boys bounced back at the Eisenhart Cross Country Invitational on October 4th. Junior, Marcus Hadley, landed in an exciting second place in the 11/12 boys division, and success for the pioneers reaching the 9/10 division as well, with sophomore Abir Sahai finishing in third. Both runners helped contribute to the team placing top 11 at the meet, putting them on the board for the first time in almost a month. Bringing their momentum to the OCC Championships on October 11th, the neers did not fall short. Cowen Allender placed third with much of the team behind him in fifth and sixth place, Sid Sivakumar and Sahil Kandhari. Shortly following in eighth was freshman, Adam Ellison, with much of the team trailing behind until thirty-third place.
Two weeks later, on October 25th, the Neers went to the OHSAA D1 Region 2 Championship in the hope of qualifying for the state meet, and the boys did just that. Seven runners from Orange qualified, including Sahil Kandhari in sixteenth, Cowen Allender in twenty-first, Sid Sivakumar in twenty-seventh, Adam Ellison in forty-third, junior, Jackson McKinney in sixty-sixth, senior, Satvik Rudraraju in seventy-ninth, and finally, Marcus Hadley in ninety-third. An amazing accomplishment for the boys and lots of excitement circulating around the boys leading up to states. In the states meet, the boys traveled to Fortress Obetz and took on twenty teams. At states the pioneers finished off their season with an overall twelfth place in the state. Individually, the highest place earned for Orange was thirty-second place, ran by Sahil Kandhari with his closest teammate in fiftieth place, Cowen Allender. Next was Sid Sivakumar in seventy-second place, then was Satvik Rudraraju in one hundred-twenty-sixth place, closely behind was Adam Ellison in one hundred-twenty-ninth place, then Jackson McKinney in one hundred-forty-seventh place, and lastly, Marcus Hadley in one hundred-fifty-second place.
The 2025 fall season was a successful one for the Olentangy Orange boys' cross country team. Through the ups and downs in the season, the boys never gave up or lost motivation in their efforts to come out on top. The boys showed the strive of the pioneers all across the state and made their school proud.