XC: St. V-M, Hudson girls, Woodridge, Walsh boys win
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Revere senior Josh Sabo and Copley junior Nick Pupino lead the pack at the Goodyear Heights Metro Park Division I Boys District last Saturday.
AKRON, Ohio – There’s close, and then there’s really close.
For the second straight week, the Field boys cross country team won a tie-breaker and the Falcons will advance to the Youngstown Boardman Division II Regional next Saturday.
It wasn’t easy.
As the press moved in to talk to and photograph the individual and team winners from Woodridge, coach Ed Conroy’s team was trying to gut through losing its top runner, senior Billy Darmon, and its No. 4 runner, Christian Bochkor.
Bochkor was sidelined before the district meet. Darmon, because of a knee injury, had to drop out midway through Saturday’s district race at Goodyear Heights Metro Park.
Conroy had not envisioned being involved in a scrape to qualify to Boardman, but then again, it is the postseason, and as they say, ‘Anything can happen.’
Freshman Adam Salberg had been drafted to replace to Bochkor. Suddenly, freshman Harrison Cook, who one week earlier had broken a tie with Crestwood based on his finish as Field’s sixth runner to help win the Portage Trail Metro title, was crossing the finish line today as the team’s No. 2.
Junior Mike Robinson stepped into Darmon’s role, finished 15th overall and was clocked just three seconds off his Metro Park PR at 17:33.45.
As a result, Field, Streetsboro and Norton all tied for the fourth and final regional qualifying spot at 136 points and the Falcons prevailed.
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“We didn’t expect to see this happen today, but, when your No. 1 goes down and your No. 4 wasn’t running today, we had two freshmen in our top four, that’s a whole lot of fun in cross country."
In effect, Conroy lost his quarterback and his best linebacker and still managed to advance.
“The depth of the team is paying off right now. The enthusiasm is still high. We’re trying our best to have the team healthy for next week’s regional. We’re going to give it our best.”
Junior Tyler Sigmon, sixth on the team and 35th overall, covered the 5,000-meter course in 18:42.03 and saved the day for Field.
As expected, Woodridge, gunning for its fifth straight state title, and St. Vincent-St. Mary duked it out for the team title in Division II boys.
The Bulldogs persevered 24-33, placing six runners in the top nine and despite losing senior Kyle Cochrun midway through the race to injury. Woodridge senior Vibushan Sivakumaran finished first in 16:20.95.
The Irish had seven runners in the top 14 as the top two schools dominated all places to 14 with the exception of CVCA senior Dan Pastoria in at 12th.
Senior Jacob Swords (16:32.00) and junior Patrick O’Brien (16:45.50) ran 2-3 for St. V-M.
“It’s a hit right to the heart. We’ve actually done something that our school can be proud of,” Woodridge junior Drake Sulzer said. “We’re not known for football or anything like that, but to be a part of the cross country team hits home for us.”
Sulzer placed fourth in 16:51.66.
CVCA grabbed third place in the team ranking and Field used the tie-breaker to slide into the fourth position.
Akron Div. I Boys
AKRON, Ohio – Possibly the most balanced of the four district meets staged Saturday at Goodyear Metro Park was the Division I boys.
Revere senior Josh Sabo was the prohibitive favorite; however, the team battle for the top four slots was wide open. As many as seven squads believed they could make the cut for regionals.
Walsh Jesuit continued its fine season with a district title and the Warriors were led by juniors Tony Howkins and Matt Krakora who placed 3-4. Walsh edged runnerup Hudson by eight points.
“If you have fast people up front, they just pull you along,” said Howkins, referring to Sabo’s fast pace.
Both Howkins and Krakora are calling for “more teamwork” as the Warriors plan to qualify for the state meet.
Sabo’s winning time of 16:12.09 was a PR, but he could not pull enough Minutemen along with him to qualify Revere for the regional. The Minutemen settled for sixth.
