LEXINGTON — Denise Benson insists there’s no secret formula.

Will Hooper isn’t so sure.

The Lexington boys and girls will make what has become an annual trip to Saturday’s state cross country meet at Fortress Obetz.

Lady Lex has qualified for the state meet as a squad 19 times overall and 15 straight seasons dating to 2012. The girls program won team titles in 2015 and four in a row from 2017 to 2020.

The boys will make their 13th state meet appearance and third in a row. The Minutemen are the defending Division II state champs and won state titles in 2015 and 2017.

“Denise is magic,” Hooper said after finishing fourth individually at last week’s Tiffin regional meet. “She knows what she’s doing and she’s been doing it for a long time. She cares so deeply.”

The Lexington boys shocked the cross country community when they won their third straight regional team title last week at Hedges-Boyer Park. The Minutemen came in ranked seventh in the Ohio Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches pre-regional state poll.

Lex finished with a score of 74, just ahead of pre-regional No. 1 Bowling Green (76). Toledo St. Francis, ranked second in the state in the pre-regional poll, finished a distant third (111).

Lexington lost a wealth of talent to graduation off last year’s state championship team, including Latrell Hughes, who is running track a collegiate powerhouse Oregon.

Still, the Minutemen found their way to the top of the regional podium.

“We came in with the expectation of trying to get third because Bowling Green and St. Francis were the top teams in the state,” Hooper said. “We wanted it bad and we proved it today.”

Now a senior, Hooper was one of three underclassmen who competed at last year’s state meet. Junior Christian Estep and senior Finn Devaney were the others. Devaney was lost to injury early in the season.

“To lose Finn Devaney earlier in the year was devastating for our team,” Benson said. “We asked those other men to step up and let go of their fear.”

After each race Benson and her coaching staff give their runners a grade from one to 10 as a way to evaluate individual performances.

“You saw 11s today from Lex cross country,” Benson said after the regional trophy presentation. “It was very special.”

Lady Lex took runner-up honors at last week’s regional meet. Lexington lost three seniors to graduation off last year’s team, which placed third at state.

Sophomore Gabi Twedt placed fourth individually at Tiffin in 18:11.0. She finished 20th at last year’s state meet.

“Denise always has us running at our peak at the end of the year,” Twedt said after the Ohio Cardinal Conference meet in Wooster. “She knows how to get the best out of us.”

So what is the secret recipe?

“We don’t run for ourselves,” Benson said. “We run for the team. And once we figure that out, it’s easier to get it done.

“It might seem like we’re out there as individuals, but it takes every place and every second from every athlete.”