She sized up the available student-athletes at Theodore Roosevelt High School and started asking girls if they were interested in joining the cross country team.

 

On Saturday, at the Portage County Fairgrounds, Anderson’s effort was rewarded as the Rough Riders won the PTC Metro title by two points over traditional powerhouse Crestwood.

 

FOR FULL PTC METRO GIRLS RESULTS CLICK HERE

 

Three new runners loomed large in Kent’s success, and two of them, senior Hannah Sampson and sophomore Libby Bradford, are shared with the Roosevelt girls soccer team.

 

“We have to keep stealing soccer players,” kidded Anderson, moments after learning her team had won a championship.

 

Kent’s total of 35 points nipped Crestwood’s 37 and bettered the Red Devils’ first and second-place tandem of senior Sammi Vaughan (19:27 over 5,000 meter) and junior Karlie Lieberth (19:40), respectively.

 

“Our athletic department is great,” Anderson said. “They allow them to have two teams, two sports. It’s great of them to let us do that.”

 

The Rough Riders placed 4-5-6-9-11. Sophomore Katie Wells (20:31), another newbie, placed fourth, and was followed by Bradford (20:36) and Sampson (20:38).

 

“I really like track,” Sampson said. “I ran a 5K after track season was over and I did way better than I had done before track and I realized I could probably be good at cross country. So, I just decided I was going to be on the cross country team.”

 

She was welcomed with open arms and has made a major impact.

 

Sampson and Bradford actually have won two PTC team titles this season as soccer shared the Metro title with Norton.

 

“Every race was a new girl’s race,” Bradford said. “It was free. It was up for everyone.”

 

That lack of a “pecking order” became one of the team’s strengths, according to Anderson.

 

“We’re all best friends, so it’s awesome,” sophomore Sarah McClure said. “We’re all happy for each other.”

 

 

The Field Falcons and Crestwood Red Devils tied for the Metro title; however, Field was declared the champion because its sixth runner, freshman Harrison Cook, placed higher than Crestwood’s No. 6.

 

“The depth of our team saved us today,” Field coach Ed Conroy said.

 

The Falcons repeated as Metro champs and their one scoring senior, Billy Darmon, returning from an injury, led the way in third place (17:09.7).

 

“I told the guys we need seven guys in front of the five man for Crestwood,” Conroy said. “This team is two weeks away from regional and we’re finally starting to get healthy.”

 

FOR FULL PTC METRO BOYS RESULTS CLICK HERE

 

Brian Long, Field’s No. 3 runner, had been shut down for two weeks with an injury, prior to Saturday’s PTC championship race. Conroy raved about Long’s effort which resulted in 11th place (17:49.6).  Junior Mike Robinson was 10th overall for the Falcons (17:48.7).

 

Kent Roosevelt’s Doug Miller placed first and covered the course in a PR time of 16:48.1. “I didn’t want to fight from behind and try to catch up,” Miller said.

 

Crestwood’s Steve Green was the second runner to cross the line (16:57.8).

 

 

As expected, Woodridge dominated both the boys and girls County Division races. Coach Jeff Howard’s boys, led by senior Vibushan Sivakumaran’s first-place finish (16:30.1), took seven of the top eight positions.

 

Woodridge tallied 18 points to 70 for second-place Waterloo. The Bulldogs now turn their attention toward winning a fifth consecutive OHSAA Division II state title in three weeks.

 

FOR FULL PTC COUNTY BOYS RESULTS CLICK HERE

 

The Woodridge girls were paced by Maria Moore’s championship (19:26.7) and placed five of the top seven to easily top runner-up East Canton, 21-70.

 

FOR FULL PTC COUNTY GIRLS RESULTS CLICK HERE

 

AKRON, Ohio – Wadsworth senior Russell McCune may have been edged out for the individual Suburban League crown by Revere senior Josh Sabo, but the Grizzlies junior class of Nate Tipton, Nathan McDevitt, Zac Hughes and Jon Norstrom helped guarantee Wadsworth was named the top boys cross country team in the SL. All five of the Grizzly runners finished in the top 15 of the meets 56 runners. Norstrom, Wadsworth’s fifth runner with a time of 17:48, actually outran four other teams’ top runner. 