“This was my last race on this course for my high school career,” Sabo said. “I wanted to go out with a bang.”
Copley junior Nick Pupino placed second (16:18.40) to Sabo and pulled no punches when about racing the Revere All-Ohioan.
“The best thing you can do is try to keep him in sight,” Pupino said. “I figure if I stay as close as I can, I’m going to run a good time.”
Yet the Indians finished well back as a team in seventh place.
Led by junior Nick Hall (seventh place), Stow-Munroe Falls grabbed the third slot (101 points) to advance.
The hardluck squad was Nordonia. The Knights have come on strong the last two years, but were edged out for the fourth and final regional qualifying berth by NOC rival Solon, 108-130.
Akron Div. II Girls
AKRON, Ohio – Despite a 1-2 finish by Woodridge, defending state champion St. Vincent-St. Mary showcased its depth on day when senior star Maria Arnone did not run her best race.
The Irish placed five runners in the top 10 and were led by senior Anna Mion in the fourth position (19:29.01). St. V-M totaled 35 points to 61 for Woodridge, 76 for CVCA and 91 for Walsh Jesuit.
“I didn’t really do that good last year so it just like motivates me to do better this year,” Mion said. “When I saw (Maria Arnone) struggling it just pushed me more because I knew my team needed us, needed me.”
Arnone was sixth overall, covering 5,000 meters in 19:44.98.
Three teams from this district expect to qualify for the state meet, including St. V-M, Woodridge and CVCA.
Seniors Maria Moore and Morgan Willis placed 1-2, respectively, for the Bulldogs and are focused on leading the girls to the state meet.
“Fourth place is first place for the team,” Moore said. “So, as long as we get fourth and progress, it’s first place, until we get to the state meet. The state meet is where it really matters.”
Willis admitted that her strategy was quite simple. “To be completely honest, I just chase her,” she said, pointing to Moore.
Akron Div. I Girls
AKRON, Ohio – Four clear-cut favorites delivered in the final race of the day. Hudson (42 points) won the team title and started a Northeast Ohio Conference sweep, including Stow-Munroe Falls (56), Cuyahoga Falls (64) and Solon (71).
Stow senior Katie Betts, 10th at last year’s state meet, won the individual title (18:50.64), but said the second mile was a killer.
“I felt pretty good the first and third miles,” Betts said. “The second mile that hill got to me.
“My goal was to get back in the 18s.”
Hudson is striving to make it four straight trips to the state meet. The Explorers were led by sophomore Caroline Sauers (18:59.53) in second place.
“We’ve created a culture where kids love to run,” Hudson coach Ed Hoffmeier said.
Sauers led five Hudson runners in the top 15.
“You’re just waiting to be done,” Sauers said. “The last mile is the hardest part of the race. You just try to push through it.”
Only one runner – Betts – in the top 12 was a senior. Sophomores Therese Haiss of Solon and Madison Hartline of Hudson placed 3-4. Cuyahoga Falls freshman Lauren Scourfield placed fifth.
Malone University District
CANTON, Ohio -- At the Malone University District, senior Jon Villafana led the Green Bulldogs to a fifth place finish, and the final regional qualifying spot, in Division I boys cross country. All of the qualifiers from Malone will run at Youngstown Boardman next Saturday.
Villafana finished ninth place with a time of 16:51.59. Akron Garfield senior Desmond Bell finished just seconds behind Villafana to nail down an individual qualification for next weekend. Bell’s teammate, senior Isaac Beal, just missed qualifying for the regional meet, finishing less than a second behind North Canton Hoover sophomore Joe Delamater for the final berth.
