FORT OBETZ – Elyza Long finished 13th at state with a time of 18:41 to become the third girl in Covington history to earn All-State Honors in cross country.

Her time was the fastest at state in the school history and finishing 13th was the top finisher at state in the history of the program.

The two previous runners to earn All-State honors were Kristina Enderle on 2001 Carly Shell in 2013.

Elyza Long also earned Academic All-Ohio.

This was her second appearance at state in cross country as she finished 35th in 2021 as a freshman. She suffered unfortunate illness as a sophomore and broke her foot as a junior, but her hard work and determination led to an historic senior season where she established a new school record with a time of 18:22.7 at the Piqua Invitational.

She also qualified for state in track in 2022 in the 3200 and in the 4×800 meter relay this past spring.

Elyza’s accomplishments as a distance runner ads to the tradition of her family as her mother Libby (McMaken) Long qualified for state in 1998 and her brother Asher Long was a three-time state qualifier in 2021, 2022 and 2023. He finished 25th at state as a sophomore, 18th as a junior and 3rd last year as a senior. Asher was also a two-time state placer in track as he finished 5th in the 3200 meter run in 2023 and 2nd in 2024.