 

Sabo paced the field with a time of 16:21, with McCune seven seconds behind him in second place. Wadsworth, Revere and Copley dominated the leader board with each team posting three runners in the top 10 of the meet. 

 

FOR FULL SL BOYS RESULTS CLICK HERE

 

McCune, Tipton and McDevitt led the Grizzlies with second, fourth and sixth place finishes, respectively. Behind Sabo, senior Kyle Hill finished seventh and Nick Critchfield placed ninth for the Minutemen, who edged Copley by just one point. The Indians received top results from junior Nick Pupino (third) and seniors Irtaza Haider and Alex Stopar. Haider finished eighth and Stopar nailed down the 10^th spot for Copley. 

 

The only runner in the top 10 not from those three schools was Green senior Jon Villafona, who finished fifth to lead the Bulldogs to a fourth place team finish.

 

AKRON, Ohio – A trio of talented junior runners tipped the scales in favor of the Green Bulldog winning the Suburban League girls cross country title. Krista Roehlig and Kristen Bergmeyer finished 1-2 for the Bulldogs, with Roehlig racing through the course at 19:29. Bergmeyer held off Tallmadge senior Jaclyn Koza for second place with a time of 20:12. Finishing the race in 20:25, Marissa Papp rounded out Green’s leaders with a fourth place finish.

 

FOR FULL SL GIRLS RESULTS CLICK HERE

 

Copley senior Katie Webb finished off the top five with a 20:31 finish to lead the Indians to a third place team finish. Senior Nicole Miller joined Koza near the front of the pack with a time of 20:35. The Blue Devils finished fourth in the SL standings.

 

Wadsworth junior Ashley Gray and senior Sammi Petit finished back-to-back in eighth and ninth place with times around the 21-minute mark, and helped the Grizzlies take second place in the league. Highland junior Natalie Zidd and Revere senior Evelyn Troutman placed seventh and ninth, respectively.

 

AKRON, Ohio – The Firestone Falcons flexed their muscle at Goodyear Heights Metro Park taking three of the four available titles in the Akron City Series cross country championships. Juniors Sarah Meek and Claire Hardman (finished at the top of the pack with race-best times of 21:03 and 21:35, respectively. The Falcons edged Ellet by a single point in winning the girls title.

 

On the boys’ side, the Falcons again took the team title, but were denied the individual crown by Akron Garfield’s Desmond Bell. The senior won the race in 17:44 and had fellow Ram Isaac Beal took second place. Firestone was led to the championship be Claude Christensen-Diehl and Louis Ray, with both runners finishing right behind the Garfield duo.

 

LaGRANGE, Ohio – The Buckeye Bucks took care of business, winning both individual and team titles available at the Patriot Athletic Conference cross country championships. Ryan Gallagher (16:36) and Jerome Grzincic (5:29) finished in the top two spots for the Bucks. 

 

Following Grzincic, Black River took the next four spots and Buckeye came in with five of the next seven runners, placing their entire team in the top 13 spots.  Dan D’Amico, Brad Shook, Jordan Canedy, Joe Walker and Bob Auber all ran strong races for the Bucks.

 

The Pirates defined pack mentality in cross country with Augustine Kazek, Jared McFadden, Tom Ziebro and John Ziebro finishing third through sixth, respectively. Black River’s top quartet all finished in times between 17:05 and 17:32.

 

FOR FULL PATRIOT ATHLETIC RESULTS CLICK HERE

 

In the girls’ race Emma Franz won the individual crown with a time of 21:15 to lead Buckeye to a team win, and teammate Trisha Widenmeyer placed fourth for the Bucks. Black River’s Jenna Periandri finished in second with a time of 21:45 to guide the Pirates to a third place finish as a team.