For complete Div. I Boys results, CLICK HERE
In the Division I girls race, Green once again finished fifth to qualify for next weekend’s regional. Juniors Krista Roehlig, Marisa Papp and Kristen Bergmeyer led the Bulldogs with efforts that would have individually qualified them. Roehlig finished second with a time of 19:04.34. Papp’s time was 19:35.54 and Bergmeyer crossed the line in 20:04.26
In Division II boys, the Waterloo Vikings qualified behind a 10th place showing by Ethan Whittaker (17:15.77) and junior Tyler Cooper’s (17:20.47) placing 12th. The Manchester Panthers qualified two runners to regionals with senior Mike Barber (16:54.45) and sophomore Bryan Daily (16:09.23) both cracking the top 10.
East Canton Junior Josh Schleappi’s time of 16:29.61 was good enough for second place, just behind Smithville junior Denny Hanreck. Schleappi led the Hornets to a third place overall finish and a qualification for the Division III regional round. Senior Chase Strum finished tenth for the Hornets.
The Hornets once again qualified in the girls Division III race with a second place finish. Freshman Mackenzie Vincent paced the Hornets with a time just over 21 minutes. The Waterloo Vikings qualified two runners for the next round in senior Annie Wise and sophomore Emily Luli. Wise finished fourth and Luli came in 11th place for the Vikings.
Trumbull County Fairgrounds
CORTLAND, Ohio -- The Portage Trail Conference stormed the course at the Trumbull County Fairgrounds in the boys Division II race. Junior Steve Green and senior Nick Chambers led Crestwood with second and fifth place finishes respectively to guide the Red Devils to a third place finish and a ticket to next weekend’s race in Boardman. Joining Crestwood will be Ravenna seniors Cody Omaits and Jacob Seckman, who both qualified as individuals, and Southeast junior Dusty Sartor. Omaits (17:14.52) finished third, followed by Sartor (17:53.45) in 12th and Seckman (18:00.48) in 15th place.
The girls Division II race was all about Crestwood, as the Red Devils had six runners finish in the top 15 to blow away the field and give Crestwood a district title. All six runners would have qualified as individuals and Crestwood’s seventh runner would have just missed qualifying by seven seconds. Senior ace Sammi Vaughan won the individual district crown with a time of 19:34.11. Vaughan’s closest competitor was junior teammate Karlie Lieberth with a time of Garrettsville Garfield sophomore Caroline Hahn both qualified as individuals for the regional meet. And the Southeast Pirates finished third to advance to regionals behind an eighth place finish by sophomore Quinn Sparks.
In Division III, the Rootstown Rover boys team finished third to advance another week behind freshman William Morgan’s (17:42.23) eighth-place finish.
Lorain County Community College
ELYRIA, Ohio -- The Medina Bees started their pursuit of a Division I state championship off on the right foot with a district crown at Lorain Community College. The Bees had five runners in the top 10 and six runners that would have qualified as individuals for the regional meet in Tiffin next weekend. Senior David Knack finished third for the Bees, with senior Kevin Paradise, junior Brad Palocko and senior Brent Gaither finishing fifth, sixth and eighth, respectively. Wadsworth senior Russell McCune was named the district champion with a time of 16:07.52 and led the Grizzlies to a third place team finish and a berth in the regional round. Brunswick junior Nathan Geiss grabbed the final individual qualifier with a time of 16:53.99.
Medina junior Anna Boyert won the girls Division I title, edging out Brunswick junior Selena Pasadyn with a time of 18:39.29. The Blue Devils, however, got a bit of team revenge finishing second, a spot ahead of Medina. Brunswick’s top four runners all finished ahead of the second fastest Bee. Both teams will compete against each other again next weekend. Highland junior Natalie Zidd and Wadsworth junior Ashley Gray both qualified for the regional as individuals.
For complete Div. I Girls results, CLICK HERE
In Division II boys, the Black River Pirates took the fourth and final qualifying position behind sophomore Augustine Kazek (17:12.82) and senior Jared McFadden (17:22.78). Kazek finished in 10th place with McFadden five spots behind him. Buckeye sophomore Ryan Gallagher was the local top finisher with a time of 17:01.80, good enough for seventh place and a trip to the regional meet.