The Columbus High School cross-country teams have each earned a top-10 state ranking for Class AAA, due in large part to five runners with Fort Benning ties.

The girls team, currently ranked No. 3, behind Allatoona (1) and St. Pius (2), features four Fort Benning athletes on its top five lineup.

Senior Emily Menendez, who Columbus coach Mark Erb called one of the most improved runners on the team, is looking to graduate from Columbus with three state championships in her four years there.

Menendez has already broken the personal-best time she set near the end of last season by 3 seconds and has earned the No. 2 spot behind state champion Kristina Delpesche.

Much of her improvement, she said, came from her training over the summer in which her father introduced her to CrossFit training.

“He helped me design (CrossFit) into what I needed it to do,” Menendez said. “To be a good runner you need strong arms … and you need strong legs to power up those hills. Hopefully I can get into the high 18s … that’ll be enough to keep me running in college.”

Menendez set her new personal-best time at the Berry College Clara Bowl Invitational and finished eighth overall out of 147 runners. Delpesche finished first and Columbus as a team finished fifth.

Erb said the girls team has depth but is still struggling with injuries, the biggest one being Meg Williams, whose father is retired military.

“She would normally be my No. 3 runner,” Erb said. “She’s got some sort of muscular problem. A lot of it depends on injuries. If she comes back strong within a few weeks and can train regularly a month or so before state, that will make a big difference.”

In her place is Raja Gonzalez, a freshman who has jolted up the depth chart quickly and earned varsity status.

“Everything is based on time,” Erb said. “She’s bumped her way up and as of (Sept. 13) she is third. She’s a natural. She’s still learning how to run and pace herself, but I’m anxious to see how good she’s going to be.”

Along with Williams, Erb said he hopes to have Stephanie Miller, his current No. 4 runner, at full strength by the time the regional meets roll around. Miller tore muscles around her kneecap over the summer and is just now starting to run again.

“I think I’ve done pretty well, considering I’m coming back from an injury where I didn’t have any training time,” Miller said.

Erb said if his team is healthy by season’s end, he believes Columbus will have another chance to win a state title.

“The ultimate goal for the girls, in my mind, is to win state,” Erb said. “I think anything less than that is a little bit of a disappointment. The seniors on this team have already won two … so I think they’d like to go out with three out of four.”

For the boys, Fort Benning’s Joshua Rodriguez, the No. 3 runner on varsity, is trying to put together a complete season after a heel injury kept him from running his sophomore year.

“This summer he was able to train consistently for the first time,” Erb said. “Every time he would start getting his mileage up, he would have some sort of injury. This year, he seems to have gotten away from that.” So far, Rodriguez said, trying to overcome a year lost has been difficult and he hopes to give his team more depth at the No. 3 slot.

“I’m definitely behind from where I would have been, but I’m doing al lright,” Rodriguez said. “It was tough for that one season, but I got through it. I’m definitely a better athlete because of it.”

Erb said his goal for the boys was to have them finish ranked in the top five and depth may be the issue that keeps them from advancing further.

“I think top five (boys) is a pretty realistic goal,” he said “We’ve got two really good runners and then there’s a gap. We’ve got to get that gap closed.”